Batting average of .413, and still no bite from MLB

NORFOLK

As a junior at Old Dominion last season, Jake McAloose became the first Monarch since 2000 to hit better than .400.

His .413 average ranked second in the Colonial Athletic Association and 40th in NCAA Division I.

The Princess Anne High School graduate's reward? A snub from all 30 Major League Baseball organizations in the 50-round June draft.

"At first it was kind of disappointing that I didn't get drafted," McAloose said. "But once that's over with, you can't change anything, so you've just got to go back to work."

Primarily a third baseman at ODU (his .965 fielding percentage as a junior set a school record for the position), McAloose went to work on showing off his versatility by earning all-star honors as a shortstop in the summer Coastal Plain League.

And McAloose continued to refine his swing, taking dozens of cuts each day, many at the batting cage in his back yard in Virginia Beach where he and his father have practiced for years.

"He was frustrated," said Jake's father, Mark McAloose, who played third base for Virginia Wesleyan in the 1970s. "But he just said, 'I've got to go out and do it again.' "

A dean's list student double majoring in criminal justice and sociology, McAloose realized that matching his 2009 season would not necessarily mean replicating his numbers.

Opponents weren't going to let one of the nation's best hitters beat them. McAloose walked five times in a season-opening three-game series against Fordham.

"Most of the time you only get one pitch an at-bat to hit," McAloose said. "So it's real frustrating if you miss that pitch. But then you've just got to hit a mistake."

In the final game of that opening series, McAloose injured his left shoulder diving for a ball up the middle while playing shortstop.

He couldn't swing a bat for a few days and admits he was worried the injury was serious. But as soon as the soreness subsided, he was nagging Monarchs coach Jerry Meyers to put him back in the lineup.

Meyers reinserted McAloose after six games off. His first game back, on March 4, he went 3 for 4 with an RBI in a win over Mount St. Mary's. The next day he went 2 for 4 in a win over La Salle.

"Jake is most uncomfortable when he is in the dugout and not in the lineup," Meyers said. "I wasn't worried about him being ready to play."

McAloose switched back to third base since the injury, but he hasn't stopped hitting. His average is .330. He is tied with Donnie Corsner and Joe Velleggia for the team lead with five home runs, and McAloose leads the team with a .448 on-base percentage.

"There are some times he goes to the plate and he's not sure they're going to pitch to him," Meyers said. "He's handled it extremely well."

Even if he continues to thrive, there's a possibility McAloose will be ignored again in this year's draft. The problem is he's 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, and scouts often are enamored with big, hulking prospects such as Braves phenom Jason Heyward, who is 6-5, 240.

Meyers recognizes that reality. He's also indignant about it. "Jake's got great instincts," Meyers said. "Sometimes you've got to watch him play to see the intangibles that mean a little more than a few inches."

One of those intangibles is a knack for producing in big spots. McAloose provided the winning hit for Princess Anne in the 2005 state title game. He hit .600 in the CAA tournament last season. This season he provided eight runs and eight RBIs in his first eight CAA games.

Princess Anne coach Jimmy Hunt saw him deliver that hit in 2005, and has seen him thrive in college. And Hunt is emphatic in insisting some major league club should take a chance on McAloose.

"It's very frustrating to watch how players are evaluated above us," Hunt said. "They don't evaluate baseball players. They evaluate bodies. Jake isn't 6-4, 250, but he's been successful at every level. Give him a chance until he's not successful."