"Idol" Winner Takes Grounder to the Throat

A few months back, 2011 "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery was back on the mound for the Garner Trojans.  And, frankly, while I'm surprised...I'm kinda glad the dude is sticking it out.

This past Thursday night, however, I'm willing to bet that the 18-year-old might be thinking otherwise.  You see, in the third inning of Garner's contest against East Wake (North Carolina) High School...the country crooner took a grounder to the throat.

Not so cool when you're the reigning American Country Awards' New Artist award winner!

"He took a grounder to the chin, but is OK," Garner baseball coach Derik Goffena told the News & Observer. "Scared him more than anything."

McCreery stayed in the game, pitching 4 1/3 innings for the Trojans.  He left with a 2-1 lead. Overall, the righty struck out six, walked none and allowed seven hits...including a home run. 

For the year, McCreery is 1-0 with a 2.06 ERA.  He has struck out 19 and walked one in 13 1/3 innings.

"Idol" Winner Back on the Mound

Last year at this time, I suggested that high school pitcher Scotty McCreery from Garner, North Carolina could be "bigger than Bryce Harper".

And you know what, after winning American Idol, touring with Brad Paisley and grabbing the American Country Awards' New Artist trophy...he might be so far.

But here's the best part...he's back on the bump, baby!

This past weekend, the now-high school senior took to the mound for the Garner Trojans and pitched a scoreless, no-hit seventh inning...and even struck out two!

"It feels good just to come out here and just get back on the field," McCreery told the News & Observer. "I thought my curveball worked well. But today was just about the team. I'm glad to help out the team in any way possible."

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/11/1922923/idol-winner-scotty-mccreery-happy.html#storylink=cpy

And even though he was watched by close to 30 million viewers during last May's finale of "American Idol", the 18-year-old crooner apparently hasn't let the fame get to his head...dude lent his help to cleaning up the field following the game.

"It means a lot to still be a part of this," McCreery said. "It's still playing with my friends, just being back home. I'm blessed to have this opportunity."

Next for McCreery?  My guess would be graduation, but if you're looking to scratch that itch...check out his website for tour information.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/11/1922923/idol-winner-scotty-mccreery-happy.html#storylink=cpy

Let's Make This Happen, Gang!

Not that long ago, I threw out an innocent enough question...could Garner (North Carolina) Magnet High School reliever Scotty McCreery "end up bigger than Bryce Harper?"

The 17-year-old was coming off a sophomore season where he was 6-1 with a 1.04 ERA.  Oh...and dude had just made it past Hollywood Week on "American Idol".

Harper, last year's number one overall draft pick, was still packing his bags for Spring Training.

Now that McCreery has won the the latest installment of the singing competition...I'm curious of something else.  Can we make McCreery the youngest ever member of the Trojan Athletics Hall of Fame?

Why not?

Last year's inaugural class featured, at best, the MVP of the 1993 NCAA champion North Carolina Tarheels and a journeyman outfielder who stuck around in the bigs for 214 plate appearances.

The criteria is the sticky part though, gang. 

Consider this:

"A.  The nominee, if an athlete (and our country-fied crooner is), must have attended Garner High School and have been out of high school for at least ten years."

McCreery is technically a junior, so...moving on.

"B.  The nominee, if a coach, must have coached at Garner High School...blah, blah, blah."

Next!

"C.  The nominee, if an at-large candidate, must be a member of the community who has made a significant contribution to Garner High School."

Ah ha...that's it!

Sorry, Scotty's Mom, but your son isn't going back to high school so his accolades on the field (while impressive) aren't going to get any better.  It is his current standing as a "member of the community" who has made a "significant contribution" that can't be disputed.

Let's face it...no one would know about Garner Magnet High School (much less Garner, North Carolina) if this kid didn't make it to the Finals of American Idol.

So...who is going to do the honors of submitting the nomination form?  There has to be one of you out there that is close enough to this sleepy suburb of Raleigh that can handle the task.

Anyone?

Scotty McCreery Takes Center Stage

Two weeks ago, The Hall posed the question...could Garner (North Carolina) High School pitcher Scotty McCreery end up being bigger than last year's number one overall pick Bryce Harper?

We'll soon know.

While Harper is taking his cuts at Spring Training for the Washington Nationals...McCreery is getting ready to take the "American Idol" stage.

And dude has been a favorite of the judges and online fans alike since he first appeared on the Milwaukee audition show.

This is how Rolling Stone referred to the 17-year-old hurler:

Good ol' Scotty McCreery (we all call him Scotty now, didn't you know?) is actively touted as the lone "country boy." He has a tendency to doggedly repeat a single song about locking doors and turning the lights down low. One of the few times he ventured out — with "I Hope You Dance," by Lee Ann Womack — he fumbled the words, which resulted in the phrase "nuts of wonder." It'll be interesting to see Scotty stretch his repertoire.

Early reports are that the baby-faced baritone is performing "Letters From Home" by John Michael Montgomery on tonight's show.

You can check out how he does for yourself on FOX.

Bigger Than Bryce Harper? Potentially.

Move over Bryce Harper...America has a new favorite high school baseball player.

Not since the number one pick in the 2010 MLB draft was hitting tape measure home runs for Las Vegas High School has a high school player gotten this much national attention.

I mean, do a Google search for junior pitcher Scotty McCreery and you'll find close to 400,000 entries to choose from.

Look for dude on Facebook or Twitter and you'll find an endless number of fan pages and tweets like "I love Scotty McCreery. He's a cutie" (courtesy of @kaylabeliebs) or "The boy from Garner...his name is Scotty McCreery he's my favorite!" (courtesy of @Tay_Laura_B_Fan).

But, as you might have guessed, it has nothing to do with the 6-1 record and 1.04 ERA that he posted last year for Garner High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

You see, the 17-year-old righty isn't striking them out on the playing field (yet)...he's been too busy mowing down the competition on the latest installment of "American Idol".

You read that right. 

McCreery is, currently, one of the 60 finalists that made it through the always tough "Hollywood Week" and the judges and fans alike are loving him.

“Some of the girls that know Scotty have known he can sing,” Garner junior first baseman Alec Hulmes told FOXSportsSouth.com. “But now it’s just like, girls come up to him left and right.”

So could this kid from North Carolina end up bigger than Bryce Harper?  It's a possibility given the size of the national stage he might be on next week at this time.