By: Deb Wallace

Cody McPherson graduated from Lake High School in the spring of 2006, less than a year later he would be involved in a tragic accident with the rest of his Bluffton University baseball team. When he was asked how things are going a year after the accident, Cody says, “Our team/family is doing as good as can be expected. We all deal with the tragedy everyday in our own ways.” That being said, he is now focusing his efforts on playing summer baseball again, this year with the Ohio Monarchs Blue Team. The Monarchs are playing their first year in the National Amateur Baseball Federation Toledo League, as well as continuing to play in the Tri-State Collegiate League.

While Cody was at Lake, he played football and basketball along with baseball. He chose baseball to play in college because “I have always had a love for the game and a want to play and be the best. There is always something new you can learn from the game of baseball and you have to respect that. Plus there are always people who are just as good as you and it’s a personal goal to improve and get better than those.”

When asked what areas he needed improvement in, Cody said, “All areas of baseball can be improved on. I would say that any college player with a good mental approach to the game of baseball can tell you that you can never be too improved.” He also added that is why he plays summer ball, because “Only playing baseball during the fall and spring will not make you better for the next level. Summer ball gives you a chance to improve, relax and have fun, while playing competitive baseball.”

Cody said that his strengths are “my teammates because you are only as good as the men around you.” When asked what he likes best about his fellow teammates, he said, “I like how relaxed and loose my teammates are on the Monarchs. We come to a field and have confidence enough to expect to win.”

Through Tuesday, June 24th the Monarchs Blue Team has an overall record of 11-3. Cody is a pitcher and outfielder for the team. He has played in twelve of fourteen games so far this season. So far he has five hits in twenty-nine at bats, all singles, has walked eight times and scored runs six times. Also, he has two runs batted in, stolen six bases, and was caught stealing once. Fielding wise, Cody has played a total of seventy-four innings recording two errors, two assists and fifteen put outs. He has also done well pitching too. In nine and two thirds innings of work, he has faced forty-three batters, allowing three runs, giving up only five hits and five walks, and striking out nine. Cody has appeared in four games so far and has a record of 1-1 with one save. This is just a continuation of how well Cody played this past spring at Bluffton. He played in and started all twenty-nine games, having thirty-four hits in one hundred and four at bats giving him an average of .327 in addition to this, he drove in nineteen runs. For pitching, Cody appeared in nine games, starting seven of them. His final earned run average was 7.64 and he had a record of 3-2.

In terms of how he thinks the team is doing so far this season, Cody says, “I think that the team is doing excellent thus far. If we get our sticks rolling real well we will have an even better rest of the season.”

Since the Monarchs will be eligible to play in the NABF Summer College World Series in Toledo this August, I asked Cody what he thought the teams chances were if they made it to the World Series. He said, “Well we have high expectations for this year because we won the CABA World Series last year; therefore I expect nothing but another championship.”

With the Monarchs still playing in the Tri-State League, they will also have a chance to defend their CABA World Series title the week before the NABF World Series. If you would like to see Cody and the Monarchs Blue Team in action this summer, go to their website www.ohiomonarchs.com and check out the Blue Team schedule.