When opportunity knocked, Evan McPherson opened the door and let it in.
The 19-year-old has not missed a beat for Werribee Giants in Baseball Victoria’s summer league division 2 this season.
A new lease of life under first-year coach Justin Charles has seen McPherson not only cement a position in the Giants’ starting line-up but become one of the key players ahead of the finals.
He’s the club’s leading batter and hardly puts a foot wrong in right field.
“I’ve been pretty happy and, I guess, a bit surprised with how I’ve gone this season,” McPherson told Star Weekly.
“I wasn’t expecting to go as well as I have.
“I struggled a bit the past two seasons. Last year, especially, was a bit frustrating for me, being in and out of the side. I couldn’t really cement a spot.”
McPherson was not even in the Giants’ opening day line-up this season.
When he got a call-up to the ones in round two, he must have felt like another frustrating season of yo-yoing in and out of the top side was on the menu. But that hasn’t been the case.
He has come so far in a short time, producing career-best form to be one of the first picked.
“This year I started off in the seconds. After one game I got put in the firsts and I haven’t really looked back,” McPherson said.
McPherson is a tougher out, showing more patience in the batters’ box.
He works longer counts to frustrate opposition pitchers, which must please teammates who benefit from a tiring foe.
He also puts the pressure on the opposition fielders by sprinting the bases, no matter how routine a play might seem.
“I just try to be a hard out, try to make them work for it,” McPherson said.
“Even if I hit a soft ball back to the player, I always try to run it hard and put the pressure back on them.
“Having Justin working with our hitting has improved mine this season and I think a lot of the other boys would say the same.
“I’ve been more patient in the batters’ box and taking a few more pitches rather than chasing first-pitch strikes. That’s what I’ve tried to do and it’s paid off.”
McPherson has played at Werribee since he was 10, winning a junior premiership in his first year.
He’s a homegrown talent from Hoppers Crossing, and the club is rapt to have him as one of the key players in its charge to the finals.
Asked about his future in the game, McPherson doesn’t talk about dreams of playing in college or in the ABL.
The only goal he wants is to lead the Giants back to division 1.
“I’m pretty happy at the moment just playing at Werribee,” he says.
“The goal of mine and the club’s is to get back into that top division.”
You come to understand why a future in baseball is not at the top of the list for McPherson when you realise his academic
gifts.
His priority now is to get the best out of his engineering degree at Melbourne University, a course that only accepts students with an elite tertiary entrance score.
Meanwhile, the fight for second spot between Werribee Giants and Moorabbin Panthers will come down to the 27th and final round of the regular season. The Panthers pipped the Giants 5-4 on Sunday to move back into second place on win percentage.
The Giants can reclaim second, but they need to beat bottom-of-the-ladder Bonbeach St Chads at Presidents Park on Saturday and hope the Panthers lose to Fitzroy.
