UTSA senior Norris McClure has emerged as one of the top hitters in the American Athletic Conference after spending the past four seasons at Spring Hill College in NCAA Division II. – Photo by Joe Alexander

This is a story about the “Boonville Bonanza” and how it just keeps on paying dividends for Norris McClure and the surging UTSA Roadrunners.

For starters, let’s just say that the story centers around a moment in time in college baseball as told by McClure, UTSA’s prized offseason third-base pickup out of the transfer portal.

It’s also about how it’s never too late to chase an NCAA Division I dream.

McClure, who grew up in Louisiana in the New Orleans area, came out of Lakeshore High School in Mandeville in 2020.

He was considered a good player with Division I athleticism, but one that just didn’t get much attention from major schools at the outset of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Consequently, it led to his four-year stay at Division II Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala.

Said UTSA coach Pat Hallmark, “I’m not sure how he ended up at a Division II program out of high school.”

As it turned out, Division I’s loss was Spring Hill’s gain, as McClure played in 137 games and hit .375 for his career with the Badgers. During his junior year, he showed real promise, raking at a robust average of .401.

But just as his fortunes seemed to be ascending, they stalled out when he suffered a hand injury in February 2024 in the first at bat of his senior year.

McClure, who suffered a fractured hamate bone at the base of his right hand, ended up playing only seven games. “A spooky time in my life,” he recalled.

Eventually, after the season and after his graduation, McClure entered the transfer portal. Healthy once again, he elected to join a summer league in upstate New York, where he would continue to sort out options on where he might play in 2025.

McClure, in an interview ahead of Friday’s home series opener against the Memphis Tigers, laughed and shook his head as he recounted the moment that he agreed to join Division I UTSA of the American Athletic Conference.

“I was in Boonville, New York,” said McClure, who has emerged as the AAC’s fifth leading hitter with a .366 average. “Nobody probably knows where that is. Boonville. Yes, sir. Playing the Lumberjacks (that day).”

Boonville, the home of the Lumberjacks, is a tiny enclave of about 1,900 located some 50 miles east of Syracuse. It’s also south and west of the Adirondack Mountains.

Asked to clarify, McClure said he played that day for the Utica Blue Sox, on the road in Boonville, in a New York summer league.

“I was on the Blue Sox, which is a very nice summer ball program, if you want to give a quick shout out to (coach) Doug Delett,” he said.

On the day of the game, McClure elected to make a call on his career.

After consulting with his parents and carefully considering a few options in both the Sun Belt and the American conferences, he zeroed in on UTSA, a decision that would resonate positively in his world for the next 10 months.

“I was (thinking), ‘I really have an opportunity to potentially play and help this team out,’ “ McClure said, recalling the rationale for his decision. “I thought this was a really cool chance. Didn’t want to miss it. So, I committed right then and there. I think I texted (UTSA assistant) coach (Zach) Butler and we got it all handled.”

Though the Roadrunners have been reaping the benefits of that decision all season, they have been overjoyed to see the results in the past 24 days.

In the month of April, over a 10-game stretch, McClure has hit for a .512 average, producing four home runs and 21 RBI. He has 21 hits in 41 at bats as the Roadrunners have held fast to first place in the AAC.

Holding on to a two-game lead in conference, UTSA (30-12 overall and 12-3) has 14 games left overall and 12 in the league before the AAC tournament at Clearwater, Fla.

McClure, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound, left-side hitter, made headlines last Saturday in the team’s last game by launching two home runs — both in the second inning — of a 25-7 victory over Tulane at Roadrunner Field.

The outburst gave him four homers in his last five games. All this, from a player who hit only 13 round trippers in a little more than three seasons in Division II.

“Sometimes you see some guys (in Division II) with good offensive numbers, but they don’t transition (to Division I) athletically,” Hallmark said. “Norris is very athletic. We were very fortunate to get him over here.”

Though McClure loves his new home, he has faced some challenges.

After a hot start to the season in February in which he stroked 15 hits in 34 at bats, he swooned in March, going nine for 48, ending the month on a zero-for-14 skid.

“He got a little rushed (at the plate), a little bit,” Hallmark said. “He was getting a little anxious. As soon as the production dips — a little bit of anxiety creeps in – emotion. (Now) he’s gotten back to where he’s taken some of that emotion out of the at bat.”

Right now, Hallmark said, McClure has settled into a mental zone that allows him to step into the batter’s box “very emotion-less” in his approach.

“Emotion-less hitters make better decisions,” the coach said. ”It’s kind of a theme of ours. So, lately, he’s been doing a good job of that.”

Becoming “emotion-less” in a game that is inherently emotional can be difficult challenge, McClure said, but he said the mantra as laid down by Hallmark and assistant coach Ryan Aguayo has served him well.

“You swing through a curve ball and it’s a terrible swing, you still (have) two others coming,” he said. “That’s the mental aspect that I was talking about. (Coach Hallmark) and coach Aguayo teach it very well. So I give ‘em all the praise for that.”

McClure also said it helps to be playing on a talented squad with a team batting average of .325, which is tops in the AAC. Furthermore, he said players have a close bond off the field and try to keep the mood light in the dugout during tense moments.

“I’m very, very proud of our team,” he said. “With a lot of new guys, that can be very tricky with a lot of teams. I don’t know how many (new players we have) exactly, but there are very few in the locker room that can remember the stories they were talking about from last year.

“So, it’s kind of funny. But I’m really proud of the way this team has come together. You know, we talk about friendship a lot and how close we are. That just helps with everything.”

McClure said he also had a positive experience with his former team at Spring Hill, as well. After his sophomore year, he entered the transfer portal for about 10 days before deciding to stay.

“I liked the people there,” he said “Had a lot of fun. Knew I was going to be in the lineup and knew I was going to play. There was some sort of comfort in that, being there for four years.

“But after I graduated (last spring), you know, I thought about it a lot. It was definitely a big decision. I talked to my parents. (It was) something that I had to make sure they were going to be supportive of, whatever I was doing. Whatever decision I made.

“And, like you said, the options were either to stay or hit the portal and see what happens. Thankfully, it’s all worked out, obviously.”

A bonanza for all parties concerned.

Records

Memphis 16-24, 4-11
UTSA 30-10, 12-3

Coming up

Memphis at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
Memphis at UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m.
Memphis at UTSA, Sunday, noon