McGarry hurls Lakewood Ranch to regional semis

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Even though the game wasn’t scheduled for another two hours, Lakewood Ranch High senior Seth McGarry was standing on the mound, staring down to home plate.

The Mustangs right-hander, who was making only his third start of the season because of an elbow injury he suffered during the offseason, visualized the game he was about to pitch. He saw throws hitting their mark and batters off-balance.

The visualization technique, one he learned he learned a few years ago from watching St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia on a television pre-game show, paid off for McGarry, who shut down visiting Tampa Sickles.

McGarry threw 55 pitches, allowing three hits and striking out five while leading the host Mustangs to an 8-1 victory over the Gryphons in a Class 6A-Region 3 quarterfinal May 3.

McGarry, who will play for Florida Atlantic University next year, suffered a tender elbow and spent much of the season serving as Lakewood’s DH. The transition to not being out on the field with his teammates was difficult for McGarry initially, but he knew it was ultimately in his best interest.

“My favorite thing to do is being in the field having fun and talking to all of the players,” McGarry said. “Hitting is a plus, but I really like to be on the mound and in the field.”

Now with his elbow finally starting to feel better, McGarry, who went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored, is making his way back into the Mustangs starting rotation at just the right time.

“It feels a lot better,” McGarry said of his elbow. “I’ve been rehabbing and working it out. This year has just been getting back to it, and I’m starting to come alive at the end of the year when we really need it.”

“We have been waiting for Seth McGarry to be healthy all year, and it was worth the wait,” Lakewood coach Mike Mullen said. “I think we did the right thing with him by putting him on the shelf early, and we got him a couple good starts.

“We had planned to run him out for a while, and then, we found ourselves in a good situation. It was a very good pitching performance for us. It just one of those things where we’ve got to kind of corral and think more about the kids than we are about our organization. We’ve got to keep kids healthy.”

McGarry pitched five solid innings for the Mustangs before turning the ball over to Jake Axley in relief. Axley pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out the Gryphons final batter to seal the victory.

Lakewood took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Bryan Vanvranken drew a walk and eventually came around to score on a RBI single by Brad Zunica. The Mustangs took control of the game in the fourth inning, when they scored seven runs on six hits, two walks, five errors and a wild pitch.

With the win, Lakewood traveled to Tampa King for a regional semifinal May 8. The winner will advance to the regional finals.
 
Results from the Lakewood’s regional semifinal appearance were unavailable as of press time Tuesday. Be sure to check www.YourObserver.com to see how the Mustangs fared.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].