| PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT PLAYER
Brad McElroy
Charlotte 49ers |
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For all wonderful things Canada has given
us, including maple syrup, soft lumber, hockey, William Shatner
and (especially) Pam Anderson just to name a few, we owe our
neighbors to the north a little extra credit when they say
they have a hot baseball prospect really to take his game
to the next level in the United States.  When
Brad McElroy decided to give up hockey for baseball, only
tiny Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan was
willing to take a flyer on the plucky kid from St. Thomas,
Ontario with an insatiable work ethic despite a successful
high school career and experience playing for the Ontario
under-17 team and the Ontario Summer Games club. The snub
ended up working out swimmingly for the Bruins as McElroy
helped lead KCC to a school record 49 wins and a conference
championship his first year on campus. After a successful
sophomore year when he was named a Junior College All-American
and led the Bruins in stolen bases and was second on the team
in batting and RBI, McElroy finally caught the eye of a DI
team when Charlotte coaches decided to bring him down to Carolina
to finish his collegiate career. The result was an instant
success for both McElroy and the 49ers.
In his first season in Green and White, McElroy
hit .401 (good for 34th in the nation) to become only the
seventh player in school history to reach the .400 plateau.
He led the Atlantic 10 in hits (97), runs (65), doubles (26)
and RBI (68) and placed 42nd in the country slugging percentage
at .661. He also swatted 11 homeruns and was a perfect 14
for 14 in stolen base attempts. For his effort he was named
to a host of All-American squads as well as being named to
the All-Conference and All-Tournament Teams for the Atlantic
10. Charlotte finished the season at 49-12, their highest
victory total in school history, and won the Atlantic 10 regular
season and tournament titles.
Despite being overlooked coming out of high
school, McElroy doesn’t hold a grudge against those
who didn’t think he was good enough to play DI baseball.
In fact, he embraces his time spend in Battle Creek.
 "I
didn't receive any DI offers and that was very disappointing
for me, because I knew I was good enough." McElroy explained,
"I didn’t want to go to community college, but
it turns out that it was the best decision of my life because
I was able to play every day and become a better player all
around."
Overlooked no longer, McElroy was recognized
going into the season as a Preseason All American and named
to the Wallace Award Watch List as a candidate for the best
college baseball player in the country. As he continues to
work to power Charlotte to a repeat A-10 championship, another
laundry list of awards will certainly follow, as well as an
opportunity to play professionally. However don’t expect
the possibility of play-for-pay baseball to go to his head.
"I think I can become better at every
aspect of my game and I strive to do so," McElroy declared,
"I just play as hard as I can everyday. The funny thing
about baseball is that you can't decide where the ball goes.
One day you’re four for four and the next you’re
0 for four. I want to leave everything on the field."
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