Andrew Cain almost got away.
During the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at Ironwood Ridge High School, Cain committed to play baseball at Washington State. Chip Hale wouldn’t become Arizona’s head coach until almost a year later.
“We had seen him in the Area Code tryouts when he was a commit to Washington State and we’re like … wow, where did this guy come from? No one had really heard of him in our group,†Hale said. “I was bummed out, like, man, we missed out on a good Tucson kid.â€
Nothing is guaranteed in college recruiting until the official paperwork arrives, though. In July 2022, between his junior and senior years, Cain decommitted from WSU. About three weeks later, he announced his commitment to the UA.
Cain had seen the Wildcats at their best. He imagined what it would be like to play at Hi Corbett Field in front of his family and friends. He figured all of that “would have been awesome.â€
People are also reading…
So far, so awesome.
Cain signed with Arizona in November 2022, enrolled last summer and has emerged as an impact freshman for the ‘24 Wildcats. Cain, a left-handed-hitting first baseman/DH, is batting .314 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 51 at-bats. He has raised his average nearly 200 points over the past five weeks.
“I’m so happy I ended up here,†Cain said. “It’s been a blessing.â€
Cain hit .464 (13 of 28) in April, logging six two-hit performances in eight starts. He has gone from injury fill-in to something close to a lineup fixture.
“He’s a natural hitter, and we’re excited to get more at-bats out of him,†said Hale, whose team hosts a three-game series against Stanford Friday-Sunday. “He’s gonna be a big guy down the stretch.â€
Cain hit .531 as a senior at Ironwood Ridge and was ranked as the . But he was known just as much for his exploits on the hardwood as the diamond with the Nighthawks.
Cain ended his prep career as Ironwood Ridge’s all-time leading scorer. He averaged 19.5 points and 5.3 rebounds during his senior year.
Cain also played one season of football.
“I’m fully for players playing multiple sports,†Hale said. “I think it makes them better athletes. It helps their feet. It helps a lot of things.â€
Would Cain have been an even higher-rated baseball prospect if he had focused solely on that sport? Maybe. But he has no regrets about the path he took.
“There’s some things that I might have missed,†Cain said. “But … basketball (and) football really helped me develop into a baseball player. So even if I did miss those things, that might have helped me in the long run.â€
Cain is still adjusting to first base after playing on the left side of the infield in high school. He has only one error in 53 chances but isn’t as comfortable — yet — in that spot as junior Tommy Splaine, who has saved several runs by diving for grounders and snaring high throws.
Cain has an explosive bat, similar to fellow former Oro Valley Little Leaguer Mason White. Cain has a team-high 36.8% strikeout rate but hits the ball hard when he makes contact. His BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is .500, and he leads the team in average exit velocity (97 mph) and hard-hit rate (72%). His second career home run was an opposite-field shot at cold, rainy Washington on Sunday.
“I was a little bit surprised,†Cain said. “It got caught in that wind stream up there. It was blowing out pretty good.
“It was gonna be a sac fly regardless. I would have been happy to get a run. But then it went out and I was like, ‘Whoa, there you go.’ â€
‘Not good enough’
After winning five in a row and 15 of 16, No. 21 Arizona (26-17, 14-7 Pac-12) suffered its third straight loss Tuesday night. It was an outlier in many ways.
Grand Canyon put up 24 runs in the seven-inning game — twice as much as any previous UA opponent and the most since Stanford plated 20 last May. (Arizona won that game 21-20.)
The Wildcats yielded six walks, tied for their second-highest total this season. They still lead the nation in BB/9 rate (2.62).
The score was 12-8 when GCU scored 12 runs in the top of the seventh. Hale made the decision to use freshman pitchers at that point after the bullpen was taxed in a 13-inning loss at UW on Sunday.
“I wanted them 100% for this weekend,†Hale said. “So we went to the freshmen, who I thought would pitch better. And they didn’t. (It’s) not a bad thing for them to learn that maybe what I’ve been doing is not good enough.â€
Injury updates
Third baseman Richie Morales and left fielder Easton Breyfogle won’t be available vs. Stanford, Hale said.
Morales, who’s batting .299 with a .396 on-base percentage, last played on April 13. He got hit in the face by a bad-hop grounder during warmups before the April 16 game at GCU, suffering a sinus fracture. Morales could be back for next weekend’s series at Utah, Hale said.
Breyfogle pulled a hamstring while running the bases Saturday. The Utah series is also the best-case scenario for the freshman, who’s hitting .256 with a .375 OBP. But the regular-season-ending series vs. Oregon State (May 16-18) might be a more realistic timetable.
Inside pitch
Stanford (20-22, 11-10 Pac-12) is playing significantly better since suffering a 12-1 loss to Arizona in a nonconference game on April 8. The Cardinal lost their next two games to then-No. 5 OSU but have won seven of their past 10, including series wins over Oregon and Cal. “They were struggling at the time,†Hale said. “It’s gonna be a completely different team.â€
Matt Scott, Stanford’s Friday-night starter, leads the Pac-12 in strikeouts (84) and K/9 rate (12.00). The Cardinal, however, are next to last in the league in ERA (6.10) and WHIP (1.58).
Even after the 24-8 loss to GCU, Arizona ranks second in the conference in ERA (4.20). The Wildcats’ 3.40 ERA in Pac-12 games is easily the best mark in the league.
White leads the league in RBIs (53). He ranks third in home runs (14). Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore is tied for fourth in homers (13).
has Arizona as a 2-seed in its latest NCAA Tournament projection, playing in a regional hosted by No. 15 overall seed UC Santa Barbara. also has the UA as a 2-seed playing at No. 14 UC Irvine.
Contact sports reporter/columnist Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @michaeljlev