Willie Schwanke arrives at Wichita State with some baseball history

His name is William, after Ted Williams. His mother nicknamed him Willie, after Willie Mays. And before he was even born more than 20 years ago, Gary Ward, the baseball coach at Oklahoma State at the time, urged Jim Schwanke, his hitting coach, to name the newborn “Honus.”

“Coach Ward just liked Honus Wagner, I guess,” Schwanke said.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet William “Willie” Wagner Schwanke, one of the many new and unknown baseball players at Wichita State.

“We couldn’t go with Honus,” said Jim Schwanke, who helped lead LSU to back-to-back national championships in the 1990s and is now a sports agent based in Frisco, Texas. “That would be a little tough.”

Schwanke, a pitcher and third baseman, is no stranger, however, to Wichita State coach Todd Butler. He recruited Schwanke out of Wakeland (Texas) High when Butler was an assistant at Arkansas.

But Schwanke was redshirted by Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn. And when Butler left to take over at Wichita State, Schwanke left for Grayson College, a two-year school in northern Texas.

In 53 games, Schwanke batted .327 with six homers and 45 RBIs. As a pitcher, he was 2-5 with a 4.64 ERA as he struggled to feel comfortable on the mound after doing little at Arkansas.

Schwanke hopes to continue as a two-way player at Wichita State. And the early returns are promising.

WSU pitching coach Brent Kemnitz said Schwanke is doing well offensively and defensively at third base, but that he’s caught his eye most as a pitcher.

“He has a great feel for the game from a pitching standpoint,” Kemnitz said. “Very smooth, clean delivery. And he’s very coachable. When you make a suggestion, he’s very attentive. He looks you in the eye and is able to make adjustments. I think he has a chance to play this game for a while and we expect him to be an impact guy this year.”

Schwanke was the Dallas-metro hitter of the year as a high school senior and also earned accolades as a pitcher, Jim Schwanke said. Yes, the same Jim Schwanke who was the hitting coach at Oklahoma State during the fierce Shockers-Cowboys rivalry of the 1980s and early part of the 1990s.

“In those days, we had great respect for Wichita State’s program,” Schwanke said. “The job Gene (Stephenson) and those guys did building that program from scratch and taking it to the highest level was incredible. Their players were hard-nosed and tough. It was a rivalry, no question about it.”

And now his kid is a Shocker. Life is full of surprises.

Willie Schwanke said he’s at WSU because of familiarity with Butler and hitting coach Brian Walker from their Arkansas days.

“When I left Arkansas, I kept in touch with Coach Walker and Coach Butler about where I could hopefully continue my career,” Schwanke said. “Wichita State turned out to be the best situation for me. Coming here was a good decision.”

Schwanke is one of a few Shockers listed as both a pitcher and position player. We’ll see how that shakes out as the 2015 season approaches. But he sounds committed to doing both until somebody is able to pry him away from third base or pitcher.

“I want to do both as long as God lets me,” Schwanke said. “When the time comes, obviously I’m going to have to make a decision. But I’m going to let it play out. I think picking one over the other goes against the baseball gods. When it’s time to pitch, it’s time to pitch. And when it’s time to hit, it’s time to hit. I love competing and that’s all there is to it.”

Butler and his coaching staff are picking through a couple of dozen newcomers, including 11 junior-college transfers. With so many new faces, fall baseball has taken on even more importance than usual. Schwanke said his goal is to make the experience enjoyable, which wasn’t always the case last season at Grayson.

For one, Grayson College isn’t Arkansas. Or Wichita State. And because Schwanke sat out the 2013 season at Arkansas, he struggled to command his pitches.

In 52 1/3 innings, Schwanke walked 24 and allowed 70 hits. He struck out 26.

“When we were recruiting him, I asked Todd about that,” Kemnitz said. “He never could really get into sync last season and then he laid out this summer.”

Schwanke said he feels more in command of his pitches now.

“I really lacked confidence at Grayson to start with, but as the season went on I gained more and more,” he said. “I was able to find my mechanics again, my rhythm.”

Schwanke has been impressive so far, Kemnitz said, citing the three pitches he can throw for strikes.

“His velocity is 89-91 mph, but it will continue to improve,” Kemnitz said. “Even if if stays there, he’s got the command to be successful. He knows how to pitch. He’s been around the game his whole life and he’s come here hungry to learn. He wants to get better.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Willie Schwanke arrives at Wichita State with some baseball history."