Post by elon_phan on May 3, 2007 21:17:54 GMT -5
Davis makes most of final chance with Phoenix
By Bob Sutton / Times-News
May 3, 2007 3:00 AM
ELON — Drew Davis knew he would say good-bye to a few Elon University baseball teammates last spring, but he couldn’t bear to let his college career fade into the real world.
So he decided to return to Elon for a fifth year, taking a redshirt season because of a pectoral muscle injury.
“I just didn’t want to go out playing six or seven games and not knowing what I could have done,” Davis said.
A catcher from Salisbury, he was along for Elon’s ride to the 2006 Southern Conference regular-season championship. He arrived with an acclaimed class that included outfielder Chris Price, infielder Paul Bennett and pitchers Chad Tilley and Kevin Regan.
“I wanted to be with those guys,” he said. “That senior class, we did everything together. It’s tough to see them go. That’s the tough part, not to be remembered with those guys.”
Davis, though, has etched his own niche in the program’s history, rising among the career leaders in several offensive categories. He holds top 10 spots in games played (seventh, 209), hits (seventh, 218), doubles (tied eighth, 40) and RBI (sixth, 129).
His injury occurred after he strained a pectoral during weight lifting. A swing of the bat in a February 2006 game at South Carolina resulted in additional damage and he was done for the season after playing in five games.
He said he felt pain swinging a bat, throwing a ball and doing such ordinary things as eating.
“His journey,” Elon coach Mike Kennedy described the player’s career. “It was very difficult for him to go through the year and not be a part of it physically with the success that we had.”
But Davis became more than a spectator or one of college baseball’s most accomplished bat boys in 2006. With Kennedy serving a suspension for some conference games, the Phoenix turned to Davis to call pitches from the dugout.
“They gave me that responsibility,” he said.
“He became a coach for us, really,” Kennedy said.
Davis’ experience as a catcher paid off for some Elon’s young pitchers. He has been considered one of the Southern Conference’s best defensive catchers.
Kennedy said it’s often important for catchers to ease into the every-day role. He said Davis, who was a member of the 2002 American Legion state champion team in Rowan County, wasn’t ready to handle the position on full-time basis as a freshman. That’s why his presence this year has been so comforting to the coaching staff as other catchers are nurtured.
“Without him back there, I don’t know where we’d be,” Kennedy said.
Davis, 23, has come in handy at the plate, too. He has played in 43 of Elon’s 47 games, batting .329.
As much as Davis has been an integral part of the 2007 team, his teammates noticed his attitude and contributions during the championship season.
“You could tell it hurt him that he couldn’t be as much a part of it as he wanted to, but he was awesome,” first baseman Chris Vasami said. “Drew is a great player, but I think one day he’s going to make an even better coach. He showed that in the dugout.”
He recovered enough to play for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League, a summer circuit for college players. That put him back in the groove before he was back on campus.
By Bob Sutton / Times-News
May 3, 2007 3:00 AM
ELON — Drew Davis knew he would say good-bye to a few Elon University baseball teammates last spring, but he couldn’t bear to let his college career fade into the real world.
So he decided to return to Elon for a fifth year, taking a redshirt season because of a pectoral muscle injury.
“I just didn’t want to go out playing six or seven games and not knowing what I could have done,” Davis said.
A catcher from Salisbury, he was along for Elon’s ride to the 2006 Southern Conference regular-season championship. He arrived with an acclaimed class that included outfielder Chris Price, infielder Paul Bennett and pitchers Chad Tilley and Kevin Regan.
“I wanted to be with those guys,” he said. “That senior class, we did everything together. It’s tough to see them go. That’s the tough part, not to be remembered with those guys.”
Davis, though, has etched his own niche in the program’s history, rising among the career leaders in several offensive categories. He holds top 10 spots in games played (seventh, 209), hits (seventh, 218), doubles (tied eighth, 40) and RBI (sixth, 129).
His injury occurred after he strained a pectoral during weight lifting. A swing of the bat in a February 2006 game at South Carolina resulted in additional damage and he was done for the season after playing in five games.
He said he felt pain swinging a bat, throwing a ball and doing such ordinary things as eating.
“His journey,” Elon coach Mike Kennedy described the player’s career. “It was very difficult for him to go through the year and not be a part of it physically with the success that we had.”
But Davis became more than a spectator or one of college baseball’s most accomplished bat boys in 2006. With Kennedy serving a suspension for some conference games, the Phoenix turned to Davis to call pitches from the dugout.
“They gave me that responsibility,” he said.
“He became a coach for us, really,” Kennedy said.
Davis’ experience as a catcher paid off for some Elon’s young pitchers. He has been considered one of the Southern Conference’s best defensive catchers.
Kennedy said it’s often important for catchers to ease into the every-day role. He said Davis, who was a member of the 2002 American Legion state champion team in Rowan County, wasn’t ready to handle the position on full-time basis as a freshman. That’s why his presence this year has been so comforting to the coaching staff as other catchers are nurtured.
“Without him back there, I don’t know where we’d be,” Kennedy said.
Davis, 23, has come in handy at the plate, too. He has played in 43 of Elon’s 47 games, batting .329.
As much as Davis has been an integral part of the 2007 team, his teammates noticed his attitude and contributions during the championship season.
“You could tell it hurt him that he couldn’t be as much a part of it as he wanted to, but he was awesome,” first baseman Chris Vasami said. “Drew is a great player, but I think one day he’s going to make an even better coach. He showed that in the dugout.”
He recovered enough to play for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League, a summer circuit for college players. That put him back in the groove before he was back on campus.