Family has always been the big push for ETSU’s left-handed pitcher Jamin McCann (Kingsport, Tenn.).
“My parents made a lot of sacrifices for me to get to this point,” McCann said.
At 11 years old, McCann’s parents, Teresa and Mike McCann, took him around the country to participate in summer league baseball.
“Just the sacrifices they made when we could have been spending money on something else… They spent it by allowing me to go and try to live my dream out,” McCann said. “I want to show them that I appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”
McCann grew up in Kingsport with a full house. He lived with both parents, three brothers and one sister.
He first picked up a baseball when he was 3 years old. Throwing the ball over and over again led him to play tee-ball at age 5. One thing led to another before he started playing competitively.
“My one true love is playing baseball,” McCann said. “I’ve tried playing other sports, but I never really enjoyed playing anything else but baseball.”
Being the second youngest of his siblings, McCann had a hard time getting anything past his parents. Grades were taken seriously at home, and his parents wanted to ensure that completing college and getting a good job after graduation would not be a problem.
McCann attended Sullivan South High School, where he was a three-time all-conference selection for his school. He was named First Team All-Big 8 in 2012 and 2013, earned Big 8 District All-Tournament Team honors as a sophomore and went 3-4 with 2.02 ERA in eight games his senior year.
“I was really small when I first got to high school,” McCann said. “I tried to work as hard as I could to get on the varsity team… Once I got a chance, I played on the varsity team for the rest of my career. It was fun meeting a lot of players and playing guys around the state and now getting to play with them.”
ETSU began to watch McCann as his high school years were coming to an end. ETSU was not the only team that wanted him, but McCann knew where he wanted to go.
“I talked to other coaches, but I really just liked ETSU,” McCann said. “My whole family has gone here, so I wanted to keep that going. They have the degree that I want, exercise science, so when they gave me the chance I jumped on it.”
In the 2015 season, McCann was named a Sothern Conference Academic Honor Roll member, and in his 2014 season, he was named to the A-Sun All-Freshman Team.
This year he is looking for an even greater season.
“I think we have a great team and a great chance to do well in the SoCon,” McCann said. “We have great team chemistry and great team leaders… I think we are going to do really well.”
