How Tanner Graham's return gave Hickman baseball a spark
It’s taken a while for Hickman’s (11-20) Tanner Graham to be able to truly showcase his ability, but it’s better late than never.
Graham battled a shoulder injury to start the 2024 season. The ace for the Kewpies missed nearly a month of play and came in for just relief pitches in the first part of April against Vianney (17-16-1) and Smith-Cotton (16-15), while lasting just 1.2 innings against Francis Howell on April 11.
The setback didn’t last for long. Now near full-health, Graham, a junior, has recently been able to display why he’s one of the Kewpies key players. He didn’t miss a beat as he stepped back into his role.
“We consider him our No. 1. We want him in big games,” Hickman head coach Isaiah Cummings said.
CMAC play is of high-importance for the Kewpies. Against Jefferson City on April 22, Graham delivered a solid performance allowing just one run and four hits in 4.0 innings. He helped the Kewpies snap a three-game losing streak in a 5-1 victory.
His next start came against Rock Bridge, the No. 4 team in Class 6, on May 1. Despite facing a tough challenge he held his own against the Bruins. Graham allowed two early runs, but struck out six batters and allowed just five hits in 4.2 innings.
“I was able to land my off speed early in counts and able to get ahead on the hitter so I could attack them and they didn’t really know what was coming,” said Graham on the Rock Bridge game. “And the same thing against Jeff City, I liked going slider early in the count.”
The Kewpies dropped the contest by a score of 5-1, but it was Graham’s effort on the mound that kept Hickman in the game, giving them a chance as Rock Bridge recorded its last three runs in the sixth inning.
Hickman’s last CMAC game, and its second to last against Battle (8-20) proved crucial in regards to district seeding. Graham, back on the mound again, allowed just four hits and one run in 5.0 innings. The Kewpies started slow, but Graham was able to keep his confidence as he knew the offense would come alive. Hickman scored in the fifth and seventh innings for a 7-1 victory over the Spartans.
“It was a really big win,” Graham said. “I think it’ll put us in a good position to get a district (tournament) win.”
The Kewpies ended helping them secure the sixth seed in the Class 6, District 5 tournament where they'll play three-seed Blue Springs South (18-15) on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Battle on the other hand is seeded seventh and will play second-seeded Blue Springs (22-11).
As Graham looks back on his growth throughout the season, he’s recognized his growth on the mound.
“This season I’ve definitely grown in my pitch ability. Last year, I was just going out there and throwing hard and just trying to throw it as hard as I can,” Graham said. “This year I really became a pitcher and developing four different pitches to throw for strikes has been huge.”
His improvement and overall contributions has also been noticed by Cummings.
“Within the high school level, if you have two to three pitches that you locate, you’re going to win games and if those two to three pitches are above average pitches, you’re going to be really successful. He has above average stuff,” Cummings said.
As for Graham, it’s unclear if he gets the nod for the first District game as the coaching staff will decide ahead of the contest. He still has a season left after this year but he’s currently committed to playing at Evansville University.
“When I went on my visit what really stood out if they act like I get to play early on," Graham said. "I didn’t see that a ton at a lot of programs like with the transfer portal. So, the goal is to go and play early and that’s what I really liked about it.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Tanner Graham's return gave Hickman baseball a spark
