Getting In Some Extra Work : MacNeil Looks to Metropolitan League to Sharpen Skills

It was supposed to be just another chance for pitcher Tim MacNeil to work on his control and mechanical problems.

But when MacNeil pitched for the Santa Ana Cardinals in a Metropolitan League of Orange County game against the Southern Cowboys June 29 at Saddleback College, he suffered more and longer than most pitchers.

A hit here, an error there, and pretty soon, keeping his left shoulder down wasn’t nearly as important as getting out of the first inning. Once the brick dust finally cleared, MacNeil had given up 10 runs.

In a regular-season game, MacNeil would not have been allowed to continue, even though he had won his first two starts of the season. But since this was the Metro League--a summer season of second chances--MacNeil kept pitching.

“There were some balls hit that went for errors and some that should have been caught,” said Don Popovich, Cardinal coach. “But I’m not going to lie. There were some balls hit very hard. I wouldn’t have left most kids in there, but with Tim (MacNeil), I wanted to let him go.

“He was getting a little frustrated. I wanted him to remember it was summer and he needed to work on some things, no matter what the score was. That’s what we’re here for.”

MacNeil was given a second chance. And a third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

During his final five innings, he allowed two hits and no runs, and the Cardinals rallied to give MacNeil an 18-11 victory.

“I was trying to throw too many curves and sliders and I wasn’t going after the hitters,” said MacNeil, a right-hander who pitches for Rancho Santiago College. “After (the 10-run inning), I just started to throw more fastballs and come after the hitters. I needed to be more aggressive and throw more strikes. After that inning, I think I’m going to be more aggressive.”

MacNeil’s aggressive tactics and an 86-m.p.h. fastball are paying off. He’s now 4-0 this summer and has earned a spot on the Metro League all-star team that will play a Metro League all-star team from San Diego at 7 p.m. Sunday at UC Irvine.

The leagues are for graduated seniors, community college and college players.

“It all turned around for him this summer during the Saddleback game,” said Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon, who assists with the Cardinals. “Normally you don’t get a chance to give up 10 runs and still be in the game. But because it was the summer, we just let him go and gave him a chance to right himself.”

MacNeil is starting this summer after a forgettable season as a reliever. He was 2-0 for Rancho Santiago last season but didn’t get a save.

“I wasn’t ready to be a reliever on that level,” MacNeil said. “I had a lot to learn, and still do, about pitching, and coming in late in the game was strange. I don’t think I ever really did get used to it.”

MacNeil was mostly a starter for Esperanza High School’s team that won the Southern Section 4-A championship in 1986. He was 8-0 with a 1.82 earned-run average and hit .305. He played center field when he wasn’t pitching.

After his senior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in a late round but didn’t think he was ready to play professional baseball.

Instead, he went to college to work on his pitching and is back in a more comfortable role as a starter.

“He did a good job at times and didn’t do a good job at times for us last season,” Sneddon said. “This summer he’s getting his confidence back, and we’re projecting him to be a starter for us next season.”