Doug's a great clutch hitter. The thing that makes him so dangerous is, sometimes he will look so bad, and the next time he'll drive one over the wall in right center. And Middleton did a lot of driving, hammering two home runs and finishing the tournament with a .348 batting average. But Kooser remembers something more important than clutch hits. Doug asked me to let Clay have this one.
Clay throws hard, but can be a bit wild.
I didn't want a good hitting Midland team to get ahead early on a wild pitch or passed ball. If 1995 was memorable, then 1998 is special and his numbers indicate he's at the peak of his career. And he banged out five home runs, six doubles and scored 16 runs. 0.63 ERA, 18-5 record, and 242 strikeouts in 143 innings. Winning national and world titles were some of the most exciting things I've done.