Bryce Moyle always wanted to pitch in the Pac-12, and now he gets that opportunity.
Moyle, arguably the best Carson High pitcher in the last 10 years, signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Washington State University.
Moyle is the second Carson High pitcher to receive a Division I scholarship out of high school in recent years. He follows in the footsteps of Colby Blueberg, who signed with the University of Nevada, and is now playing for the Padres in the California League. Another CHS hurler, Adam Whitt, walked on at Nevada out of high school.
Moyle officially signed last Thursday. He chose WSU over South Mountain Community College in Arizona. The CHS left-hander said Nevada and Utah (late in the process) also talked to him.
“Washington State is a place that can help me get to the next level,” Moyle said Thursday night watching Carson play a summer league game. “It’s a place to be for the next four years.
“Telling South Mountain was hard. I really liked the area and the coaching staff. Utah called me, but I’d already told Washington State that I would sign with them.”
And, the Cougars are excited about obtaining his services. Washington State is expected to lose a couple of their pitchers from this year’s team.
“We saw Bryce last summer,” said Dan Spencer, WSU associate head coach and pitching coach. “We were very impressed with him.
“We weren’t sure we were going to have any money to offer him. We wanted to try to find a way to get him in the program. We are going to lose a left-hander to the draft, and we feel we may lose another one, so the issue took care of itself.”
Moyle also attended a pitching camp at WSU. One of the things Spencer wanted him to work on was his curveball, and the WSU coach feels Moyle has done that. It’s a pitch that still needs to be improved.
“He is a strike thrower,” Spencer said. “He can throw the fastball for strikes to both sides of the plate. He throws mid to high-80s, and that’s fine.”
Moyle admits he needs more bite and maybe less arc on his curveball.
“I need to throw it more like a fastball,” said the CHS senior. “I throw it now with more of a cupping motion. I’ll be working on that now and continue through the summer.”
Spencer said Moyle has an opportunity to come in and contribute right away. Much of that will depend on how well Moyle performs in the fall when he gets on campus.
Moyle sees himself as a starter, but rarely are freshmen weekend starters in the Pac-12, one of the most prestigious conferences in the country. He’s hopeful, however, of getting some non-conference starts as a freshman.
“Probably long relief,” he said when asked about a potential role. “If I get a chance to start, I’d love it.”
Moyle said the Cougars will practice the entire month of September and most of October, and then the team shuts it down for 10 weeks. Moyle said he’s hopeful of landing a roster spot in a collegiate summer league at this time next year.