Andrew “Maniac” McGee has become a name much feared amongst the Northeast Conference baseball teams. As MU’s starting pitcher, McGee has a 5-1 record, four complete games, and 38 strikeouts. Not to mention he was named New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association’s Pitcher of the Week on March 25.
McGee’s baseball roots trace back to age eight when he began at a much less competitive level. “My dad really loves baseball so he got me into it. He signed me up for t-ball, said have fun and I ended up really enjoying it.”
A few years down the road, McGee landed a spot as a starting pitcher for Toms River South under legendary coach, Ken Frank. McGee’s talent shined his senior year of high school as he set a Toms River South record for becoming the first pitcher to have an undefeated season with more than 10 decisions. McGee’s overall high school career finished at 20-4, 12 of those wins came from his senior year.
As he moved past the high school level and came to play under Head Coach Dean Ehehalt at MU, McGee also moved from a starting pitcher to the bullpen.“When I was coming out of the bullpen, I would pitch one day and then the next you may have to come out and pitch again,” McGee said. “It’s a little more stressful coming out of the bullpen [than starting] because you never know when you’re going to get in the game.”
As a sophomore at MU, McGee landed a spot in the starting rotation, a role he felt much more comfortable with. “I enjoy starting just because you can get into a routine and it’s just easier to know your day. For example, if you pitch Friday, then Saturday and Sunday you can relax,” he said.
Currently, McGee has the most wins in the NEC and has been issued the NEC Pitcher of the Week award three consecutive times. When asked what the Pitcher of the Week means to him, McGee humbly responded, “When I’m pitching I’m not really thinking about it. When the announcement comes out on Mondays, the coaches will usually let me know that I won so I can inform my parents.”
In fact, it seems as if McGee’s teammates care more about the award than McGee himself. “I’ve been getting some stuff, the guys have been ragging on me a little bit saying ‘oh you won three in a row, you think you can do whatever you want,’ stuff like that,” McGee said jokingly. “You have fun with it, but we don’t really focus on it too much.”
To put in perspective how much McGee’s stamina has improved, at this point last season, he pitched less than 35 innings and his record was 2-3. This year, he has already pitched well over 50 innings thanks to his knack for complete games. The change in his record from this year and last reflects the change in his off season work efforts.
“Andy wants to be the guy and he has done everything he needs to in order to be the guy,” Ehehalt said. “Nutrition, working out, off season stuff, putting in his work in between starts. It’s no coincidence that he’s successful.”
McGee concurred that his work out habits have changed from last season, but he also credits his ability to last longer and be more effective in the games to one man in particular. “Coach Brown has done a good job of getting my arm in shape so I can stay in the game longer. Also, I’m pitching more towards contact early in the at-bat which keeps pitch counts low and helps pitchers stay in the game.”
Brown and McGee’s offseason efforts were first put to work when McGee pitched against Vanderbilt earlier this season. In what he considers to be his greatest collegiate game yet, McGee also suffered his only loss of the season in a 5-1 game.
“The biggest game I had was when we played against Vanderbilt this year. It was pretty intimidating facing the second best team in the whole nation,” McGee recalled. “I did alright and that was a pretty big confidence booster knowing I can pitch against that kind of competition.”
McGee did a little better than “alright” as he put it. He opened the Vanderbilt series going 5 and a third innings and giving up four earned runs off four hits. The Hawks then lost the second game 11-1 and the final game of the series 13-1.
With all McGee’s accomplishments over the years, he has one desire which can never be fulfilled. “I always wished I was right-handed just so I could play shortstop,” he said with a laugh. His desire to be right-handed stems from his admiration for New York Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter. “When I was growing up, Jeter was a superstar. You can tell he loves to play the game and plays it the right way.”
Whether left-handed or right-handed, McGee hopes his future involves more baseball beyond the collegiate level. “Hopefully I can get an opportunity to play in the minors, that’s been a dream of mine,” McGee said. “If not, I don’t really know, I’ll just put my business degree towards something. Maybe open up a baseball facility.”
In the meantime, you can watch McGee in action this weekend as the Hawks host their NEC rival, the Wagner Seahawks, in a four game series starting Friday at 3:00 pm.
PHOTO COURTESY of MU Photography
