A CUT ABOVE
By Chris Kowalczyk
5-26-10

First, there was the mullet, then a mohawk. There was also that road trip to Daytona Beach. While others safely donned socially acceptable khaki pant and polo shirt combinations, he chose to wear a white linen suit with white shoes, an aqua button-down shirt and mirror lens aviator sunglasses. Yeah, it’s safe to say that VCU junior third baseman Joe Van Meter is a bit different.  

“I just like keeping my team loose,” Van Meter said. “There’s nothing better than keeping these guys loose. I try not to be the norm. If I think it looks good, it looks good.”

You can call him unconventional, off-center or just plain goofy off the field, but when Van Meter steps onto the baseball diamond, he’s anything but carefree.

This season, the Farmingdale, N.Y. native has been a stone-cold hitting machine. In 55 regular-season games, Van Meter hit an eye-popping .430 with nine home runs and 66 runs batted in. His 96 base hits rank eighth nationally and are four shy of tying the VCU single-season record. His .430 average ranks 17th in the country.

It’s not like this came completely out of nowhere. Van Meter hit a team-high .347 with three homers and 36 RBI last year as a sophomore. But it’s one thing to hit .347 and something else completely to torch scorebooks with Paul Bunyan heroics. For Van Meter, the progression has been pretty natural. Improvement generates from within.

“Confidence plays the biggest role,” Van Meter, 21, said. “I’m definitely feeling confident and like a team leader. I’m just having fun and not trying to do too much. From freshman year until now, I know I’m much more mature and my overall game has gotten a whole lot better. I credit the coaches and the facilities I’ve been able to take advantage of. I’m glad that I’ve improved every year.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Van Meter was already having a good season when VCU traveled to VMI on April 20, but something clicked that day. Van Meter launched a school-record tying three home runs, and finished 4-for-4 with six RBI. He’s been on a tear ever since.

“It’s all between the ears,” Van Meter said. “My track record had been that I didn’t play well during those midweek games as I do on the weekends. Having such a great game gave me a little more swagger. Ever since, I’ve felt like I could hit anything around the plate. That’s the mentality you’ve got to have.”

Van Meter’s success has been reflection of, as well as a catalyst for, the resurgence of the VCU baseball program. Behind Van Meter, a bona fide Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year candidate, the Rams have risen from league also-ran to a title contender. VCU was 31-23-1 during the regular season and enters the CAA Tournament in Wilmington, N.C. on Thursday, May 27 as the No. 3 seed.

Regardless of that outcome, Van Meter has likely done enough to draw the attention of big league scouts. As a junior, Van Meter is eligible for the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on June 7. As if his hitting wasn’t enough, Van Meter also has a Major-League quality fastball as a pitcher. In his first season on the mound since he was a junior in high school, Van Meter went 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 23.1 innings. His fastball has been clocked as high as 97 miles-per-hour. Despite the allure of the professional ranks, Van Meter is keeping his priorities in line.

“Yeah, I’ve put a little thought into it,” Van Meter said. “The main thing is, I set goals for myself and winning a CAA Championship comes first. I try not to put (the draft) in front of my team. That could be a distraction for a lot of guys, but not for me. If we go out there and win the CAA, everything will take care of itself.”

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