Hernando Today
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Hard Work Pays Dividends
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Published: June 1, 2008
What did it take for Travis Murray to repeat as Hernando Today's Player of the Year?
Well, a phenomenal .531 batting average, certainly good enough to lead the county, didn't hurt. Nor did a county-high 28 runs batted in.
Still not impressed? How about a 7-3 record on the mound, along with a 1.45 earned run average, plus 57 strikeouts in 53 innings. Oh, and four complete games, one in a regional quarterfinal victory.
Sure all of those numbers made the senior catcher/pitcher a fairly easy choice among the county's coaches. But what allowed him to play at such a high level, raising the bar from his spectacular junior campaign?
"The determination," Nature Coast Head Coach Bob Shepard said. "It started in the offseason conditioning, the camps he went to. He worked hard. This is his senior season and he wanted to go out on top.
"He battled, he worked hard and we had a lot of conversations on what it takes to maintain that level and he did it."
Murray, the 18-year-old son of Spring Hill's Ed and Hannah Murray bound for Pasco-Hernando Community College, echoed his coach's thoughts.
"It's awesome," Murray said of repeating as POY. "It took a lot of hard work and everything. I'm so happy it paid off.
"...I'm happy with the way I hit. I spent the whole offseason going to camps and different hitting things. It paid off a lot. My pitching wasn't good. My only good game was against Harmony (in regionals). I don't blame anybody for it but myself."
That's right, in Murray's opinion he had an off year as a pitcher. In 2007 he was a surprise on the mound, going 7-1 with a 1.24 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 50.2 innings.
However, he played a slightly different role on the staff thanks to the presence of Bryan Daniels, who got the ball against some of the toughest teams.
With Daniels gone, Murray came into this season considered the number one starter, though fellow senior Joe Silvestri also carried much of the load.
"It's hard being a catcher and a pitcher," Murray said. "My arm wasn't healthy every single day I pitched. I didn't have my velocity and control. Plus being a catcher and a pitcher is two different arm motions. I'd get them mixed up."
Two of his losses came to Pasco, as he did not throw particularly well in two regular season starts against the Class 4A, District 8 champion Pirates.
Yet he showed up big in the Region II quarterfinal at Harmony High. He took the win in the Sharks' first regional triumph in team history, allowing three runs, six hits, one walk and striking out nine in seven innings of the 5-3 victory.
"He had his moments where he struggled," Shepard said. "But overall he pitched great. The difference this year is he had a lot of big games. He had to go against everybody's ace. He had a tired arm early, he got the ball up and he got hurt sometimes.
"But when we got close to closing out a game, Travis turned it up a notch and got it done."
Both coach and player felt Murray improved on his catching, a position he only started playing last season after spending much of his early varsity career as a designated hitter.
Though he always possessed a strong arm, his blocking has come a long way, and Shepard felt he knew what to look for in opposing batters. He'll continue to catch at P-HCC.
Murray, quiet and reserved as a young player, also evolved into a leader on a team filled with players he has played with for so many years going back to the Spring Hill Dixie League.
"If Travis hollered at them, the other guys seemed to gather around that," Shepard said. "That told me he was a leader. When he spoke, they listed. He kind of got the nickname Coach Murray."
Hitting star
But Murray's calling card remains his work in the batter's box. He has served as Nature Coast's clean-up hitter since his sophomore season.
Though he had only five home runs over his prep career, over 81 games his last three seasons he drove in 65 runs. His batting average went up every season, from .333 in 10 games as a freshman to .342 as a sophomore and .369 as a junior.
"I worked harder this year than any other year," Murray said. "I went to a Florida Gulf Coast camp and a Stetson camp where I did nothing but hitting basically. I give a lot of credit to that. It helped me out a lot.
"I don't know if anybody worked as hard. Basically every day I was hitting this year, practicing everything people told me to practice."
The results are there for everyone to see, validating more postseason accolades. He should have a good shot at all-state honors after making third-team all-state in 2007. The team should be released by early June.
He and his senior teammates can also boast laying the foundation for the Nature Coast program. The past two seasons, the Sharks went 20-8 and 21-7 and both times finished as the Class 4A, District 8 runners-up behind Pasco.
"I can't really describe it," Murray said. "It's been an awesome experience. I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
BY THE NUMBERS: TRAVIS MURRAY
- Compiled by CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.
Hitting
YR GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG
2005 10 12 06 04 01 00 00 03 .333
2006 25 76 19 26 06 00 02 14 .342
2007 28 84 10 31 08 00 01 23 .369
2008 28 81 33 43 08 03 02 28 .531
TOTAL 91 253 68 104 23 03 05 68 .411
Pitching
YR GP CG IP H R ER BB K W L ERA
2005 04 00 03.2 08 08 04 00 03 00 00 7.65
2006 03 00 06.2 09 08 04 03 08 01 01 4.20
2007 13 03 50.2 41 17 09 23 65 07 01 1.24
2008 10 04 53.0 37 26 11 19 57 07 03 1.45
TOTAL 30 07 114.0 95 59 28 45 133 15 05 1.72
Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at (352) 544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com
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