After years of taking similar paths, two Missouri baseball recruits have gone different directions.
Lucas May and Max Scherzer of Chesterfield have spent time as teammates and rivals.
They committed to play at MU in mid-November. Then they were drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in June.
On June 3, May heard Tommy Lasorda, former Dodgers manager, call his name on the Internet during the draft. He was chosen in the eighth round with the 241st selection.
Two things influenced May to sign with the Dodgers.
“Financially, things worked out,” he said. “That was a part of it. And being the Dodgers, that was part of it, too.”
After 10 games, he is hitting .314 with 11 hits in 35 at bats.
“Starting my career now was the best decision for me,” May said.
Unlike May, Scherzer said he would most likely attend MU.
“It’s a slim chance that I would sign,” he said. “I’m probably going to want too much money.”
The St. Louis Cardinals selected Scherzer in the 43rd round.
“I’m not in a position to get a lot of money,” Scherzer said. “And giving up college would cost me a lot of money.”
Recruits have until the first day of classes to make their decision.
“The door is still cracked,” Scherzer said.
As the saying goes, never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
In that spirit, here is a look back at the year in MU sports, with the stories punched up with a little fiction to satisfy the craving for what might have been.
? I’ll make up for it with two next year: The MU football team almost beat Oklahoma, the volleyball team nearly knocked off Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament and the men’s basketball team came within two answered-prayer 3-pointers of beating Kansas at the Hearnes Center.
A lot of almosts but not-quites.
That meant the upset of the year was Alden’s failure to fire even one coach.
When informed of the oversight by trusty assistant Mario Moccia, Alden was philosophical.
"Did anyone really think the baseball team was going to make an NCAA regional?"
"Sean was well-respected by the players," Jamieson said. "He gave us a blueprint for success, and we now have a better sense of how to get there. … The players had faith in his system, and he was well-liked."
Jamieson said he does not immediately have a replacement in mind.
"Our options are open right now," he said. "I’m talking to some contacts. We’ll wait and get a sense of who’s available. Tony Vitello, who was a volunteer coach for us, is a possibility. He’d be a good fit, especially if we want to continue in the same direction."
"The experience it gives us," Jamieson said, "is that it makes us aware that we’re just as good as anybody."
The Tigers were just as good as anybody for at least the first two games. Missouri, however, did make five errors and gave up 18 hits to the Bulldogs in Saturday’s elimination game.
"It’s a little disappointing we didn’t advance," Jamieson said. "But at the same time, it’s a reward for what we’ve accomplished."
Behind Tingler, younger pitchers such as James, Danny Hill, Taylor Parker and Mark Alexander, and Missouri’s core of juniors - Ehlers, Brad Flanders, Ryan Rallo, Ian Kinsler, Jeremy Hernandez - and freshmen Bo Davis, Zane Taylor and Tyler Williams got postseason experience that will factor into the team’s future.
"They’ll have a greater appreciation for it as time goes by," Jamieson said. "We’re hopeful it will help our confidence, and next year, we’ll be able to set our expectations even higher."
"It’s a difficult end to a great year," Missouri Coach Tim Jamieson said of his team, which was the first to qualify for NCAA Tournament play since 1996 and the first Tiger squad to post an NCAA win in 12 years. "We came up a little bit short tonight.
"I’m thankful for my players’ effort and the time they put in. I couldn’t ask any more from these guys than what they gave tonight and this entire season."
"We finally got back to doing some things we had been doing when we are playing well and that is hitting the ball up the middle and taking what pitchers give us," Jamieson said.
Tied late in a crucial game. Conference standing on the line. Gave up the lead in the sixth. Not a problem.
That was the situation Saturday when the Missouri baseball team was playing Oklahoma to lock up at least fifth place in the Big 12 Conference. A year ago, the Sooners were almost destined to win the game. Or better, the Tigers were destined to lose it.
This time, the Tigers played small ball, a couple of singles and a sacrifice bunt, to allow the go-ahead run in the eighth and the win. For some, it wasn’t just another win. It was a statement about the team this season.
“A year ago, two years ago, this is a game where we’d roll over and die,” senior outfielder Jayce Tingler said. “But we’re different this year. We’re not giving up. Ever.”
“The mix on this team is what’s breeding success,” Jamieson said. “We’ve got the older veterans who can teach the new guys about what it takes to play in the Big 12. And the new guys? They’re all from successful programs. They don’t know how to lose. That’s what we were needing to rebound from last season: a can’t-lose attitude.”
Jamieson believed his team was different, but few agreed. Although he called it the best team he had since the 1996 Big Eight champs, the coaches voted Missouri ninth in the preseason poll. Ninth would place the Tigers out of the conference tournament for the third straight year.
“Offensive power has never been a problem for our team,” Jamieson said. “We’ve always had enough runs needed to be in the position to win games.”
And that pesky pitching problem from last season? The problem of always giving up a few more runs than the offense could produce? Solved.
McCann’s success has spawned from his near obsession with statistics. He will study stats until he believes he has figured out, without a doubt, the mathematical way to strike out an opponent. He can recite batting averages when batters are facing specific pitch counts in a night home game in the deciding game of a three-game series.
“The first thing I told the staff was pretty simple,” he said. “If you can keep your walks to under 2.88 per nine innings pitched, then you’ll win a lot of games.”
His stat-heavy approach has been known to overwhelm some players, sometimes to the point of confusion. But it works. The team’s ERA is 4.90 and opponents are hitting .273 against them.
“He’s not teaching us technique, he’s teaching us philosophy,” right-hander Justin James said. “Coach Fanning was teaching us how to throw strikes. Coach McCann teaches us how to get guys out. He teaches us how to win games.”
Missouri’s Jayce Tingler came into the Tigers’ regular season finale against Oklahoma seeking closure. In the end, both he and his team weren’t even close.
After accounting for two of the Tigers’ 14 earned runs against Oklahoma in the past two days, Tingler, a senior, struggled to reach base. On the third day of their three-game series against the Sooners, the Tigers rested their bats.
Tingler’s 764 at bats put him 22 ahead of Fry.
“I really thought I was going to step up and get it done,” Tingler said. “It’s not there right now.”
With two days before the start of the tournament, Tingler plans on using the time off to work on his swing, though he said the seven-day layoff between games undid some of his rhythm.
“I was in a pretty good groove last month,” he said. “I just need to see more pitches. Hopefully, I’ll get back in it.”
Coach Tim Jamieson has little reason to doubt the resolve of his star player.
“He’s going to break it,” Jamieson said. “I know he wanted to do it here, but I think he pressed a little bit, and hopefully, he’ll learn from that and be better in the tournament for us.”
If the record comes with success in the tournament, so be it. In the meantime, Tingler said he will try not to think about it.
“Yeah, it’s in the back of your head sometimes, but what’s important is the game,” Tingler said. “This is the biggest series of my career. We walked away with two wins, which is what needed to be done. So I’ll try to stay positive on that.”
About 115 players, alumni and family were on hand as the bust was unveiled yesterday before Missouri’s game against Oklahoma. Simmons’ sons John, Don and Robert did the unveiling. Simmons died in 1995.
"In talking to these guys, they knew what it meant to them to try to come back to honor Coach Simmons," said Uriarte, an MU Hall of Famer who was originally cut by Simmons as a freshman in 1953. "He was a great person. You had to actually know him because he was a tough son of a gun to play for. But, by God, he got the best out of you, and he made all of us better."
Among those on hand to honor Simmons were former player and Coach Gene McArtor; former men’s basketball Coach Norm Stewart; Mary Faurot, wife of Don Faurot; and current MU Coach Tim Jamieson.
"One thing he would stress is how he would feel proud to have a good senior year and go out with a bang," Tinlger said. "He said, ‘That’s something that’s going to carry over the rest of your life.’ "
Missouri’s leadoff hitter has made plenty of noise already, but he’s not quite ready for it all to end.
There would be little argument that Tingler is one of the main reasons for the Tigers’ success. Tingler leads Missouri with a .413 average, 76 hits, 42 walks, 60 runs and 18 stolen bases. Tingler, who has struck out just eight times this year, has an on-base percentage of .534.
That, he’s done for four years. Tingler is tied at the top of MU’s career list with 265 hits. He has 162 walks, two behind Matt Nivens’ career mark. His 215 runs is second all-time at MU.
Those are important numbers to put at the top of a lineup. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 74-28 in the first inning. In 49 games, Tingler has reached in the first inning 26 times and has scored 17 times. Missouri is 15-2 in those games.
"I don’t think it’s spoken or if anybody talks about it, but if Jayce gets on base to lead off the game, it’s like, ‘Here we go.’ That’s the way it’s supposed to be," Jamieson said.
Tingler said he might eventually like to get into coaching. But as long as the Tigers can stretch out his senior year, Tingler wants to enjoy every minute of it.
"When I don’t feel I’m having a good time, I have to step back and evaluate," Tingler said. "And that happens a lot, because I get so wrapped up in the game, stuff like that. Just relax, let things happen, and hopefully good things are going to happen."
Last year, Missouri baseball coach Tim Jamieson got a recruiting tip from an unlikely source.
Jamieson was sitting in his office at Taylor Stadium when center fielder Jayce Tingler knocked on the door. Tingler said he had never done anything like what he was about to do, but he thought the team could benefit from it.
He started to tell Jamieson about how he thought Brad Flanders, a friend from back home and a junior college catcher at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, could provide some immediate results.
“That doesn’t happen often,” Jamieson said. “Players usually don’t do that. But that’s the kind of guy Jayce is, and that was the kind of recruit Brad was.”
A few months later, Flanders stayed with Tingler during his official visit. After that, he signed with the Tigers.
Along with Tingler’s accomplishments at the plate, teammates said his biggest contributions come from his attitude.
“Off the field, he’ll keep you cracking up,” shortstop Ian Kinsler said. “Even when you’re ready to start punching something, he’ll just say something funny. He’ll get a smile on your face.”
On the field, where Tingler has twice been named All-Big 12, his locker room attitude disappears.
“We don’t see that side of him very often,” Jamieson said. “I almost say that he needs to loosen up a little bit sometime.”
Flanders, on the other hand, pumped some new blood and some new energy into a team that hadn’t qualified for the conference tournament since 2000. Missouri didn’t recruit him heavily out of high school because the Tigers had a solid group of catchers.
In the Tigers’ May 4 game at Oklahoma State, Cowboys outfielder Jose Virgil watched as his home run sailed over the wall. While Virgil was standing and staring at the home run, Flanders shoved him from behind to get him running down to first. That set the scene for a bench-clearing brawl after third baseman Josh Fields was hit with the next pitch.
“We didn’t win the game, but it showed we weren’t going to go easy,” Tingler said.
If the Tigers want to secure their first trip to an NCAA regional since 1996, they might need to take the series from the Sooners.
Missouri (32-17, 13-10 Big 12) is in fifth place in the conference with a chance to move into fourth. A fourth-place finish would probably lock up a regional bid - no team that has finished that high in the Big 12 has ever been left out - and fifth or sixth would put them on the bubble.
"We feel if we get two out of three, it puts us 15-11, and that’s going to be good enough to get in, in my opinion," Missouri senior Jayce Tingler said. "We don’t want to put it up to" the selection committee’s "hands. We don’t want to be on the bubble, and if we win two out of three, we shouldn’t be on the bubble. … If you’re sixth or seventh, you’re putting it in the hands of the officials then."
"We want to finish in the top four in the conference, which is still out there for us," Missouri Coach Tim Jamieson said. "One of the things" the selection committee looks "at is record in conference - and we’ve got a chance to have a good record in conference - and how you’re playing the last 10-15 games of the year going into conference. If we go into the tournament in fourth place, we don’t necessarily have to play well in the Big 12 Tournament to get an at-large bid.
"There’s a lot at stake this weekend, plus we haven’t beaten Oklahoma in a while, so there’s a lot to play for."
"I know a lot of players on that team, and I was like, ‘There’s no way they can be that bad,’ " Tingler said. "They’ve got so much talent. It looks like the last two, three weeks they must be putting it together, because they’re one of the hottest teams in the Big 12, so it’s going to be a battle."
"I think there’s a good chance we’ll get six in this year, if the teams can finish off the season," he [Jamieson] said. "Because of Baylor’s schedule, their RPI is very, very good. It’s going to be hard to leave them out if they finish sixth. If we finish sixth, we’re going to have to play well in the tournament to show people we deserve to be in as well."
