Charles Cudd '19 Recruiting Profile

I plan to be a very successful college pitcher. I am still developing but I have been a successful pitcher at every level, often pitching up a level or two against older kids. That is mainly because I have excellent location, and because my two seam fastball has late movement and is hard to square up. And I go after the batters aggressively. I get a lot of swinging strike outs and walk very few batters. I am also an excellent fielder and have a great pick-off move. I had 16 pick offs during my 10th grade high school season and I think I might have led the state though no official stats for that are kept. Coaches in our conference hold all their runners very close to 1st base when I pitch.

I started at first base and also pitched effectively on the Trinity varsity team in 8th grade against 18 year olds, and I received Best Pitcher award on the Trinity varsity team in 9th and 10th grades (only player at my school ever to do that). I have also played summer baseball on travelling teams and have faced overall somewhat higher competition there, though there are great individual players in our high school league too.  The best game I ever pitched was with the Minneapolis Millers 15U team the summer after my freshman year in high school. That was at the 18 team Bethel Wood Bat Tournament, an annual event held at the Bethel College field. My team won the championship. In the opening game against Mahtomedi (a St. Paul MN suburb) I pitched a no hit 7 inning complete game shut out. I had 15 strike outs including the last seven batters in a row. I could place the ball exactly where I wanted to and the location and movement on my ball made it very hard to hit. Last summer I pitched with the Minneapolis South (a larger high school) summer team and I had several games with no runs and no walks and more than 10 strikeouts, including a tournament game against Stillwater MN team. I had 11 strikeouts in 5 2/3 inning and left game for pitch count with 0-0 score. We lost that game by one run in extra innings. In addition to my summer teams I have had a personal pitching coach during off season to keep moving forward (Cass Kreitlow at Nevers Larkin Baseball in Edina MN). In 2017 I attended the Advanced Baseball Camp at Princeton University, the Prospect Camp at Creighton University, and I am doing a 4 week hitting and pitching camp at St. Thomas University this winter getting ready for my junior year. I will also do 6 weeks of preseason training for pitchers at Nevers Larkin Baseball.

I have gotten better each and every year and hope to continue to do that during my junior and senior seasons.  Right now I might not be totally ready to step on a college mound,  but I have two more years before I get to that point.  Some kids will plateau. I won’t and I will be ready to be a very successful college pitcher by the time I get there. I love baseball. I love practices and drills and camps and especially games. I like the ball in tense situations. I can have a 3 and 2 count with the bases loaded and two outs and not look any different if the next pitch is a swinging strike (more likely) or a ball. I am also a good and supportive team mate. I don’t blame anyone else. I don’t blame umpires. In fact I am an umpire and have worked a lot of park board youth games after having done umpire training with Billy Peterson from St. Paul.

I am an excellent student with 3.8 non weighted GPA and also PSAT scores of 740 verbal (99th percentile) and 630 math (93rd percentile). I am a multi-sport athlete and have been all-conference in cross country in 10th and 11th grade with 5K time of 17:25.  I am 6’ 2” and I throw left handed and bat right handed. In baseball I play first base or centerfield when not pitching. I am strong defensively at both of those positions. I have always hit over .300 and hit .360 my sophomore year of high school. I am a good base runner.

I am looking for a school with great academics and also great baseball. I want great coaching and especially a great pitching coach and a program that develops pitchers. I want good facilities and an opportunity to work hard to reach my highest potential in my sport. I have been impressed at some of the camps I have attended by the quality of the teaching and the training. At Creighton Prospect camp, the batting practice had 15 stations with some tee work, some soft toss, some overhand pitching in a cage. We got 100 quality swings in 45 minutes. I wish I could do that every day. I would get better. Similarly I want quality pitching instruction and a rigorous training regimen. I can only get that by finding a good baseball program with good facilities.

I offer great demeanor, a high baseball IQ, a love of the game, an aggressive competitive approach. I want a spot in a good program where I can work hard. I want to be a highly successful pitcher (and position player) contributing to a highly successful team.