Player of Year: Short dominates on mound, at plate for Kingston
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A stronger, more experienced Avery Short got as aggressive at the plate as he did on the mound this season.
That paid off handsomely for Kingston High as the Tigers returned to the state final four for the first time in five years.
“We definitely ended up where we wanted to be, but it just didn’t turn out the way that we expected to go out,” said the Freeman’s Player of the Year, whose team lost in the state Class AA semifinals. “We definitely deserved to be in the final four. It was a good season.
“It was actually a great sea-
son.”
Short was No. 1 in a terrific three-man starting rotation with Jeff Hayner and Tyler Kelder that combined for 10 shutouts. Short accounted for four as he posted a 7-1 record with a 1.54 ERA and one save. He threw a four-hit shutout, striking out seven, to beat Valley Central in the sectional title game. A week later, he tossed a complete game as the Tigers defeated Arlington to secure a state berth.
That ERA, by the way, is deceiving. He got knocked around for six runs in a 10-1 season-opening loss to Warwick. He didn’t give up another earned run until the regional finals against Arlington two months later.
Opposing teams batted .188 against Short, who had 69 strikeouts and issued just 15 walks in 50 innings.
“I think that was about maturing, being around the game long enough,” the senior said.
Mixing his pitches and location was key to the right-hander’s approach.
“It was always get ahead and start throwing strikes,” he said. “You got to limit the amount of balls that you are throwing; how many walks you have. because that is just free bases.”
Short worked on his changeup all year.
“It still worked, but just not as well as I wanted it to,” he said.
“I said, ‘Hey, Brady, I need some help with my changeup. Could you give me a five minute tip? He said, ‘What are you doing? I said, ‘When I come over and pronate (twist), the ball doesn’t do anything. He said, ‘Don’t pronate it.’ I said, ‘All right.’ I just threw it over the top and it moved and doved. I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ I could put it where I wanted it.” — Avery Short
Ironically, it was less than a week after the season ended — during his first outing with the Saugerties Stallions of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League — that he discovered what was wrong.
He was warming up in the bullpen when he turned to fellow pitcher Brady Peterson, an incoming senior at Florida’s Stetson University.
“It wasn’t doing anything,” Short explained. “I said, ‘Hey, Brady, I need some help with my changeup. Could you give me a five minute tip? He said, ‘What are you doing? I said, ‘When i come over and pronate (twist), the ball doesn’t do anything. He said, ‘Don’t pronate it.’ I said, ‘All right.’ I just threw it over the top and it moved and doved. I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ I could put it where I wanted it. It actually worked very well. I ended up learning how to throw it.
“I used it during the season, but it did not work as well as it is now. It would be on some days and some days it wouldn’t do anything. Now that I’ve changed my approach of releasing it, it works exactly how I wanted to.
“I wish I knew that awhile ago.”
Short also altered his approach when it came to hitting.
“I think my approach was way more aggressive this year, swinging at first pitch and stuff like that,” he said.
Looking for offense, Kingston coach Mike Groppuso tinkered with the lineup. One of the adjustments was moving Short from fifth to leadoff.
“When I was hitting 5 hole, there was as many fastballs but, when you sit fastball, you have to be aggressive and take that to your advantage,” Short said. “It ended up working.”
In the eight games when he batted leadoff, he hit .520 with 13 runs, seven walks and five RBI. In the four postseason contests, Short batted .545 with seven runs and four extrabase hits.
He doubled, singled twice and scored all three times against Arlington. He reached base three times and scored once in the state semi versus Liverpool. He crushed a secondpitch fastball for a leadoff double in the first inning and nailed a 1-2 backdoor curveball for a leadoff triple in the third. He drew a one-out walk to give Kingston a last hope in the seventh.
He hit .357 for the year with 15 RBI, eight doubles, three triples, a home run and 20 runs scored.
Short is looking forward to his time with the Stallions, giving him a chance to face collegiate players before he heads to Siena College in the fall.
“It’s definitely an awesome experience being able to play with those guys,” he said. “The one thing I did learn playing against them is that you can not miss the ball up, because they will take advantage of that and will hit it very far.”
The plan is to strengthen the arm and work on command of his pitches during the summer.
“It’s going to be a new experience,” Short said about Siena. “It’s going to be fun.”
He’s ready to become a Saint, but his memories of being a Tiger will last forever.
“Just being able to be a part of that Kingston baseball tradition is definitely something,” Short said. “It will just be an experience that I will never forget. I was glad to be a part of it.”