What's up Rams fans! We are headed up to the warm state of Colorado to play four games series against CSU-Pueblo.
The beginning of the season has been really good so far with a nice 8-3 record. We have played really well, but have a lot of areas to get better at which is always a good thing with a winning record. We have even had a walk off home run. Our right fielder Reggie hit an absolute bomb to center field last weekend to cap an exciting game against Lubbock Christian. So, the start of the season has been an overall positive experience, and hopefully we can keep it up in Colorado.
Music and baseball have always been two things that go really well with each other. For example, an AC/DC song and baseball seem to have been created perfectly for each other. Almost every team has an AC/DC song on their batting practice playlist. The same can be said about country songs. I don't know what it is about country music, but it has to be playing at some point at any baseball game. Even rap music works great with baseball. The point is that all types of music work well with baseball.
Our team here at Angelo State is no different. I would even go as far as saying that we have the best variety of music in the country. The country expert on the team is our center fielder Lee Neumann. He listens to every type of country music and can name just about any country artists. Our Latino music expert is our right fielder Reggie Rodriguez. He can sing just about any song at the top of his lungs and say stuff in Spanish so fast that none of us know what he is saying. Our D-Step expert is our second basemen Tyler Couneghour. He plays the latest D-Step every day in the locker room so loud that you can hear it vibrating the clubhouse from a 100 feet away.
Even our coaches are music experts. If you want to know something about any classic rock song head coach Kevin Brooks is your man. Our assistant coach John Anderson is also a Classic rock music expert. In fact, he has competition during batting practice to see who can name the current classic rock song first. He usually wins or at least he thinks he does. As you can see, we have all of the bases covered when it comes to music at ASU.
Baseball players use music to keep their peace of mind during a long and hard season. We are no different at ASU. We love to just hang out in the clubhouse and listen to music. Our favorite song currently, is Thrift Shop by Macklemore, and the dancing that goes on during the song is probably the most unique dancing anyone has ever seen. |
SAN ANGELO — Quaid McKinnon says leaving Paradise for Angelo State was the best decision he and
Ryan Greer ever made.
“Playing here has been perfect for both of us,” McKinnon said. “We are both guys who were being overlooked and needed an opportunity. Not too many people saw us being capable of what we did last year. Coach (Kevin) Brooks saw that in us and gave us the opportunity and the keys to succeed. He believed in us.”
Greer and McKinnon are in their second season with the No. 15th-ranked Angelo State baseball team after starting their collegiate careers with two successful years at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix. The two Arizona natives chose to move to Texas and made an immediate impact at ASU where they were critical pieces to last season's Lone Star Conference championship season. Both seniors have started all 68 games the Rams have played since they arrived last season coming into this week's series at Colorado State-Pueblo.
“There's no doubt that we wouldn't be the same team we are without them,” Brooks said. “They are great on the field and are guys who never take a day off from trying to get better.”
Greer led the Rams with 58 RBI, 29 stolen bases and hit .366 on his way to being named a Rawlings/ABCA All-South Central performer last season. McKinnon hit .355 in his first year at ASU with 17 doubles, 49 RBI, three home runs and was named the conference tournament's MVP. Both were first-team all-conference as juniors and are two of the most consistent hitters in the South Central region.
“It's been a great experience for me to come here and be a part of this team,” Greer said. “It was great for me when Quaid decided to come here too. I had never even been to Texas before and knowing that he was coming too was really a good feeling and comforting. We both have a positive effect on each other.”
McKinnon, who hit three doubles in last weekend's series against Lubbock Christian, called the decision to transfer to Angelo State an “individually joint decision” between him and Greer. The two players grew up in Phoenix but didn't know each other until they met in 2010 at Paradise Valley. They immediately became friends and have helped each other develop into better baseball players.
“I can always expect a text from him asking to come up and hit,” said McKinnon, who has 85 hits, 24 doubles and 47 walks in his career at ASU. “Greer wants to work as hard as I want to work and that has been the best thing about our friendship for me. You can put in the work on your own, but having Ryan always there to work with and talk to is awesome. It helps having someone with the same drive that is also someone who will push you to get to better.”
While coach Brooks struggles coming up with the lyrics to songs with the word “paradise” in it, he doesn't have any issues explaining the positive impact that the two players from Paradise Valley have had on the Angelo State baseball program.
“They really are two of my favorite guys that we've ever had here,” Brooks said. “They are fun to be around and are great players and students. Everything they have has been through them putting in a lot of hard work. They live here in the cages and the field and that's why they are so good.”
McKinnon and Greer are widely recognized as two of the most talented and hardest workers on the team. Both hit from the left side of the plate and share a philosophy of staying compact and hitting the ball where it's pitched. McKinnon transitioned from playing catcher at Paradise Valley to becoming an elite first baseman who Brooks believes is Gold Glove caliber. Greer, who has 82 hits, 60 RBI and 35 stolen bases in his first 68 games as a Ram, was forced to sit out of the 2009 season after having surgery on both of his knees and is now the most feared base runner in the Lone Star Conference. Greer steals bases at will and very few balls are ever hit to left field that he doesn't track down for an ASU out.
Dedication, hard work and deeply ingrained determination has them poised for successful senior seasons and the potential to play beyond college baseball. McKinnon and Greer share a mutual respect for each other that has developed over the years which began four years ago playing for the Pumas at PVCC. Now at Angelo State, the two are appreciated and respected by their teammates, coaches and fans who are witnessing the results that talent and commitment can have on one's success.
“There's no secret to the fact that there's a correlation to putting in work and then playing well in games,” Brooks said. “They are two great examples of what happens when you dedicate yourself.”
Additional Quotes
“He has really changed over the years,” said
Quaid McKinnon of
Ryan Greer. “He went from a guy that couldn't walk to a guy that is a stud out on the field. He put in so much work to get to where he is now and I was there for all of that.”
“He's the nicest person I've ever met and has matured into a really get leader,”
Ryan Greer said of
Quaid McKinnon. “He's that person that is always there for you and offering to do whatever he can for anybody. I would not have picked anyone else to have all these experiences with. He's a great baseball player and a great person.”
