Anchorage Daily News

Since Chad Nading was a youngster, playing City View Little League, he's been a die-hard fan of the Anchorage Bucs.

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Chad Nading

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It's been a long wait, but this summer the 19-year-old right-handed pitcher for the NCAA national champion Oregon State Beavers will get his chance to pitch for his favorite Alaska Baseball League team.

"I'm real excited," Nading said Wednesday. "We've been housing Bucs players since I was 10 years old."

His parents, Curt and Dena Nading, are regulars at welcoming Bucs players into their household for three summer months. Chad couldn't help but root for his roommates.

"He's got a Bucs hat on today," Curt told Dena as they watched their son's interview on the television news. "After all these years, he's finally wearing one."

Nading, a red-shirt freshman whose fastball can graze 90 mph, arrived in town Monday, the day after Oregon State won its second straight College World Series title.

Bucs assistant general manager Zak Basch couldn't say when the former East star would get playing time.

"We're going to get him in there slowly," Basch said.

Other than one inning in an adult league game Tuesday evening with the Alaska Baseball Academy Hornets, Nading hasn't seen live batting since the end of May, when the Beavers had an inter-squad game to stay sharp for the playoffs.

He expects to work out of the bullpen until he can earn his way onto the Bucs' starting rotation.

Starting games is his forte. He's projected to be a starter for Oregon State, his dad said.

Nading will wear No. 25. The No. 11 he's worn all his life in baseball -- and as the East High quarterback -- was too small.

Sitting out a season seemed like the right move for Nading, his dad said. His playing time would have been limited. Five of Oregon State's six key pitchers were drafted by Major League Baseball.

Even Anton Maxwell, a former East left-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Texas Rangers earlier this month, had limited time on the mound.

Maxwell, a senior, pitched just 2/3 of an inning in the championship game without allowing a hit. He finished the season 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.

Both Maxwell and Nading joined the dog pile madness the Beavers made when they clinched the first back-to-back CWS titles since LSU in 1997.

"It was something you dream about," Nading said.

Though he never pitched to a live batter, the coach invited him to participate in CWS functions. Nading signed autographs, rode buses and flew home on a chartered airplane.

This summer he plans to use mound time with the Bucs as a stepping stone for his first collegiate season. Then, when his college career is finished, he plans to get paid to play.

"I need to just keep working and don't get lazy," he said. "I want to stay out of Alaska as long as I can."

Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.