May
3
Photo Courtesy of George Mason Athletics
George Mason’s baseball team had some big shoes to fill this past offseason with the graduating of Friday starter Tyler Zombro. However, Zach Mort has been exceeding expectations since taking over the Friday starter role this year. This season the junior right handed pitcher has posted a 5-2 record with a 2.20 era, nearly cutting his era in half compared to last season.
“I’ve tried to change my focus from on an at bat as a whole and instead, focusing pitch by pitch.” Mort also explained how controlling only what he can control has helped him with his success this year.
Last summer, Mort spent a portion of his summer in the Cape Cod League with the Bourne Braves where he was competing against the top talent in the nation in college baseball. He explained how this was an eye opening experience to him to seeing what kind of work he needs to put in to play at the next level. “I saw the kinds of work ethics that guys had there and realized the amount of work that I needed to put in to succeed.”.
Following his summer experience in the Cape Cod League, he was able to spark some attention from professional scouts who have begun to following the Junior leading up to this years MLB Draft. “It’s always been a goal of mine to play professionally, so with this year being crucial to that goal, I might’ve put some unneeded pressure on myself to succeed at first” said Mort. Having trust in the work that he put in this past offseason, Mort said he used this as a tool to keep the right mentality on the mound. “That fear made me relentlessly work in the offseason and that work gave me confidence which definitely transferred to the mound during the season.”
With 2018 season coming to a close soon, Mort explained some things he is focusing on to prepare for the next level. “Off-speed consistency is definitely a primary focus that I have worked on this year, and although I have seen more success with them, they can definitely continue to improve.”
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