Sure, it was only the second game of the season, but Sean McCrary was feeling the pressure of an 0-for-6 start.
“I got in trouble for saying some words down the first base line, so I was pressing,” he said. “I was pressing, but I got lucky I guess. I got a good pitch. Hopefully I can start a good hitting streak.”
Wait a minute. Lucky? That raised our eyebrows. What a strange way to describe a two-run home run that put the finishing touches on the Tigers 5-1 win at Hillcrest last Tuesday. McCrary, after all, is a pretty accomplished hitter. He flashed good power to the gaps a year ago, so it wasn’t too surprising to see him go yard down the line. But McCrary has enough baseball saavy to recognize the good fortune that helped him snap an 0-for-6 slump to open the season.
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McCrary did his part and worked ahead of the Hillcrest pitcher, 3 balls and 0 strikes. That count will usually require a hitter to take a pitch and, hopefully, walk. If it’s a strike, after all, the pitcher still has to be careful.
But, for some reason, Republic coach Howard Quigley decided to go ahead and give McCrary the green light to swing away. The other stroke of luck came immediately, in part due to McCrary’s own awareness of what was going on around him.
“Being 0-for-6, I thought ‘I’m going to walk,’” McCrary said. “But the second baseman gave away the sign. He said ‘Fastball’ and I was like, ‘Oh, sweet!’ I got lucky.”
The lucky break appears to have helped McCrary get out of the brief slump. He had two hits in Republic’s 12-2 win over Springfield Catholic last Friday night. The Tigers are back in action Thursday – weather permitting – when they travel to Central Ozark Conference foe Ozark.
