LAKELAND — Coming out of his sophomore season in 2024 as a solid No. 3 pitcher for Santa Fe Catholic, Jameson McGuire was slated to move up to be the No. 2 pitcher.
His role changed quickly.
When Gavin Stedman transferred to Mulberry for his senior season last year, McGuire suddenly had a bigger role. He was to be the Crimson Hawks No. 1 pitcher.
McGuire emerged as the true definition of being the ace in a breakout season players dream of having. But that was only half of the story. Having being a non-factor in his first two seasons as a hitter as he barely picked up a bat, McGuire also emerged as one of the top hitters in the county making him a double threat. Now in his senior season, the Santa Fe lefty has picked up where he left off and is having another stellar season as he leads his team into the 2026 Dan Giannini Baseball Classic.
The annual three-day tournament begins Monday with four Polk County teams, Santa Fe, McKeel, Fort Meade and Lake Wales, and four out-of-county teams, Owasso, Bozeman, Clearwater and Mount Dora Christian. Owasso is the defending champion, having defeated Santa Fe in the championship game.
McGuire will be one of the top players in the tournament from any of the eight teams. On the mound, he is 4-1 with a 1.35 ERA with 54 strikeouts and just two walks in 31 innings. He’s also batting a team-leading .462 with seven extra-base hits and 13 RBIs as the Crimson Hawks’ leadoff batter.
“No matter how the season ends for him, he’s shown that he’s able to handle some of the top teams in the state and ranked in the country,” said first-year coach Nate Striz, who took over for the retired David Saliba this season. “He’s definitely been able to dominate teams and do it again both on the mound and at the plate on the same day. It’s been really good for him to see him have the success and carry the team.”
McGuire is a Lakeland native, beginning his baseball career at Peterson Park in Little League before advancing to various travel ball teams. He didn’t starting pitching until he was 12 and the first pitches he threw were fastball and change-up, which remain his strength.
“They moved me just because I’m a lefty,” he said. “They kept me on the mound because I always threw strikes. I love pitching. I would always get kind of bored in left field or anywhere. I was like, oh, I get to do more stuff.”
In high school, he has worked his way up. He was 0-4 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 innings as a freshman and 4-2 with a 2.43 ERA in 40 1/3 innings as a sophomore.
In his new role last year as the No. 1 pitcher, McGuire embraced it and was the definition of an ace. His offense got him just four runs combined in his first three starts but that was enough for him to win all three starts as he began the season by throwing 18 scoreless innings against George Jenkins, Berkeley Prep and Lakeland Christian. In 11 appearances of five or more innings, he did not allow an earned run in eight appearances. He finished the season 8-1 with a 0.71 ERA and 78 strikeouts. He walked just seven batters in 68 2/3 innings.
“It sucked that we lost Gavin, but I try to make the moment never too big,” he said. “So I kind of stepped up to the other role. I just really had to get the job done, and the next thing you know, I started doing good.”
His success on the mound didn’t exactly come out of nowhere has he showed signs as a sophomore of the ability to be a dominant pitcher.
“The main difference was consistency,” McGuire said. “Sophomore year, I would go out and I’d do great some times, and then there were times I would go out and just get drilled. The main thing was I got a lot stronger, and I felt like that was able to make me a more stable player here if I could just handle the ups and downs.”
McGuire found that even when he didn’t have good stuff, he was still able to battle and stay consistent.
Striz wasn’t surprised to see how McGuire developed.
“He’s our hardest worker — one of our hardest workers — so he puts in the work and it’s paying off,” he said. “So I’m definitely not surprised, and it’s good to see him build off of last year and keep it rolling into this year.”
McGuire has reached 90 mph with his fastball and is consistent in the high 80s. He began his pitching career throwing just fastball and changeups, which allowed him to develop pin-point control, then added a slider and curveball. His best pitch is the changeup.
“I can throw changeups all day pretty much,” McGuire said. “I love throwing my changeup and it doesn’t really put any stress on your arm really. It’s even less stress than the fastball because you’re throwing it slower.”
McGuire’s role in the lineup became just as important, especially as the season developed. He plays outfield when he’s not on the mound, and at the plate, he got stronger as last season progressed. He was batting a respectable .285 (6 for 21) through 11 games then batted .386 (17 for 44) over the remaining 18 games.
“I don’t really know how that one happened actually because I was never really a hitter,” McGuire said. “If you look at the stats for my freshman year and sophomore year, I didn’t get a hit at all. I was batting 0 for 14 or 15 at-bats. And then junior year I just kind of started hitting more. I hit more with my summer team, and that just kind of brought it out. I also just got stronger.”
In addition to playing travel ball, McGuire spent a lot of time last fall working out at the Florida Baseball ARMory in Tampa.
“They break down your mechanics a lot and it’s like I didn’t really have great mechanics,” McGuire said. “I walked in there, and I thought I always had like pretty decent mechanics. Then they just broke it down. It’s just a lot you don’t know.”
After this season, McGuire will play college baseball. He has signed with Florida International as a pitcher.
“The hitting is always fun, but I do like the fact that I’m going to be able to just focus on what I truly love doing over there at FIU,” he said. “I was kind of told that he (head coach) would allow me to (hit) if I pushed him. If I kept nagging him about hitting that he would eventually maybe let me get a shot. But at this point, I’m just going to focus on pitching because it’s going to be hard to do both in college.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Double trouble — McGuire leads Santa Fe as ace pitcher, top hitter
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
