NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Nate Ewing goes through his delivery on the mound at Athletic Park Sunday afternoon. Ewing pitched 3.1 innings in the Mavericks 8-7 loss to the Swift Current 57's.
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The face of Major League Baseball is two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani. While Nate Ewing may not be the face of the Medicine Hat Mavericks, he is a versatile part of their roster having the ability to go from designated hitter to closing the game on the mound.
Getting the chance to get in the lineup every day on either side of the ball is something Ewing said he really wanted and something Mavericks head coach Tyler Jeske, who used to be a hitting coach with the Los Angeles Angels where Ohtani plays, said was part of their plan heading into the year.
“At my previous job we were trying to develop a couple two-way guys within the Angels system, following the Ohtani model. So I told him (Ewing), I’ll really give you the chance to be a two-way guy whose structured very similar,” Jeske said. “He’s just a competitive baseball player who wants to be out on the field and compete.”
Ewing says pitching and hitting is something he did at Cecil College in Maryland, where he would bat all game then come in as the closer in the ninth. He says he never wanted to have to choose just one position and he wants that responsibility every day.
” I want people to rely on me when I’m on the mound,” Ewing said. “It’s definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had, especially here. I did the same thing at college and it wasn’t as big at college because we know we weren’t as great, but here it’s definitely, people always look at you and are like ‘wow, you’re on the mound and you’re hitting,’ it’s definitely cool.”
Ewing was designated hitter for the Mavericks on Wednesday night against the Moose Jaw Miller Express at Athletic Park, the Mavericks loss that contest 11-5. The Mavericks’ next action is Thursday, also against Moose Jaw. That game is the makeup contest for the rained-out game June 4. Fans who were in attendance for the postponed game can use their original ticket stub to get into the game.
The Jersey Shore, Penn. product is like a lot of his teammates and has never experienced a fan atmosphere like Athletic Park. He said his first appearance on the mound put his heart to the test.
“I’ve never had my heart beat that much before, there were so many people in the stands watching, I just never had something like that,” Ewing said. “It was a neat experience having that, and I texted my dad right after and was telling him it was crazy and so cool.”
On top of the versatility, Ewing may stick out to Mavericks fans with his pitching motion. The 20-year-old employs a sidearm motion which he says allows him to get more movement on his pitches. He also throws over the top of his shoulder like most pitchers but uses the lower arm angle to give hitters something he would not want to face in the box.
“I start in a stretch position first and then I’m still moving throughout because I don’t want any part of my body being still,” Ewing said. “Because hitters can pick up whatever tips and stuff, as a hitter you can pick up what they’re going to throw. Coming from a hitter standpoint, I know that for a fact. So I try to do things that I would hate as a hitter as a pitcher going against them.
“I think, what would I not want to be facing if I was a hitter, and pretty much a sidearm pitcher, throwing whatever I couldn’t hit. So that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing since I was a freshman in high school.”
He says he hears a lot of chirping from opposing dugouts about his 5-foot-9 frame when he steps on the mound, especially following some of the other Mavericks pitchers who are 6-foot-3 or taller.
“I hear, oh my gosh, this kid’s not gonna be able to throw that hard.,” Ewing said. “I’ve heard a lot of things from other opposing dugouts that just boosts me up to be able to throw a lot better than I have. So it’s definitely something else.”
Editors note: Ewing is not the lone Maverick to both hit and pitch, first basemen Hunter Boylan and Hunter Cooper also play both sides of the ball.
