By T. Scott Boatright
Former Cedar Creek standout pitcher Brooks Auger sometimes feels like he’s living in a dream as a key player out of Mississippi State University’s bullpen.
Auger, in his first season at Mississippi State after transferring there after playing his freshman year for Hinds Community College, stands at 2-0 on the season with wins over Binghamton and Alabama.
He pitched Sunday in State’s 5-3 extra-inning win at Arkansas, entering the game in the sixth stanza with the score tied at 3-3. Auger pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one earned run off of three hits while striking out three Razorbacks.
On the season Brooks has a 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts.
“Coming from a small school like Cedar Creek, then going through COVID and ending up at a school like Mississippi State, that won the national championship last year — it’s such a surreal feeling to walk out on the field and realize it’s real,” Auger said.
“The first couple of games it was like a floating experience — like I wasn’t actually there. Then you start to realize that this is legit — this is a big thing coming from small towns like Farmerville and Marion, and that kind of stuff, surreal is the best way to describe it. It’s insane. Over the top is all I can really say about it.
“Being on that field and playing against the level of competition I’m playing against, and the guys on my team — guys who could go in the first few rounds of the MLB draft — awestruck is the best way I could describe myself.”
But feeling awestruck at times doesn’t mean that shows in Auger’s time on the mound, such as the win he picked up over Alabama.
“I’m a very competitive person, so when I’m on a stage like that, I don’t really think about the crowd — the 14,000 people being there. What I was thinking was, No. 1, I don’t like these people being from Louisiana, especially when I’m playing against them — that’s another factor in there. All I’m thinking is that I don’t like the batter I’m facing, and I want to prove I’m better than he is.”
Auger sees the fact he’s playing more and more as the season progresses as a sign of even better things to come.
“Coming in as the new guy with only one year of JUCO — one of the few sophomores to transfer out — I don’t know if they were expecting bigger things out of me because of that or what,” Auger said. “But after the first couple of outings it feels like the coaches have picked up some trust and will put me in if it’s a close or tied game. The fact they’re leaving me out there a little longer sometimes in recent games, letting me work out of situations I’m facing, if they’re going to leave me out there even when I’m not at my best, it’s just kind of a pat on the back to me.”
Coming out of the bullpen, Auger isn’t using a lot of pitches to try and dazzle batters.
“Pretty much I just throw a four seam (fastball),” Auger said. “I have a change-up which I don’t use because the coaches rely on me right now out of the bullpen. I’m not going to see the lineup the whole game so it’s a two-pitch mix. I have a slider that I will throw softer or harder depending on who I’m facing and what the count is — stuff like that. It can be anywhere from 78-84 (mph), and if I need to I can bump it up to 85-88 (mph). We call it a two-pitch mix but the slider can vary, so I guess you could say I have three to four pitches with that variation.”
Auger does have hopes to become a starter again eventually.
“I’d love to start one day,” Auger said. “Right now we have a group of guys who are doing that really well for us. But hopefully next year. There’s definitely been a learning curve — the fall was the hardest. Working with the trainers here I’m learning how to recover faster to be able pitch back-to-back games when they need me to.”
Auger hopes baseball will be part of his future for years to come, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t put in thought toward his future.
“I started off in mechanical engineering, but after getting to the upper-level calculus classes I realized I didn’t want to do that anymore with all the time baseball takes up,” Auger said. “I’ve bumped over into business administration and hope to use that with people I know back home and people I’ve met through college baseball that I can kind of network my way into something like opening hitting facilities or something like that. I’m even minoring in insurance as well, we that could be a future. I’m still not exactly sure what direction I’ll end up going in yet.”
