Summer has developed a well-earned reputation for being a time to sit back, to relax, and to kick your feet up, or to travel to a fun-filled vacation getaway.
If you ask Chris McCullough and Christian Dale, though, their travel plans have been filled with plenty of work.
The kicker is the Columbus High School student-athletes have spent a good part of their summer doing something they love, so they wouldn’t call it “work.”
McCullough and Dale are just two of many baseball standouts in the Greater Golden Triangle area who spent a bulk of their summer “vacation” playing baseball. For McCullough, a highlight came earlier this month when he traveled to Wareham, Mass., to participate in a four-day showcase organized by the Baseball Factory, which holds more than 250 events (tryout, camps, tournament, showcase) throughout the United States.
“I thought it was going to be awesome because I was out of town, I was away from home, and I was going to get to see new pitching and new stuff,” said McCullough, who admitted this is the first summer he has been this busy with baseball. “I am here and I see the same things every day. When I got up there, I learned a lot.”
McCullough also played about 30 games with the Barrett Tigers, a travel team out of Georgia, thanks to Dale. He said he adjusted quickly to living way from home because his teammates made him feel welcome.
The highlight, though, was getting a chance to test himself against some of the top players in the nation. McCullough said he enjoyed the instruction he received and feels even more confident as he continues to prepare for his junior season.
“It helped me because I live in a small town,” McCullough said. “Columbus, Mississippi, is not very big, and everybody knows who everybody is. As I get my name out there by playing in Atlanta and going to Massachusetts, I believe more college coaches will see me and they will talk about me because of my talent.”
Columbus High baseball coach Jeffrey Cook said four or five of his players received invitations to an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout, the first step to getting invited to another event. He said McCullough, a first baseman/pitcher/outfielder, attended the showcase in January at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson and earned the invitation to showcase his skills in Wareham, Mass., one of 10 cities that have teams in the Cape Cod League, a summer league that features some of the nation’s top college baseball players.
Cook said the experience will help McCullough, who has started at Columbus High since he was a freshman, grow into an even better player.
“Chris has a good body, is real strong, and he has a chance to be real good,” Cook said. “This summer is going to be real huge for him.”
The scouts and coaches who worked with McCullough appear to agree. Samantha Latzes, a marketing and operations associate with Baseball Factory, compiled evaluations from several people who worked with McCullough on July 12-16 and said he has a “big, strong build and is an athletic player. She said the scouts said McCullough has good hands and good footwork around first base, and has quick hands, fast bat speed, good finish/extension, and plus power as a hitter. She also said the scouts liked McCullough’s openness to coaching and the fact he is an “all-around aggressive player” with “good natural ability.”
In addition to instruction in the infield and in the outfield, coaches worked with McCullough on the mound. He also received video reviews of his hitting and pitching, attended a recruiting seminar, and attended a Cape Cod League game.
“It was very fun,” McCullough said. “There was a lot of pro teaching. It was all bunched in one. It helped me a lot.”
For Dale, who participated in The Baseball Factory’s camp in Massachusetts earlier in his career, the summer has been packed with more than 60 games with three teams. He has played with the Barrett Tigers, out of Georgia, the Diamond Pros, out of Maryland, and with Tigers Baseball, out of Starkville. The games have taken him to Georgia and Tennessee and have helped the rising senior pitcher/infielder continue to improve and to attract the attention of college scouts.
“I play a lot to get better and to get recognition from other coaches,” Dale said. “I get to meet more people. I love playing and meeting new people. I love winning the games. I love pitching to new catchers.”
Dale has been a fixture on the summer ball circuit through his high school career. The right-hander already is recognized as one of the top pitchers in the area, if not the state, and he is expected to team with Trace Lee, Hunter Mullis, and McCullough to give Columbus High one of the deepest pitching rotations in the state.
Dale feels the experience he has gained the past few summers has helped put him in a position to receive a scholarship offer to play baseball in college.
“(Playing as many games as he does in the summer) has helped me gain confidence and become a better player,” Dale said. “There are a good number of people who know me in the Atlanta area and in Georgia.”
Cook said having players like Dale and McCullough be so committed so summer baseball has helped set an example to the rest of the players on the high school team. He feels the exposure both players have gotten in the summer will help them get a chance to take the next step toward realizing their dreams of playing professional baseball.
“On the teams Christian and Chris play on, everybody is on the same level and they had to compete for playing time,” Cook said. “That is going to make them that much better. The thing that is going to be outstanding for our team is I can already see the maturity in Chris. When you go off and live with somebody, you just have to grow up a little bit. Both of them will benefit from that. The benefits of baseball, maturity, and leadership are going to be the big benefits for us.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 28 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
