The University of Charlotte right fielder had hoped the call would come last year after he hit .358 and led Conference USA with 22 doubles as a junior, but there still was a lot of scout doubt lingering from his sophomore season when he hit .198.
“I don’t know if I expected to get drafted, but I thought the way I played in a conference that was ranked fifth in RPI I did well enough to put myself in a situation to get drafted,” Nichting said. “They look at sophomore year as something that kind of devalues my stock.
“I played awful my sophomore year, there’s no way around it,” he added. “But the way I look at it is I’m a guy didn’t give up or pout about it and went back out there and worked harder and had two pretty good seasons. If someone were to ask me about that, I honestly think that would add value.”
›› RELATED: Nichting among C-USA’s leading hitters
Nichting led the 49ers in batting average (.373), RBIs (49) runs (60), hits (91), stolen bases (16) and triples (four) on the way to earning first team all-conference honors.
He's projected to go anywhere from the 10th to 15th round, which would seem to be a better situation than being a late-round pick a year ago. But as a player with no college eligibility remaining, he'll have no bargaining power in negotiating a contract with whichever team selects him.
“As a senior I have no leverage,” he said. “Basically, if they offer $1,000, I can’t say no, otherwise I won’t be able to play baseball. It kind of sucks because if I would have had a good sophomore year and had the same year I had as a junior, I could have been making a little bit of money.
“I’d love to get a little bit of money to help support my run through the minor leagues and hopefully eventually make it to the majors.”
›› MORE: Nichting and stunning rally help send Badin to state
Nichting, whose father Tim was a 22nd-round pick of the Montreal Expos in 1982, was an impact player from the moment he arrived in Charlotte, earning a spot on the Conference USA All-Freshman team. And as difficult as his sophomore struggles were – and as disappointing as the ramifications from it are – he thinks it ultimately made him a better player and stronger person.
“You have your slumps in baseball, but throughout my life I’ve never really struggled like that,” he said. “In high school I hit above .400 every year and then freshman year I did pretty well, hit .283 and made all-conference freshman team.
“But sophomore year I started off pretty bad and just panicked,” he added. “I guess immaturity would be the word to use there, in terms of how to handle that and how to let go of the last day and focus on the next day. I was consistently trying to go 5 for 5 to try to get my batting average back up to where I thought it should have been.”
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The first two rounds of the draft will be Monday, with Rounds 3-10 Tuesday and Rounds 11-40 Wednesday.
“Hopefully I can get called on the second day, but I’m not really sure how it’s going to play out” Nichting said. “The only expectation I have is to get drafted and go play well.”
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