Commodores Ink McNee To Temp Deal
FHS Grad Can’t Wait For Shot To Play

6 June 2008


 


     Scott McNee always hoped he’d have a chance one day to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League. What baseball-loving kid from Falmouth wouldn’t want a chance to step into the batter’s box at Guv Fuller Field and stare down a phenom from some SEC powerhouse and go head-to-head?

     So few actually get the chance, though. This is Falmouth, after all, and while the Commodores might play in the backyard, few from the little vacation mecca are qualified to step into a game. Over the last few years a couple of local kids have gotten a shot, but other than Bill Perry, who played for Bourne last season and hopes to be drafted in next week’s MLB draft, not many last long.

     McNee hopes to rival his high school teammate’s accomplishments from the summer of 2007. The former Falmouth High School all-star was signed by the hometown team this week and will start the season as a temporary player for the Commodores. To say that the 21-year-old third baseman is excited would be a vast understatement.

     “There’s nothing cooler than coming back here and getting to play. Are you kidding me? That’s my field. I played (high school) baseball and football there, Babe Ruth, Pop Warner. It’s awesome.”

     McNee was a standout player on some very good Falmouth High teams. He’s had several teammates go on to play college ball, and one, Steve Cishek, plays pro ball. He also was a big contributor for the Sandwich-based American Legion Post 188 team, as well as the former local Cranberry League team, the Cape Cod Braves.

     Perhaps the best part of the experience thus far for McNee, though, is the fact that he knows that he earned his chance to play in the Cape League. Make no mistake, the Commodores are happy to have a Falmouth native on the roster, even if it is for just a few weeks (temporary contracts are not guaranteed, and most temp players are released once the full roster of contract players arrives from their respective colleges), but the right-handed power hitter will be wearing the uniform because he showed that he’s good enough. 

     At WPI, in Worcester, this season, McNee was fantastic. He was named to the Division III All-New England Baseball Team (second team) and lauded as the NEWMAC Player of the Year. He batted .386, with nine home runs, 12 doubles, 48 runs batted in, and five stolen bases.
     At the Cape League tryout last weekend McNee blistered pitches all over the yard, collecting a couple of hits, while also making one loud out. He fielded his position well and showed that he could hang with the competition.

     Commodores General Manager Dan Dunn was impressed. “He’s got really quick hands,” Dunn said. “He hit the ball well. The kid can hit.”

     “When Mr. Dunn came up to me and said, ‘Do you want to play for the Commodores?’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ ” McNee said with a laugh.

     The GM was dead serious, and McNee will be playing for the Commodores as the team prepares to open up the 2008 season next week. The team will play its first regular season game on Friday, June 13, in Wareham. The home opener is slated for Sunday evening, June 15.

     McNee said that he is most excited about a chance to play baseball this summer at the highest competitive level, and likes that he’ll be able to put real life on hold for at least a while. He has been interning at CDM, an engineering firm in Boston, and said he much prefers the chance to field grounders and take cuts than sitting in on meetings from 9 to 5. “They’ve been really good to me, and I can go back when this is all done, but I’d much rather be doing this,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

     And McNee thinks that he can do it as well. He has experience hitting with wooden bats, thanks to his time in the Cranberry League, and he said that his approach at the plate, as well as results, have never been better than they were this spring. “I’m seeing the ball really well right now. The only time I’ve ever seen the ball this well was after my senior year of high school, in Legion ball. I just couldn’t get myself out (this past spring)...for some reason people like to throw me a lot of fastballs and they figured out that I like that.”

     Of course, the fastballs that he’ll be seeing over the next few weeks might be a bit more impressive than the ones he saw at WPI, but McNee looks forward to the challenge. “I’m sure that (my teammates) will rag on me for being the hometown kid, and I’m sure it’ll be a little bit intimidating to be out there at first,” he said. “But the chance to go up against some big-time prospect and hit a double into the gap, that’s too much to pass up.” 

© Copyright 2008 by The Enterprise - Upper Cape Cod News and Information 
 


 


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