McCormack quite the ace

One thing John Emme has learned through his 15 years as the baseball coach at Corona del Mar High is if he lands the best athletes on campus, his team is going to be pretty good.

Emme got one of the top athletes at the school in Andrew McCormack to play for him for four years.

McCormack stood out, not just because of the afro he used to sport. Emme was never a fan of the hairdo, but he sure was of McCormack's abilities.

He played hard and he and his teams competed in the robust Pacific Coast League. Emme marveled at McCormack's talents.

How many athletes can lead the CdM boys' basketball team to a third straight CIF Southern Section quarterfinal appearance, then turn around a couple of weeks later and throw a complete-game gem for the baseball team against a defending section champion?

McCormack did in his last year in high school.

To those who saw McCormack perform as a senior, it is no surprise to them that he earned All-CIF honors in both basketball and baseball.

The next award for McCormack is the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year in baseball.

He made the Dream Team in basketball in the winter, but in the spring, McCormack turned in the most impressive season of any ballplayer in the area. He dominated on the mound, fielded at a high level, even at first base when he wasn't pitching, and he displayed a big bat.

At the top of almost every pitching and offensive statistic for CdM, listed No. 1 was McCormack.

He went 8-3 with a 1.57 earned-run average. Almost half of his 11 starts went the distance. He threw five complete games and 71 1/3 innings, striking out 37 during the span.

Only two CdM batters hit above .300. The highest average belonged to McCormack at .375. He drove in 22 runs with five doubles.

It wasn't easy striking him out, either. He fanned only a half dozen times in 95 plate appearances. McCormack finished with a .436 on-base percentage and a .438 slugging percentage.

The numbers that really mattered to McCormack were the runs on the scoreboard at the end of a game. He believed CdM boasted the talent to claim a league title, the program's first in six years.

When those hopes ended, the opposing coach, Beckman's Kevin Lavalle, paid McCormack the best compliment.