Feeling lucky to be home

Published 11:34 pm Saturday, June 16, 2007

EVERETT – Summer nights at Everett Memorial Stadium were a staple of Brandon McKerney’s childhood.

Growing up in Edmonds, McKerney’s family regularly made the short drive up I-5 to see, first the Everett Giants, and later the Everett AquaSox.

Little did McKerney realize those nights were serving as advance preparation for his professional baseball career.

When the AquaSox take the field for their Northwest League opener Tuesday against Yakima, McKerney will be fulfilling a dream, stepping out of the stands he frequented so often as a child and onto the field.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better,” McKerney said. “It’s what I hoped for ever since I was a little kid. To have it actually be realized here, it’s awesome.”

McKerney, a relief pitcher who graduated from Meadowdale High School, gives the AquaSox some local flavor this season.

And it’s a local flavor that was raised on Everett baseball.

“We first started coming out when they were the Everett Giants,” recalled McKerney, who estimated he attended between eight and 10 AquaSox games a season. “I still have a ball. It was my birthday in 1991 and I caught a foul ball. I still have it. It has, ‘Everett Giants, 1991, Aug. 3,’ written on it.”

McKerney, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound right-hander, was the Seattle Mariners’ 14th-round pick in this year’s draft after his junior season at the University of Washington.

He brings an impressive arsenal with him that includes a sinking fastball that’s been clocked as fast as 95 mph, slider and changeup. His forte is inducing ground balls.

“From what I’ve seen he throws a good sinker, and it looks like he has a good live arm,” AquaSox pitching coach Gary Wheelock said based on limited viewing from two bullpen sessions. “I like what I’ve seen so far.

“He’ll definitely be in relief here,” Wheelock added. “From what I’ve seen it looks like he might get a lot of ground balls.”

But professional baseball didn’t always appear to be McKerney’s destiny. He was a standout in high school, but not the type of superstar that makes scouts drool. When it came time for college McKerney had to walk on at Washington.

But McKerney became the classic late bloomer. His skinny frame filled out the summer after his senior season and that helped him finally break the 90 mph barrier. His freshman season at UW he was one of the team’s biggest surprises, leading the Huskies in appearances with 25 and being named honorable mention all-Pac-10.

“You hear about these 12-, 13-year-old kids who you know are going places,” McKerney said. “I wasn’t like that. But as I grew I became more confident and became a better pitcher.

“I had coaches in the past saying I wouldn’t make it anywhere and I kind of proved everyone wrong, had the determination and will to make sure I made it,” McKerney added.

McKerney began drawing serious attention from scouts with his play last summer in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Playing for the Newport (R.I.) Gulls, he compiled a phenomenal 0.31 ERA and .106 opponents’ batting average in 282/3 innings and was named the league’s No. 9 prospect by Baseball America.

“It was the wood bats,” McKerney said about the reason for his success in New England. “I broke about 24 bats in 30 innings. It was really fun because with aluminum bats guys will just pop it over third. But out there guys weren’t really used to the wood bats and I took advantage, being super aggressive and making them hit my pitch.”

McKerney didn’t have quite as much success at Washington his sophomore and junior seasons because of injuries. This season he was hampered by a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow and his statistics suffered. In 21 games he went 3-1 with a 6.23 ERA, giving up 39 hits and eight walks in 26 innings and striking out 14. As a result his draft stock slipped.

However, that may actually have worked to McKerney’s favor. Now he’s the property of his hometown major-league team, as well as beginning his professional career as close to home as possible.

“The weird thing is I never even thought about (playing in Everett) because I thought the changes were too slim to be drafted here,” McKerney said. “But as the draft got closer and closer, my mom and my friends were really hoping for it.

“Looking back now, if it took me getting dropped in the draft to come here, it’s almost one of those things where I’d rather be playing here and having fun,” added McKerney, who made no hesitation about signing with the Mariners. “You’re not going to make your money on the front end, you make it by moving up, so to be able to play at home is where it’s at. I just got lucky.”

And as a result, McKerney is getting his chance to experience Everett AquaSox baseball from the other side of the fence.