Ty McCory has played three sports for as long as he can remember, so it was only natural for him to continue them all throughout his time at Seymour High School.
“I’ve played three sports since I was little,” McCory said. “I kind of wanted to keep that up. It keeps me busy and kind of keeps me in shape for all the sports. It’s a lot of fun, and I can’t see myself dropping a sport for another one. I’ve got to play all three.”
His hard work has paid off, as he has earned special honors and awards in tennis, basketball and baseball.
He said practice is important in all sports, and you have to be ready for every contest.
“Practice is probably the most important thing,” McCory said. “Practice is something that is very crucial because you’ve got to play like you practice and practice like you play. There is definitely a bunch of things that practice brings to the table.
“You can’t take anyone for granted no matter who it is in our conference. If you take a play off, they can jump on you just like that. First of all, you want to believe in yourself. Great players believe in everyone else and bring them up with them, so you want positive comments all the time.”
McCory is coming off of a basketball season where he set the school record for 3-pointers in a season with 73. He had five games with six or more 3-pointers.
His highest scoring games were 30 against Austin, 28 against Jennings County and 25 against Salem and Switzerland County.
McCory said working on his shooting in the offseason helped him become a better shooter for the Owls.
“If you don’t shoot for a whole week, your shot has just totally changed,” McCory said. “When I was younger, my dad wouldn’t let me shoot those faraway shots. He made me scoot in and get the correct form at a young age, and that way, I could gradually move back as I got older and stronger. Back then, I was mad because I wanted to shoot the 3-pointer, but now as I look back at it, it gave me good form and made me shoot the right way.”
He moved from sixth man his junior year to starting this winter.
“I liked to shoot pretty much from anywhere that I could get an open shot,” McCory said. “I didn’t care where it was at as long as it was open. Most of our plays were designed for wing 3s. It’s pretty much impossible if you don’t have anyone holding the ball and getting it to you and someone setting a screen. Alan (Perry) and Eddie (Louden) getting me the ball and (other teammates) setting screens shows you how much of a team we really were. Just being unselfish like that was really nice.”
McCory said it was a unique experience playing in front of 8,100 fans in the sectional at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
“It’s totally different than anything I’ve experienced,” he said. “It’s totally different than going and playing at a smaller gym. It’s crazy. The home games were nice, especially senior night. There was a bunch of people there for senior night, and we got a win against Austin.”
This spring, McCory is in his second season as the Owls’ starting catcher, and he said he moved into that position during his Little League days.
“Whenever we played travel ball and district baseball when I was 10 or 12, I usually played second base and pitcher,” McCory said. “When we got to Little League and my dad was coaching, we didn’t have a catcher, so if I was going to pitch, I had to catch, too, so that is kind of where it started. I’d say I was 12 when I first started catching.”
McCory said he needs to be on the same page as his pitchers when it comes to calling pitches.
“All of the pitchers that are mainly pitching this year I’ve got a pretty good connection with,” he said. “I’ve been catching them for a while, so I’ve known what makes them click and what they’re best at. Most of the pitchers have three pitches.
“That’s what we work on every day (hitting the mitt) whenever we’re pitching. Coach Elvis (Hernandez) is always getting with the pitchers and making sure they hit their location. That’s important whenever you’re playing a tough schedule that we play because a bunch of people can hit. We also got the aspect of team bonding, and that was definitely nice.”
In his final season, McCory expects big things from the program.
“We want to get into the 20-win range,” McCory said. “It’s going to take hard work and dedication. Our pitching is going to have to be on point. We’ve got to string hits together and make plays in the outfield.”
This past fall, McCory wrapped up his tennis career.
“I quit football in sixth grade, so I started tennis in seventh grade,” McCory said. “I wasn’t thinking much of it. I didn’t think I was going to take it all that serious.”
He played varsity No. 3 singles as a freshman, No. 2 singles his sophomore and junior years and No. 1 singles in 2017 when he earned The Tribune’s Boys Tennis Player of the Year honor and all-Hoosier Hills Conference and all-district honors.
He helped the Owls win sectional titles his sophomore and senior years.
“I thought it was just going to be a filler sport for the other two to keep me in shape, but it ended up being one of my main sports and one of the sports I’ve had the most success with,” McCory said.
“No matter what team you play, everybody has got at least one good player, so playing No. 1 is always tough no matter who you’re playing. At No. 1, usually they’re the best player on the team, so both their forehand and backhand are pretty good. Warming up going into a match, I want to see their weaknesses, and usually, it is their backhand, so that is where I want to hit the ball.”
McCory has enjoyed attending Seymour High School.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” McCory said.
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Name: Ty McCory
School: Seymour High School
Parents: Jack and Lisa McCory
Sibling: Brandon
Sports: Tennis, four years; basketball, four years; baseball, four years
Athletic highlights: Tennis: two-time sectional champion, The Tribune’s Boys Tennis Player of the Year in 2017, co-most valuable player award, all-state honorable mention, academic all-state honorable mention, all-Hoosier Hills Conference, all-district team; Basketball: 2017-18 team captain, school record for 3-pointers in a season (73), five games with six or more 3-pointers; Baseball: 2017 gold glove award
Organizations: National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, four-year member of Student Athletic Board, named Owl of the Month by SHS faculty twice
Plans after high school: Attend college and play baseball
Favorite food: Spaghetti
Favorite TV show: “The Walking Dead”
Favorite movie: “Secretariat”
Favorite team: Indiana Pacers
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