STRASBURG, Va. — Michael Curry is not shy about what his passion is.
“I love playing baseball and that’s what I want to do. My goal is to work hard and be the best I can be,” the former Gainesville High and current University of Georgia standout said Thursday from a faraway place he had never heard of until two weeks ago.
While being “all you can be” may be synonymous as the Army’s long-time moto, Curry has been borrowing the phrase as his own personal mantra. He recently completed his freshman season for the Bulldogs, and if growing pains were part of the learning process, they weren’t very evident.
Curry led the Bulldogs and ranked third in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with 11 home runs. He batted .262 and finished second on the club with 34 RBI. He posted a .990 fielding percentage in 395 total chances. He was second on the team in runs scored (30) and displayed an outstanding .462 slugging percentage to lead the team as well.
His home run total ranked fifth nationally for freshmen and was the most by a Bulldog rookie since 2004 when first baseman Josh Morris tallied 16. Last month, Curry was named to the Freshmen All-SEC team as voted on by the league coaches. During the season, he earned National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball after batting .571 with four home runs and seven RBI in a series against Missouri that week. And, he was twice a recipient of SEC Freshman of the Week honors as voted on by the league office.
As a result of all of that, Collegiate Baseball on Wednesday named Curry a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He is the 25th Bulldog in school history to earn Freshman All-America honors and the first since pitcher Robert Tyler in 2014.
“When I first got the news I was like, ‘Wow! Holy ----!” Curry said. “It was very humbling. But I felt like I worked my butt off during the season so it’s also nice to be recognized for that.”
But in spite of all the season-ending accolades, Curry is not resting on his laurels. He is currently playing summer baseball for the Strasburg Express of the Valley League. He is batting .350 (7-for-20) with two RBI through the first five games, and they are 4-1.
“Coach tried to get us in some places where we could get some more playing time and so far it’s been fun,” Curry said. “I felt like I needed this to grow and develop as a player so that I can help UGA more next year.”
Curry is the most current of a recent pipeline of northeast Georgia players to head to Athens. Former Gainesville teammates Skyler Weber and David Gonzalez, both rising seniors, are on the Bulldogs roster as was David Sosebee of White County until last season. Buford High standout Justin Glover and Dawson County standout Tucker Maxwell will be joining Curry on next year’s team.
“It was nice to have some guys on the team that I already knew and they were a huge influence on me from the first day of practice,” Curry said. “It’s just a great atmosphere and a lot of fun to get to do this every day. I also think we have more great players from (the northeast Georgia) area coming in so I’m real excited about next year. I’m ready to get back to it.”
Jumping into the rough-and-tumble SEC baseball schedule is not for the faint of heart for most first-year players. And certainly not for catchers, where more than framing pitches is required. But Curry quickly showed Bulldogs coach Scott Stricklin he wasn’t your typical freshman.
Weber, who preceded Curry as catcher for the Red Elephants in high school, was expected to jump back behind the plate in 2016 for the Bulldogs after spending his first two years roaming the outfield at Foley Field. But Stricklin saw Curry’s potential and decided to give him a shot to keep both potential big bats in the lineup every day.
Weber would go on to lead the Bulldogs in hitting with a .314 average to go with a team-high 77 hits and four home runs and 33 RBI. Curry also proved he was more than capable behind the plate.
“I think the plan was for Skyler to catch but I just worked hard to show coach (Stricklin) what I could do and he eventually said he wanted us both on the field so I was able to stay at catcher,” Curry said. “Skyler was probably the best player on the team. He is an incredible athlete. But the biggest thing was that when coach made that decision, Web reminded me that it’s just a game and to relax and have fun. That’s what I tried to do.”
Curry was the opening-day catcher against Georgia Southern and picked up his first collegiate hit in the second game of the season. He won one Player of the Week honor before the Dogs opened their SEC schedule against Kentucky.
Curry said everything he had heard about the rugged SEC wasn’t just hype.
“The SEC is the real deal. Man, great players on every team and it’s a brutal schedule,” he said. “I found out fast it was a much quicker game once we got into the SEC schedule. But I just tried to work hard to get better every day.”
And the season didn’t come without its valleys. Curry was mired in an "0-for-20-something" slump after the Dogs were swept by Texas A&M and outscored 30-3 in the three-game series. But, it also spelled a turning point for Curry and perhaps his future as part of the program.
“If you want to take that next step as a player, you have to want to be an overachiever. I went to coach and told him I wanted to try and be more of a leader on the team,” he said. “The A&M weekend was the roughest of the season. I just wanted to let him know I wanted to do whatever it took to help us get better and was willing to take on any responsibility he wanted to give me. I think he seemed excited to hear that.”
The season also had its peaks, especially in the Missouri series. He also belted a home run against then No. 2-ranked South Carolina to help the Dogs win the series 2-games-to-1 at Foley Field.
“I think I just started understanding things a little better and I was seeing the ball real well at that time,” he said. “You have to trust yourself, make mental adjustments, and just work really, really, hard to improve. But I just try to have fun every day and not get too down or too high out there. It’s a tough game even when everything’s going well.”
The current Express schedule is 42 games and ends in late July. Curry said finishing out the summer and then getting back into college life in Athens are his priorities at the moment.
But he already sounds more like a grizzled veteran than someone who just one year ago was graduating from high school.
“I’m having fun traveling with these guys and just playing ball,” he said. “I’ll finish this next month and then get ready to go back to school and get back into the workouts. I’m really looking forward to next year.
“I think we’ll be even more talented with the young guys we have coming in. I like the pitchers we signed and I think we got some talented position guys that can help us.
“But really I’m looking forward to taking on more leadership responsibilities, which kind of comes with the catcher position, and helping Georgia get back to the SEC Tournament and hopefully the NCAA Tournament. The expectations will be high but I think we’ll be up for the challenge.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/6/409533/curry