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Tom Clayton named Horizon’s top player
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Youngstown State senior baseball player Tom Clayton, a Poland native, ranks fi fth in the country in batting average with a .452 mark. He was a career .274 hitter for the Penguins before this season.
By JON MOFFETT
Youngstown
Last month, Youngstown State senior baseball player Tom Clayton was recognized as the best hitter in the nation.
Today, he is being recognized as maybe having the best season in school history.
Clayton, a graduate of Poland High, will be named as the Horizon League Player of the Year today. It is the first time a Penguin has earned the honor.
“When Coach [Rich Pasquale] called me this morning, he told me and it really kind of threw me back,” Clayton said. “I was at my house, and when I saw Coach was calling and I thought maybe I was in trouble. I thought maybe I had forgotten to turn in some equipment or something like that.
“But when he got in the phone and it told me, it was just kind of surreal. I thought I was still dreaming maybe. But it was an amazing feeling.”
Pasquale said he was just as excited about the news.
“I kind of got emotional calling Tommy,” he said. “It’s an honor to coach him and to see him grow.”
Clayton finished the regular season with a team-high .414 batting average. His 10 home runs were tied for second. He led the Horizon League with a .713 slugging percentage.
More impressive is that Clayton had been a reserve player the past two seasons. Clayton had only 119 plate appearances his sophomore and junior years combined. This year, Clayton had 157 at bats.
An injury early in the season got Clayton into the starting lineup. And his batting average, which at one point was .474 and led the nation, kept him there for good.
Clayton’s approach is to take each pitch as a battle.
“It’s just me against the pitcher, and that’s been my mentality all year,” he said. “My numbers have been up there, and I’ve been consistent, so I just have to go back to what I’ve been believing in.”
Which is?
“When I step into that box, and when I see that pitcher, I say to myself ‘it’s me versus him, and I’m not going to let him win.’” Clayton said. “That’s what I do, and most of the time it’s been working.”
Despite all the accolades, and now the ultimate conference honor, Clayton said he’d give it all away for the team. A Horizon League championship would mean more to him, he said.
“I can honestly say I would trade away all these awards and all this whatever it is for a Horizon League championship,” he said. “We have a lot of seniors, and this could potentially be our last few games, and when you hear that come out it kind of gives you the shivers. When it comes down to it, for most of us this is it.”