ATHENS — As a senior for Gainesville High in 2015, catcher Michael Curry helped lead the Red Elephants to their first state championship series since 2002 and was one of the top recruits in the state and the nation at his position.
At the same time, Scott Striklin was coming off his first season as the new Georgia baseball coach and was highly vocal in his desire to attract the state’s top talent in an effort to rebuild the Bulldogs program.
Curry bought in, and along with several other high-profile Georgia-grown talent like current players senior Keegan McGovern (Coffee County) and junior Adam Sasser (Greenbrier), he decided to help Stricklin make good on his promise. Add in more high-profile freshmen in 2017 like Dawson County’s Tucker Maxwell, Cam Sheppard (Peachtree Ridge), and Aaron Shunk (Lovett), Stricklin and the Bulldogs looked to be doing just that.
However, Georgia’s last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2011 and the Bulldogs sunk to a low in 2017 with a 25-32 record and not even advancing to the SEC Tournament as a young team stumbled while growing.
Now a junior for the Bulldogs, Curry has been a two-year captain and a driving force in Georgia’s remarkable turnaround in 2018. The Bulldogs are 39-17, finished third in the SEC regular season with an 18-12 mark, and claimed a No. 8 national seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Georgia will open the NCAA tournament on Friday at Foley Field against Campbell (7:30 p.m first pitch) in the Athens Regional. Duke and Troy are the other two regional teams and get things started with a 2 p.m. first pitch.
Curry has appeared in 111 games with 107 starts for the Bulldogs in his three seasons with a career .280 average with 17 doubles, 21 home runs and 80 RBI. But he is experiencing his own breakout season hitting .315 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI so far in 2018.
AccessWDUN sports writer Jeff Hart caught up with Curry on Thursday at Foley Field as the Bulldogs prepared for their first home playoff game in a decade discussing subjects from his old team, his new team, and his developing the rare ‘yips’ as a catcher where they have trouble throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
QUESTION: Michael, you and several other home-grown Georgia players came to Athens saying you wanted to help rebuild the program. What is it like being a part of this resurgence and seeing it actually take shape?
ANSWER: For those of us who came here as part of Coach Stricklin’s rebuilding plan that is something we wanted to make happen. We’ve been working hard to do that. We had a very young but talented team last year and I think we’re finally doing that this year as everyone has gotten more experience. Me and some other guys on the team talked about looking back in 10 years and saying this is the year we got Georgia baseball back on the map and being a part of that is very cool. It’ll be interesting to see what happens the rest of the season.
Q: You were a high-level recruit coming out of Gainesville as a catcher and you had a tremendous freshman season on the field and at the plate. But then you developed the 'yips' behind the plate in your sophomore season. Can you pinpoint exactly when and/or how that came about?
A: I’ve been asked that a lot. Imagine waking up one day and forgetting how to write your name. That’s what it’s like. It wasn’t any one thing that I remember. It just sort of happened. It’s a wild thing to have happen, it really is. I’ve tried a lot of things trying to overcome it. I’ve probably tried them all and talked to other people who have gone through this. It’s a bizarre thing but I’m a good sport about it. I don’t mind talking about and I don’t let it get me down. There’s two ways to look at it: shy away from it or embrace it. I’ve embraced it from the standpoint of it is what it is. I’ve tried not to let it affect me in other areas of the game, especially at the plate.
Q: You played some in the outfield this season and last as the coaches have tried to find a way to get you some experience at other positions in the field. If you get an opportunity at the next level do you have a preference on a position? Would you like to get back behind the plate?
A: As far as the next level on a position, if I get that chance, I think it will just depend on whatever the organization wants to do with me. I’m willing to do whatever. If they have an idea that can help me get back behind the plate I’m all for it; if it’s in the outfield, I’m fine with that. Whatever it takes for me to get there. I know my biggest asset is my bat and I have pride in that and I work hard to maintain that.
Q: Long-time Gainesville coach Jeremy Kemp recently stepped down from the Red Elephants program to open the new Cherokee Bluff school in Hall County. Talk about your time at Gainesville and what it was like playing for Kemp.
A: Being a Red Elephant and playing for Coach Kemp was an amazing time. I still talk to him and we stay in touch pretty regularly. He taught me so much on and off the field about being a better teammate and being a better man. To this day I live by a quote he told me that ‘A boy does what he wants, a man does what he has to do.’ He’s an outstanding guy and I know he won’t be at Gainesville anymore, but I know he’s got big-time plans for the new school and he’s going to do great. But I also think Gainesville is in good hands with Coach (Adam) Miller; so I’m sure they’ll be just as good as they always are.
Q: So on to your current team. Y’all are coming off a somewhat disappointing SEC Tournament showing (went 0-2), but you also got a couple of days off to rest and re-energize afterwards. What is the mindset of the group as y’all get ready for the first regional for Georgia since 2011 and the first regional hosting since 2008?
A: First, Georgia’s history in Hoover has not been a good one so we’re not too worried about what happened last week. We were hoping to go in there an make a little noise and that didn’t happen. But we’ve already forgotten about it and we got a couple of days off and away from baseball and I think that has been a huge positive for us all. We’ve been able to come back with a little more energy. Playing at home is a huge advantage for us [Georgia is 23-6 at home in 2018] and we’re excited about getting to play in Foley Field in front of a big crowd. We’re ready to get after it.
Q: What will be the difference in being able to come out on the other side of this regional? Pitching? Offense?
A: Honestly, I think it’s going be everything and everyone. Just doing what we do. We can pitch and we can hit so if we do those two things well we have a good chance. But I do think the first game will be important for us. We need to come out and jump on Campbell quick. They’re a small-ball team so if we can put some pressure on them early that will be big. Winning that first one is huge.
Q: How far can this Georgia team go?
A: Omaha, absolutely. That’s our mindset going into this regional. All the teams here are here for a reason so we can’t look past anyone. If we play our game we’re going to be just fine. But our focus right now is just on (Friday night) and Campbell.
