Zeller reps Cougars again at HABCA

Zach Zeller represented Cinco Ranch one more time last week in the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association’s Class 6A all-star game at UH’s Schroeder Park.

Zeller pitched one inning for the North team, which fell 7-2 to the South all-stars.

“I was real happy for him,” Cinco Ranch coach Paul Plattsmier said. “Any time you get one of your own players selected to play in that, it’s always a good deal, it’s good for your program, and he worked really hard this year. He came back from basketball, and you could see a little bit different attitude and approach than he had the previous year as a junior.”

Zeller was a strong arm for the Cougars this past season. But he also ended up supplying critical defense in the outfield and a hot bat, hitting over .300 at the plate.

“He did everything,” Plattsmier said. “He pitched, he pitched well, and he hit well. He hit a lot better than I thought he would at the beginning. But he came right out of basketball and was hitting the ball real well, so we let him hit when he pitched, and then we had a couple other guys we would DH.

“And then probably close to halfway through, or right before district, he started playing the outfield just because watching him run and chase down balls in practice one day I saw how quick he got to balls. He’s got this long stride and his running looks effortless.”

Zeller signed with Texas-San Antonio as a pitcher, and Plattsmier is looking forward to following the next phase of his career.

“He’s got a lot of potential,” Plattsmier said.

“I don’t think he’s reached his top-level velocity yet. His breaking pitch this year was much better than it was last year, and he’s probably, right now, mid- to upper-80s, but as long as he is – he’s about 6-6 – if he gets up there and starts doing it all the time, I see his velocity really increasing.”