Southeast senior turns his focus to diamond

Published 12:10 am Tuesday, April 6, 2010

In mid-February, Southeast Whitfield’s Tanner McCutchen received a football scholarship offer from Faulkner State Community College  in Fairhope, Ala.

Despite the opportunity, the Raiders’ starting quarterback the past two seasons made what he believed was an easy decision — he chose not to accept Faulkner’s offer.

“I told them I’d call them back because I had to think about it and talk to my family to decide what’s best,” said McCutchen, who completed 103 of 207 passes for 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while rushing for 649 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior. “I never called them back, but I pretty much gave them an answer by not accepting it then.”

McCutchen also had an official visit scheduled with Chattanooga State at the end of February, but decided not to go. But he wasn’t walking away from an opportunity to continue an athletic career in college. He was only walking toward another sport.

As talented as McCutchen was on the football field, he’s equally gifted on a baseball diamond. He’s played for the varsity Raiders since he was a freshman and has been the team’s starting center fielder since his junior year.

On Monday, McCutchen attended a baseball workout at Tennessee’s Cleveland State Community College, along with teammate Trey Parris. The appointment was arranged by first-year Raiders coach Brad Lofton, who has known Cleveland State coach Mike Policastro for several years.

“(Policastro) told me he was recruiting outfielders,” Lofton said. “I told him my starting center fielder is a great athlete and can definitely play at the next level.”

Lofton is confident that even if Cleveland State turns out not to be the best fit for McCutchen, he’ll get his chance to play in college, which is all McCutchen wants.

“Football takes too much of a toll on my body,” McCutchen said. “I can remain healthier playing baseball. I just feel baseball is the best fit for me in college.”

It’s easy to understand McCutchen’s concern for wear and tear on his body. Just before baseball season his sophomore year, he suffered a knee injury, tearing his meniscus during a preseason workout. The injury required season-ending surgery. However, he was able to bounce back from the injury to play both football and baseball his junior and senior seasons with no more trouble.

McCutchen said he’ll miss playing football, but that the sport has helped him become a better baseball player.

“Playing football has made me more aggressive,” he said. “It’s helped my mentality when I get down, to stay positive and play your hardest.”

Lofton said McCutchen has taken on a leadership role on the team along with other seniors and recently called a players-only meeting. Lofton believes that initiative came from being a quarterback and has translated to the baseball team.

Lofton is also increasing McCutchen’s role on the team. Today against LaFayetteville in a pivotal Region 6-3A game, McCutchen will make his first pitching start of the season after being used sparingly as a reliever.

“We’ve got to find a No. 3,” Lofton said of the rotation anchored by No. 1 Dylan Massengill and No. 2 Bradley Grant. “Tanner wants the ball and he wants to do it. Hopefully, he can get a lot of innings this season.”

McCutchen, who throws a fastball in the low 80s along with a changeup and curveball, believes being a starting pitcher can only help him prepare for college. Aside from logging in innings, he said the main thing he wants to work on is hitting off-speed pitches.

“I’m hitting off-speed pitches better than I used to,” he said. “These past couple of games I’ve improved a lot. But I still have a lot of work to do.”