Grant Lucas
Though Linfield baseball fell short of another Northwest Conference championship, one individual held his head high.
Junior pitcher Reese McCulley highlighted the Wildcat pitching staff, finishing with an 8-0 record and a 3.07 earned run average.
McCulley attributed this achievement to a successful summer playing for the Clarinda A’s in Iowa where he faced
Division I baseball players.
“I had a lot more confidence on the mound this year,” McCulley said. “I was able to have success against D-I athletes last summer, so coming back to Linfield I was able to throw more strikes and prevent a big inning.”
McCulley said he expected to win going into each game. His goal wasn’t to achieve an 8-0 record, but it was to win every time he stepped on the mound.
Though much improvement might not have been necessary after a 7-1 record in the 2008 season, he developed better command of his pitches.
“Coach Carnahan’s always saying that putting that first pitch curveball over the plate for a strike is big,” McCulley said. “But getting multiple pitches over the plate is huge. That’s something our pitching staff last year was great at.”
McCulley plans to return to Iowa this summer along with junior Kelson Brown to play for the A’s. He wants to develop better command of his fastball, saying it will be a great tool next season.