DAVIS FINALLY HAVING FUN FOR COWBOYS
J.R. Davis is feeling pretty good these days, seizing OSU’s second base spot and providing a boost atop the lineup, distancing himself from what were essentially two lost seasons before he arrived in Stillwater.
STILLWATER – J.R. Davis launched a drive into left-center field at West Virginia’s Monongalia County Ballpark and enjoyed the flight and the sight.
“I put my barrel on it,” Davis said. “At first, I thought it was a home run, so I kind of had a homerun trot going. But it hit the wall, so I sped up and hit second.” Better yet. With the double, Davis had hit for the cycle for the first time in his life, providing Oklahoma State with its first cycle — single, double, triple and home run — since 2011, completing a big day in a needed road win.
“It was probably the greatest feeling ever,” Davis said.
And Davis is feeling pretty good these days, seizing OSU’s second base spot and providing a boost atop the lineup, distancing himself from what were essentially two lost seasons before he arrived in Stillwater.
“This is so much fun,” he said, “the best time in my life, by far.”
Davis always seemed destined to do big things. At St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo, Calif., he was Most Valuable Player of the Bay Shore Athletic League as a junior and senior. Following his senior year, ESPNRise Magazine’s annual “18 under 18” issue listed Davis as one of the best athletes under the age of 18 in the country.
Then, Davis’ career took a tumble, literally.
While racing to backhand a ball up the middle as a freshman for Contra Costa College, Davis’ ankle rolled as he planted where the infield dirt met the outfield grass. It was the sixth game of the season, and his last, due to a highgrade sprain that was slow to heal.
Davis returned as a sophomore and batted .288, then was directed to Seminole State by Contra Costa assistant coaches Dan Mills and Chris Dean, who had played at Seminole under longtime coach Lloyd Simmons. Dean felt Simmons could prepare Davis for the next level.
Davis was assuming he’d get another year at the junior college level via a medical redshirt, but he didn’t immediately petition for one while at Contra Costa and may have cost himself by waiting until he was in Oklahoma two years later to submit the necessary paperwork.
“The whole fall went by and I didn’t get a verdict,” Davis said. “I missed the first two weeks of the season and finally the commissioners from California sent me a one-sentence email telling me my redshirt wasn’t granted.”
So Davis sat some more, left to work on his game on the side and through practices, while far from home and with no games to show his skills.
“It was weird at first,” he said. “But I adapted to the situation. I’m a baseball guy, I love the game. I’d do a lot to play this game.
“All there is out there in Seminole is baseball, so that’s what I focused on mainly, trying to perfect what I could, working out every day, swinging, taking ground balls. I tried to give back knowledge to the players who were there, and that sharpened my leadership ability.”
Marty Lees, a Cowboys assistant before landing the head coaching job at Washington State, knew about Davis and had heard good reports on him from baseball people on the west coast. Lees and Cowboys pitching coach Rob Walton both went to see Davis practice in Seminole and saw enough to like.
“Both of them felt like he was too good an athlete not to take a shot on,” said Cowboys coach Josh Holliday. “They saw athleticism that was intriguing. And the kid’s outlook on life was really positive.
“There was just a strong kind of sense that this is a good kid to take a shot on.”
Last May, Davis signed with OSU, which was losing senior second baseman Tim Arakawa. And after a fall shoulder injury delayed his emergence, he’s become an impact batter at the top of the order, batting .324 with a .405 on-base percentage for the No. 16-ranked Cowboys.
“J.R. is more of your aggressive top-of-the-lineup guy,” Holliday said. “We’ve seen those guys who are bunters and count-workers, things like that. He’s more of a guy who looks for a good pitch and drives it.
“And I like that about him. Good things are happening for him.”
Finally, things are happening.
“I just kept on pushing and with the grace of God, I landed here at Oklahoma State,” he said. “I had to put all my faith in God and let him take care of and worry about all that other stuff I can’t control.
“And I owe a lot to my teammates and my coaches. They believed in me from the jump.”