LAKELAND — Calling Jameson McGuire’s junior season a breakout year would be an understatement. He emerged as one of the the top pitchers in the county and also became one of the most dangerous bats in Santa Fe Catholic’s lineup.
McGuire was just warming up. As a senior, he remained an elite pitcher and an even bigger threat in the lineup. That combination normally would make him an easy choice as the county’s top player.
However, Lakeland Christian shortstop Gavin Byrd senior season at the plate against a strong schedule, Byrd consistently came up with big hits in big games in leading the the Vikings to the state tournament. His performance was hard to overlook.
McGuire and Byrd are The Ledger’s Baseball Co-Players of the Year.
On the mound, McGuire unbeatable nearly all season. He went 7-2 with a 1.22 ERA. In 10 starts, he had eight complete games, and he struck out 99 batters in 63 innings. His only losses came against George Jenkins, 4-2, and Lakeland Christian, 4-3, in the district championship game. He nearly pitched the Crimson Hawks to an upset win over Orlando First Academy as he allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings, throwing 104 pitches. However, First Academy rallied for two runs after he left the game to pull out a 5-4 win.
At the plate, he raised his averaged from .354 with six extra-base hits as a junior, to .447 with 14 extra-base hits, including eight doubles and three home runs.
“I’m happy with everything I did,” he said. “I hit a lot better than last year. Pitching was pretty much around the same, and then I got more strikeouts and around the same amount of walks. So pitching wise didn’t really change, but I think I surprised myself a little bit with the hitting. I think I did a lot better than I than I thought I was supposed to do.”
Although he was a top hitter, McGuire is focusing on pitching in college. Byrd who has faced McGuire numerous times as district rivals knows how tough it is to face him.
“He’s tough because he doesn’t walk people,” Byrd said. “He’ll go down 2-0 in a count and you’re expecting something hard like fastball, and he just throws change-up. You’re just sitting there 2-1 and you’re like, all right, I thought he was going fastball there. So then, he’ll just drop a curveball in there and it’s 2-2, and then he can throw whatever pitch he wants at any time. I’ve never really seen a pitcher not walk guys like he does. And I think he’s also just an ultra good competitor. He just competes.”
While McGuire improved as a player, he also expanded his role off the field, especially with Santa Fe not being as deep in talent as in earlier years.
“I think I became a better leader from that,” he said. “I just I feel like most of the team looked up to me and I was able to really guide, especially the younger guys, into what they should be doing and really sharpening them because a huge thing for our team is the younger guys stepping up into big shoes.”
McGuire originally signed with Florida International, but with the coaching change, he instead is headed to Polk State for two years.
“With people like (head coach) Al Corbeil and Ryan Abrams and their pitching coach (Jacob Heath), they’re developing all the players in the area,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing but good thins, so I decide to commit to them. I’m excited for playing for him (Corbeil).”
Byrd hit a respectable .325 as a freshman and followed up with seasons of .423 and .360. However, he ended his high school career with his best season.
Facing tough competition, Byrd, who batted leadoff most of the year, hit .429 with 29 runs scored 12 doubles, three triples, .565 on-base percentage, .857 slugging and 1.422 — all career highs. He also had six home runs and 30 RBIs. He led LCS in all those batting categories except RBIs. Parker Kant had 33.
“I was excited how the year went,” Byrd said. “It was definitely a cool experience and just playing against the best competition we can is always fun and makes us better.”
In eight postseasons games, he batted .400, which doesn’t tell the whole story. After LCS lost the opener to First Academy in which Byrd went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBIs, he went 1-for-5 in the second game but that hit was a three-run homer that helped LCS pull away to tie the series. He was on base three times in the clinching game as he went 1-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch.
Facing McGuire in the district championship game, Byrd went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
“As a hitter, he’s just an overall really good guy,” McGuire said. “He’s got power, so he can really burn you at both sides. Hee can go opposite field, he can go, ull side, but I think like the main thing is that nothing’s going to really get by him. I could throw fastballs, I can throw changes. He always kind of manages to touch them. And then he always hunt balls that are a ball off the plate or a ball in.”
Like McGuire, Byrd has changed the college that he will attend because of a coaching change. He decommitted from South Carolina and has signed with Florida State.
“I took some visits and Florida State’s always been kind of my dream school,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: McGuire, Byrd set themselves apart to be Polk’s top baseball players
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
