McMahon Reps The U on Team USA
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, but only the best players in the country get the opportunity to represent the United States.
University of Miami pitcher Chris McMahon joined the elite group of players who wore the Team USA uniform in an unforgettable summer as a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
“I got to meet new players and new coaches from all around the country and obviously traveling the world and playing baseball with “USA” across your chest is just an unbelievable and awesome experience,” McMahon said.
A native of West Chester, Pa., McMahon always dreamt of playing baseball at the highest level. While his big league dreams are still in front of him, McMahon experienced a moment as a member of Team USA that was one of his favorites as a baseball player.
“There was a moment that gave me goosebumps,”McMahon said. “It was the first game in Taiwan, so it was the first game we were playing outside of the country. The first game against Cuba in North Carolina you kind of got a hint of it hearing our national anthem and their national anthem. That was a little taste of what it’s like to play for your country. When you are lining up on the foul lines pregame and you have your hand over your heart and you’re singing the national anthem in a different country, it gave me goosebumps. It definitely hit me a little differently.”
The journey to Team USA materialized quickly for McMahon, who had an impressive second season with the Hurricanes. McMahon went 3-2 with a 3.72 ERA over 12 starts in 2019. Primarily serving as the Canes’ Saturday starter, McMahon struck out 67 batters and walked just 23 over 60.1 innings pitched.
Just days after Miami’s season ended at the Starkville Regional, McMahon heard from UM pitching coach J.D. Arteaga about the possibility of being invited to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp.
“It was about a week after the season ended,” McMahon said. “I was planning on shutting down and taking summer classes and working out to get really strong for this coming year. I was sitting in my apartment here in Miami and was getting ready to go home for a little bit before coming back to start classes when J.D. called me and said he got a call from Eric Campbell, the general manager from USA, and he said I might be invited to training camp. J.D. told me to keep my arm loose and stay in shape and we would see what happens. I ended up going home for a week and kept throwing, but didn’t hear anything. Then I got the call from Eric Campbell inviting me to training camp and I was super excited and couldn’t wait to get down there.”
McMahon’s time with Team USA began at USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp on June 27 and ended at the conclusion of the 43rd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series on July 21. In between, he also faced off against Cuba and Chinese Taipei, but the right-handed pitcher recognized well before he threw a pitch in a red, white and blue uniform that he was in for a special summer.
“The first moment that I noticed was when I showed up for the trials and saw who I was playing with,” McMahon said. “I’d heard about them and knew who they were, but now I could get to know them and build relationships and friendships with them. That was probably the coolest part of the whole experience.”
McMahon went to training camp with no guarantees of making the team. A group of 36 baseball players competed in a series of four intrasquad exhibition games and one contest against the Coastal Plain League Select before announcing a 26-man roster prior to the eighth USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series that took place July 2-6 in Cary, Charlotte, Durham and Hickory, N.C. On the Fourth of July, McMahon was rewarded with another unforgettable memory as a member of Team USA.
“We played in Durham Bulls Athletic Park where the ACC tournament was and it was packed,” McMahon said. “There was a fireworks show after the game, so a lot of people showed up and it was a really cool atmosphere. It was really loud. I don’t think there was an empty seat in that stadium. To play on Fourth of July with USA across your chest, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
The Collegiate National Team was trimmed down from 26 to 24, with McMahon earning one of the coveted spots on the roster. With his selection he became the 26th Miami player to join the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
McMahon and his teammates left for Taiwan on July 7. Team USA traveled to Taichung, Taiwan, for the 19th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series from July 9-12 and closed out its summer schedule with the 43rd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series, which took place in various cities throughout Japan from July 16-21.
“It was an experience,” McMahon said. “Their culture is a lot different over there. Communication was tough with the language barrier. We had to use Google Translate and point at the menu to say what you wanted to eat because they didn’t really know what we were trying to say. The hotels are really small and compact. There were some long day where you wanted to go back to America, but, overall, it was really cool to experience that. Once I got back to the United States, I was able to look back on it and appreciate how cool and fun that trip was. It was awesome to do with different kind of guys from all over the country who are the best in the country was really cool. I wish I could do it again.”
McMahon led Team USA with 15 strikeouts in 12 innings with a 2.25 ERA and .154 batting average against in his time with the Collegiate National Team. The statistics are excellent, but his performance becomes especially impressive considering how McMahon’s sophomore season was slightly derailed by an injury that caused him to miss a month with the Hurricanes.
“When your body feels good and your competing and you’ve got adrenaline going, there is not much of a better feeling,” McMahon said. “Whoever is in the box, you’re trying to get them out. You’re competitive and you’re feeling good and don’t have to worry about anything. That’s how I was rolling at the end there because I did the work and did the rehab to get back and my arm felt good. Based on what the doctor said when I got cleared, everything was fine and I was strong. To know all of that and have it solidified in my head was a confidence booster that allowed me to just go out there and do it.”
In addition to the baseball, one of the most unique experiences for McMahon was meeting so many new players. When he arrived at USA Baseball Training Camp in Cary, N.C., McMahon only knew one player, but the gregarious McMahon quickly bonded with his new teammates.
“I knew Andrew Abbott from the University of Virginia a little bit,” McMahon said. “I played with him in travel ball when we were in high school for like a month. I knew him, so I would talk to him at first. Other than that, I just knew of guys because they’re great players from around the country and you’re aware of who they are. But you just build relationships naturally. You’re all playing baseball together, so it’s easy to build relationships and friendships quickly. It was a really cool experience.”
McMahon became closest with his Team USA roommate, Mississippi State infielder Justin Foscue. He also befriended Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad, right-handed pitcher Nick Frasso from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and pitcher Cade Cavalli from Oklahoma. The group frequently hung out together, whether they were in Cary, N.C., Taiwan or Japan, and have remained close since they all returned to their colleges for the 2019-20 school year.
“Those are relationships that you really build over the course of the trip,” McMahon said. “I’ll probably be talking to those guys for the rest of my life or at least the rest of my career. To be able to build those relationships over three or four weeks is special. The baseball is a bonus and being on the team is a bonus. Building those relationships that will least for years and years to come is what it’s all about.”
From traveling all over the world to meeting new players and learning new things about his craft, McMahon’s time with Team USA exposed him to so many new and different experiences and helped make him even better ahead of his upcoming junior season.
“It gave me a great taste of pro ball with the travel and playing against the high-level competition,” McMahon said. “I think the coolest part of it was what I got to learn from everyone else. I’m here at Miami with a great group of guys all the time, but this gave me a chance to learn grips from kids from all over the country. They’re people I’ve never met and they throw different pitches with different grips and I loved learning about that. I got to learn from some different coaches that have helped out great players and you’re learning what they learned. I wasn’t expecting to learn that much going into it and I really did. It was awesome.”
