Saint Martin's Athletics

WENATCHEE — It’s hard to imagine Michael McIver being overlooked.

Six-foot-10 guys have a way of sticking out in crowds.

Coming out of Capital High School in Olympia, McIver didn’t get the attention from Division I colleges that one would think would come with being an athletic two-sport star of that size.

McIver was only able to pitch sparingly for the Cougars during his senior year after needing emergency stomach surgery that kept him out for four months.

“I think he fell off people’s radar,” said Wenatchee AppleSox pitching coach Rob Hippi, who lightly recruited McIver for Lower Columbia College. “People forgot about him.”

They’re remembering now.

McIver, a rising senior at Saint Martin’s University joined the AppleSox as a temporary player to start the 2010 season, and from opening day (when he silenced a raucous crowd in Walla Walla with eight shutout innings), he has pitched his way onto the regular roster.

“He made it virtually impossible for us to send him home,” Hippi said.

Relying on a circle change-up that augments his 84-85 mile-per-hour fastball, McIver is 3-0 with an earned run average of 0.38 and 21 strikeouts this season.

He had a 17-inning scoreless streak snapped against Cowlitz on Monday night, but battled through for seven innings.

He has thrown first-pitch strikes to 64 of the 92 batters he has faced this season, a 70 percent clip.

Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even on the Sox’ radar until two weeks before the season started.

Hippi and Saint Martin’s baseball coach Ken Garland were watching the NWAACC Tournament together in late May, and Hippi mentioned the Sox would be needing some arms to start the summer.

Garland said he had just the guy.

“I said that they’d be getting a gem,” Garland said. “I was pretty confident he’d work out for them.”

He certainly has, to the surprise of everyone but McIver himself.

“I don’t think he ever doubted that he can get people out at this level,” Hippi said. “He’s such a confident young man.”

“It’s been a really cool experience,” McIver said. “Along with every other college player, I think playing professionally would be ideal, and this is a way to help do that.”

McIver has all the ingredients.

Physical attributes? Check. He’s 6-foot-10, but McIver was athletic enough to be the Saints’ regular first baseman during the season. A two-year basketball player at SMU, McIver carries his big frame well.

Mental acumen? Check. McIver is a civil engineering major, and an excellent student. He’s also very receptive to coaching.

“I’ve never had it where I go out to the mound to talk to a pitcher, and when I leave he says, ‘Thanks, coach,’” Hippi said.

Go-to pitch? Check. McIver’s change-up looks identical to his fastball coming out of his hand, and his height can make the pitch’s movement all the more deceptive.

As much as the West Coast League has proven to be a training ground for big-name prospects from powerhouse programs, it’s also become a place for talented players from Division II, III and junior college teams to show they can compete.

“I think his league is a little under-recruited,” Wenatchee manager Ed Knaggs said of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, where SMU finished third.

McIver was 2-7 this spring, but pitched complete games in six of his 14 starts.

“We lost a game 2-1, a couple of games 1-0 where he pitched well enough to win,” Garland said. “He just didn’t get the run support.”

That hasn’t been a problem with the AppleSox, who have scored 23 runs in McIver’s three starts.

“Coming from Saint Martin’s, where people don’t always know you exist, coming here and playing with guys from schools everyone’s heard of has made the success all the more special,” McIver said.