Greg Ewing, who has had a bat or a glove in hand since T-ball, tried soccer and football while growing up. But he finally settled on one sport: baseball.
“He’s a straight baseball kid who is focused on one thing, and he’s learning how to work hard for it,” says Wildcats baseball coach Jay Higgins. “He’s a shy kid, but he has a good attitude.”
Ewing’s hard work has earned him a reputation as one of the best pitchers in the area.
“In our first 10 ball games, Greg had a one-hitter, two two-hitters and a four-hitter,” Higgins says. “He had one complete-game victory where he only threw 61 pitches, and that’s amazing.”
Ewing, a junior, says he has learned something about pitching: What had always come naturally to him requires more than the physical act of burning the ball in there.
“I guess this year I’ve learned that there’s a mental part to pitching,” Ewing says. “Last year, I was just throwing. But the coach has stressed the mental part a lot.”
“Now, I like to change speeds as much as I can and use different pitches besides just the fastball. I throw a slider and a circle change. Last year, I was always joking around on the bus, but this year, I’m trying to concentrate more on the game.”
He is a single-minded kid. He goes to class and plays baseball, and that’s it.
“Baseball takes all the time I’ve got,” he says. “I’d like to play as long as I can. I just love to pitch, I enjoy it so much, and I think about it a lot.”
“When I’m going to pitch, I look in the paper and see who’s hitting well for the other team. Playing baseball, that’s what I’d like to do (when he grows up) more than anything.”
Smith Develops His Power
With more than half of the baseball season completed, Wildcats senior Casey Smith wasn’t sure he would get the same recognition that he did as a junior, when he hit .507 and was named the City’s Player of the Year.
“I didn’t know if I could top that,” says Smith, who’s an all-district choice in both football and baseball.
Through 21 games, Smith had more home runs (five) and runs batted in (21) than he did last season.
Smith spent a little time with the books, too: He has a 1080 SAT score and a 92 average, which ranks him 80th in a senior class of 560.
Getting Even
The fledgling LH softball team, which suffered some lickings against more experienced competition in the early season, took out its frustrations against Allen.
Coach Kim Kromdyk’s squad scored 19 runs in the top of the first and went on to win, 30-13. (Yes. THIRTY runs.)
The big victory gave the girls a 7-3 record.
Gymnastics Team Scores
LH gymnasts Chad Conner, Hazel Stricker and Matt Loucks recently qualified for the regional meet.
Junior Beth Brown missed the district meet because of strep throat and a 103-degree fever, but coach Dennis Coats petitioned her into regionals. Four days before district, Brown was first all-around in the Arlington Invitational.
