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| Photo Credit: Farmingdale Athletics |
Sitting out a year is always difficult–being forced to watch from the dugout, visiting doctors and attending physical therapy is all part of the struggles of enduring a season-ending injury.
The worst part was not being able to help my team. I always try to find the positives in every situation so I looked at last season as an opportunity to develop mentally as a player. I look at the game a little differently now that I had a chance to take a step back and really watch 35, 40 games last year. I think it will benefit me mentally over the course of this season.
If he performs as he did in 2013, the Rams have one of the most potent bats in the Skyline Conference. As a freshman, the 6’6″ slugger posted a slash line of .316/.422/.556. He led the Conference in triples with 7, added 8 doubles, 2 home runs while driving in 27 runs and stealing 17 bases in 20 tries.
That is elite impact. The fact is that McCarthy has been this type of player all his career. While playing at Eastport-South Manor high school, he was the League V Most Valuable Player in 2012, and was named First-Team All State.
He went on to attend Delaware University, when an elbow injury he suffered as a junior in high school resurfaced. It was then he was at a career crossroads.
“I was already extremely frustrated and part of me was ready to move on. When I first realized I was going to transfer back home, I thought about playing basketball at Suffolk County Community College.”
Ultimately, he decided that “continuing to play baseball was the right thing for me to do, and looking back it definitely was.”
He came to this conclusion after discussing with his former summer ball coach, who happens to be Farmingdale State Head Coach Keith Osik.
Judging by the impact he had as a freshman, it was a terrific decision.
The red-shirt sophomore, who cites fellow 6’6″ slugger Adam Dunn as his favorite player, will certainly play a hand in whether the Rams are able to win their eighth consecutive conference title.
He is not overlooking any team, though.
At the start of the season everyone has the same record. I don’t really believe in preseason polls or anything like that because there hasn’t been a single pitch thrown yet in 2015. All I know is we have done everything we can since the fall to put ourselves in a position to be successful. Nobody is going to give us anything. I really think there are three or four teams who have a legitimate chance at winning our conference. With that being said, I think we have a slight advantage because we have been in a winning situation the past few years. I’m just excited to go out and compete with everyone.
The Rams will open up this Saturday at home against Plattsburgh State, after having their tournament cancelled in Virginia last weekend.
McCarthy spent his offseason in the gym five days per week–adding yoga, sprints and long-distance running to the usual routine of weight lifting.
That could be bad news for Skyline Conference foes.
