USM pitcher wins Ferriss Trophy

JACKSON — At the end of last season, with his college career seemingly going nowhere, James McMahon gathered his courage and walked into his coach’s office with a request.

“Last year, in our exit meeting, he came to me and said ‘I’m going to be a starter,’” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said.

And with those six words, a legend was born.

McMahon transformed himself from a mediocre relief pitcher not just into a reliable arm, not just into an ace, but into the best player in Mississippi. The senior right-hander on Monday was selected as the winner of the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, given each year to the state’s top college baseball player.

“It’s special. Growing up in Mississippi, it’s a unique state. It has a very rich baseball tradition. We don’t have any big sports teams, so people cling on to their college sports,” McMahon said. “All the schools in Mississippi have big support. It’s really special to play for a team in Mississippi, and then to win the award on top of that makes it that much more special.”

McMahon beat out four other finalists for the award — Ole Miss pitcher Scott Weathersby, his former teammate at Oak Grove High School; Mississippi State first baseman Wes Rea; Jackson State infielder Melvin Rodriguez; and Millsaps infielder-pitcher Keith Shumaker.

A panel of scouts and college coaches accounted for 90 percent of the vote, and an online fan ballot for the other 10 percent. McMahon finished first in the fan voting.

McMahon is the second Southern Miss player to win the award in its 12-year history. The first was Tyler Koelling in 2011.

“The tempo he set for his team, the command, control and poise he had on the mound pitch after pitch, it was relaxing in that he never let the game speed up,” Berry said. “He was always in control of the game and never showed the emotion one way or the other. He was the captain on the mound those days that he took it, and he ran the ship.”

That wasn’t always the case, though.

In his first four seasons in Hattiesburg, McMahon struggled to get in the game, let alone achieve greatness. He threw a total of 53 2/3 innings. Last season, he threw 10 1/3 innings in 13 relief appearances, and had a 6.97 ERA.

Figuring he had nothing to lose with one year of eligibility left, that was when McMahon asked Berry to move from the bullpen into the starting rotation.

“I knew I had one year left of college baseball. I knew I never reached my full potential,” McMahon said. “I didn’t know what it would lead to. I just wanted to make sure I exhausted everything and did all I could to reach my full potential before I got done with college baseball.”

Although McMahon was asking for the switch, in part, to prove something to himself, Berry said he sensed his pitcher was also trying to help the team. He also said McMahon had earned the opportunity to try.

“Sometimes the individual knows themselves better than you know them. I don’t think we risked anything by giving him that opportunity,” Berry said. “Being a fifth-year senior he certainly was warranted the opportunity to do that, and when he was given the opportunity he didn’t let go of it.”

Given a new lease on his baseball life, McMahon set about making sure it didn’t go to waste.

He worked with Southern Miss pitching coach Michael Federico on an offseason plan and spent the summer pitching in the Northwoods League, a wood bat league for college players.

McMahon was just 1-3 with a 3.96 ERA in nine games for the Mankato (Minnesota) MoonDogs, but he developed an effective two-seam fastball that has served him well this spring.

“Summer ball was when I figured everything out,” McMahon said. “After that, when I came back to Southern to pitch it all clicked.”

In his third start of the season, a 5-0 win over Troy on March 1, that was obvious to everyone in Southern Miss’ dugout.

McMahon threw a complete-game shutout, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out eight.

He went on to rack up nine quality starts — defined as pitching into the sixth inning or later — and ran up scoreless streaks of 23 2/3 and 18 2/3 innings.

For the season, McMahon is 11-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 83 2/3 innings. He’s allowed just one home run and opponents are hitting .203 against him.

He leads Conference USA in wins and ERA, and twice won the league’s Pitcher of the Week award.

“The first couple of outings, I was like, ‘He threw that thing pretty good.’ And he just continued to roll game after game,” Berry said. “You could see the confidence from his teammates, and even the managers. It’s Big Mac Sunday is what we called it, because he’d always take that third game.”

McMahon said that once he adjusted to the slower pace of being a starter, and pitching once instead of two or three times a week, he found it suited him.

“I don’t have the personality,” he said of being a reliever. “You see those feisty relievers that come in and try to rip your head off. My personality is a little more laid back, a little more cerebral. I think things through more than just try to go with a full head of steam.”

The cerebral approach definitely makes sense for a guy who in December graduated with a degree in Construction Engineering Techonology. He had a 3.50 GPA and on Monday was one of 12 players selected to the Conference USA All-Academic team.

Being picked as the best baseball player in Mississippi just added to a remarkable year, and a remarkable turnaround.

“It’s a very fulfilling feeling when you know that you’ve earned everything you’ve gotten,” McMahon said. “I believed in myself, but I didn’t know it would come down to winning this award. I had confidence in myself, but this has been really an honor.”

Ferriss Trophy winners

2015 – James McMahon, P, Southern Miss

2014 – Auston Bousfield, OF, Ole Miss

2013 – Hunter Renfroe, IF, Mississippi State

2012 – Chris Stratton, P, Mississippi State

2011 – Tyler Koelling, OF, Southern Miss

2010 – Drew Pomeranz, P, Ole Miss

2009 – Craig Westcott, P/IF, Belhaven

2008 – Scott Biddle, P, Ole Miss

2007 – Ed Easley, C, Mississippi State

2006 – Thomas Berkery, IF, Mississippi State

2005 – Brian Pettway, OF, Ole Miss

2004 – Stephen Head, OF, Ole Miss