Jordy McDonald plays baseball for Chattanooga StateJordy McDonald came from Down Under to play baseball for Chattanooga State.
Now he wants to finish on top.
McDonald has done an outstanding job at shortstop for the two-year program, and the Perth resident says he's greatly enjoyed the chance to "see places" quite different from Australia. But he would like nothing more right now than to visit Colorado for the first time later this month.
That is the site of the NJCAA World Series, where Chattanooga State wrapped up its 2010 season. As the Tigers host other TCCAA teams in the Region VII tournament this week, they are not the favorites but they are considered serious contenders for a spot in the four-team playoffs next week against Georgia's top two.
McDonald is a major component with his .343 batting average, 17 extra-base hits, .476 on-base percentage, team-high 42 RBIs, 37 runs scored and team-high 129 assists with 55 putouts.
But he is far from the only reason the Tigers (39-17, 17-10) had the third-best record in the league that includes the nation's fourth- and 10th-ranked teams, Columbia State and Walters State. His sophomore double-play partner, Zach Zarzour from Ooltewah High School, is batting .383 with an .500 on-base percentage and 58 runs to go with 36 RBIs, and catcher Matt Sorrow (.365), Daniel Tucker (.328), Isaac Garner (.344), Zach Lance (.343), Taylor Patterson (.333), Connor Gilbert (.299), and Tyler Garner (.284) are the other players with at least 130 plate appearances.
Sorrow in particular has been a pleasant surprise, coach Greg Dennis said, not only with his batting average but with his run production. He's had the eighth most at-bats but is fourth on the team in RBIs, with 29.
Patterson not only has been productive offensively, tied with Zarzour for runner-up RBI honors on the team, but has been a key part of the pitching staff that worries at least some opposing coaches more than the lineup. Working early in the season as the closer but of late as a starter, the freshman from Murray County has 37 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings, a 2.05 earned run average and four of the team's nine saves. He leads the Tigers pitchers in appearances with 18.
Freshman Tyler McClure from Blue Ridge, Ga., has pitched 71 1/3 innings, 18 more than the next guy on the staff, Dylan Massengill (5-4), with Carson Bryant 6-0 in 45 innings and maintaining a 2.0 ERA. He has eight starts to go with 12 for McClure, nine apiece for Alex Ridge (7-3) and Trippp White and seven for Massengill. The team ERA is 3.06.
"McClure absolutely has done a great job, and Taylor Patterson has really come on," Dennis said in his discussion of pleasant surprises. "And Dylan was a sophomore who we didn't know how where he would fit in, but he's had a very good spring for us.
"Adam Howard has done a phenomenal job with our pitchers, and [fellow assistant coach] Joe Wingate does a great job with the defense and the hitters," Dennis said.
"It is a great accomplishment for this team to have the third best record in our conference. We're all freshmen on the mound except for two, and then we lost Tyler Roach a third of the way to a season-ending injury. He was second-team all-conference last year.
"We had to excuse five players for academic situations, and that included three starters and conference arms. So we've had to deal with some adversity, but we've stayed competitive."
Zarzour said the Tigers "had high expectations coming in" and refused to let the "distractions" change that.
"We fight. We're a tough team, and we've played well," said the second baseman with the .631 "quality at-bat" percentage. "With our big field we play kind of old-school small ball with speed and defense, so we're used to scrapping."
The Tigers are in the bracket with national power Walters but open tournament play Monday at 1 p.m. against Dyersburg State, which beat Chatt State twice and lost in extra innings in their March series at Dyersburg. There will be no looking past the first game, Zarzour said.
"We have some unfinished business with Dyersburg," he said.
Said McDonald: "They beat us twice, so it would be nice to beat them. We should have won all three."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.