Westphal steps off the mound

WINTERSET — Ethan Westphal scaled a lot of peaks as a baseball player.

He played five years in the State Baseball Tournament as a high school player. As a Lenox Tiger, his team went 1-2 his first two years before finishing as Class 1A runner-up as a sophomore.

He transferred to Martensdale-St. Marys after his father, Steve, retired in 2010 after 32 seasons as Lenox head coach. The Blue Devils were undefeated state champions both his junior and senior seasons, and Westphal was the ace pitcher for both squads.

He suffered injury setbacks in college, including Tommy John elbow surgery, but recovered to pitch in the regional championship game for Southwestern Community College as a sophomore.

As a junior at University of Central Missouri, Westphal pitched a victory for the Mules in the NCAA Division II World Series.

That summer he got the call.

The Colorado Rockies signed Westphal to a minor league contract, and he pitched one season in Class A short season at Grand Junction, Colorado, followed by a season for the Class A Boise Hawks. Early this year, before spring training, Westphal was released by the Rockies.

Summer trade

Keeping his dream alive, Westphal joined an independent league team in the St. Louis area, the River City Rascals. A few weeks into the season, he was the “player to be named later” in a prior trade and became a member of the Lake Erie Crushers in the Cleveland area.

The crafty righthander with a variety of breaking pitches and arm angles in his repertoire was having a good season in the Frontier League, which usually has 10 to 12 players signed to major league affiliated clubs each year.

In 13 games, including three starts, Westphal was 1-3 with a 1.97 ERA. In 32 innings he allowed 30 hits with 32 strikeouts and only seven walks.

But, on July 3 Westphal posted on social media that he was pulling the plug on his playing career. There was not one moment that struck him as the time to step away. Just a lingering feeling that he’d ridden out the big-league hopes long enough, and at age 26 it was time to begin the next chapter in his life.

Westphal is residing with his family in Winterset for the duration of the summer before returning to Central Missouri to finish his senior year in the fall. From there, he hopes to land a graduate assistant position or receive another opportunity to stay in the sport of baseball in some capacity.

“It was a long process, a lot of talking back and forth with my parents,” Westphal said. “I wanted to be in affiliated ball. Some guys got picked up this year. Lake Erie had a reliever signed early in the season. It hadn’t happened yet for me, I wasn’t making a lot of money. I had to think of myself and my future. If nobody was giving me a shot, I’m OK with it being over. I’ve ridden this wave for a long time.”

Westphal had prepared all winter to return to the Rockies spring training while working for the Nike store in West Des Moines. When he was released prior to camp, he decided not to “waste” all of that preparation and pursued independent professional opportunities.

“Right before spring training all of the major league teams have a wave of cuts and releases, and I was unfortunately a part of it,” Westphal said. “They’re always looking at their rosters and draft picks and deciding where to put them. It’s a numbers game, and I didn’t fit in this year. That’s OK. Playing those two years for the Rockies took me to a lot of places I never thought I’d get to see.”

His vast network of connections in the sport paid off in the River City situation. While someone like him with no experience above Class A minor league ball makes only about $800 a month, it’s a chance to pitch in a league where pro scouts frequently evaluate talent.

Former teammate

“One of my college friends, Lucas Williams, had been released a week before by the Astros and the River City thing came about for him,” Westphal said. “I told him I’d still like to play and he told me to come down and join him. As it turned out their head coach and manager, Steve Brook, had tried to get me to play summer ball (with) him in the past. It was working out, but on May 28 they said I had been traded to Lake Erie to complete a trade they’d made at the end of last season for a center fielder.”

The Lake Erie manager had seen Westphal pitch against his team and was interested.

So, a month after moving to St. Louis, Westphal was packing his bags again and rounding up a family car for the move to the Cleveland area. He had no vehicle while living in St. Louis and had car-pooled with Williams.

For awhile Westphal was used as a late-inning reliever, but expressed interest in returning to a starting role, where he had flourished in high school and college.

“We had a couple of injuries and I finally made a start, and it was against River City,” Westphal said. “It went well. I gave up no runs in five innings in a close game. I stayed in the rotation for another three or four starts. I was pitching well. I felt really good and was hoping to get picked up.”

When that opportunity didn’t seem imminent, Westphal decided to end his life of virtual poverty and long bus rides to places like Traverse City, Michigan; Washington, Pennsylvania; and several small Illinois and Missouri cities.

That resilient right arm had slung its final funky sidearm slider.

“I needed to settle down at some point,” Westphal said. “Baseball will still be in my life. I always wanted to finish my degree, so that’s the immediate goal. Maybe someday I could end up being a pitching coach somewhere, make my way up the coaching ranks. Right now I’m just relaxing a little.”

When he’s out on the golf course lining up his fairway shot, Westphal isn’t trying to impress a professional scout, for a change.

And that’s OK with him. He’s earned a little down time.