How a Conway offensive lineman has transformed into an invaluable pitcher at CCU

Jay Causey had an opportunity to walk on at Coastal Carolina after graduating from Conway High School in 2015.

So why did it take him two more years to find his way to his hometown college’s campus?

He wasn’t interested in being an offensive lineman any longer.

Causey’s road to CCU is an odd case in college athletics.

At Conway High he was a talented 270-pound center on the football team and a light-hitting first baseman on the baseball team.

He received walk-on offers in football but didn’t want to become “a tackling dummy” in practices on a college team, so Causey thought he was done playing organized athletics following his senior season at Conway.

But he could throw in the mid-80s as a lefthander, and while he had pitched only sparingly for Conway, an unlikely baseball path emerged and he jumped on it.

It has led him to being one of the most reliable and valuable relief pitchers on a CCU baseball team that is hosting an NCAA regional this weekend as the No. 15 national seed.

“He’s been incredible,” Coastal head coach Gary Gilmore said. “He understands who he is, pitches to who he is and competes. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Causey is second on the team to sophomore Davie Inman in appearances with 23 and second to junior Matt Eardensohn in earned-run average, allowing 2.14 runs per nine innings.

“I gave baseball a shot and it turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Causey said. “. . . This has been probably the best year of my life. I’ve enjoyed every second of it, and it’s not over yet. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Causey said he started working after high school with local pitching coach Mike Williams, who helped get the word out about his ability, and he received an email from Florence-Darlington Tech head baseball coach Preston McDonald, inviting him to try out for the team.

“So I started out there,” Causey said. “I guess he just wanted to take a chance on me, and I can’t thank him enough for it.”

Causey spent two years at Florence-Darlington Tech. He redshirted in 2016 and was named the Region 10 co-Relief Pitcher of the Year while helping the Stingers reach the JUCO World Series in 2017. In 22 appearances he had a 1.48 ERA and six saves while striking out 48 and walking seven in 24.1 innings.

He had a strong three-inning outing early in the 2017 season and became the team’s closer.

Causey received offers last year from Francis Marion and N.C. A&T, and interest from a few more schools. But he wanted to remain in-state to save money on tuition, he wanted to play Division I, and he wanted to follow numerous relatives who attended CCU, including his parents, Ray and Robin.

A handful of relatives traveled to Omaha, Neb., in 2016 and witnessed CCU’s national championship run. Causey couldn’t make the trip because he had to work that week, but he watched most of the championship game on TV, increasing his desire to play at CCU.

Causey, who is 6-foot-3 and now 220 pounds, threw only about 20 innings in his high school career and only 24.1 innings at Florence-Darlington Tech. So CCU’s coaches saw something in him, but didn’t have much to go on, and Causey was admittedly nervous in fall practices and struggled to throw strikes.

“Before the season started, I didn’t know if he would pitch at all, to be honest, because Jay had to get past being from Conway and the pressure of being here at Coastal,” CCU 12-year pitching coach Drew Thomas said. “Once he did that he’s been unbelievable.”

The Chanticleers are without three key upperclassmen pitchers who may have all been featured out of the bullpen in key roles, and two are lefthanded.

Senior Bobby Holmes and junior lefty Austin Kitchen, who were both part of the 2016 national championship team, were both lost to injuries prior to the season.

Junior lefty Scott Kobos, who joined the Chants from a junior college despite being selected in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Cleveland Indians, was lost to an arm injury after making just four appearances.

Gilmore estimates Kobos and Kitchen may have thrown a combined 120 innings this season and would have been counted on in key situations. Kobos may have also started.

“Losing those two guys and to see him step up the way he has, he’s been a lifesaver for us,” Gilmore said. “He’s kind of the hybrid relief guy . . . He can give you one really good inning, or if you need four or five of them he can do that as well.”

Causey has pitched as little as one-third of an inning and as much as 4 2/3 in his appearances this season.

Gilmore said it’s a toss-up between Causey and junior Matt Eardensohn, who joined the team from Iowa Western this season, for the team’s most valuable reliever.

Causey, a sophomore, is 2-1 and has five saves, and in 42 inning pitched he has allowed 27 hits and 20 walks with 38 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .194 against him.

Eardensohn, who is in his first season at CCU after two at Iowa Western, is 7-0 with a 1.66 ERA while throwing 54.1 innings in 19 appearances.

“He and Eardensohn would probably have to cut the trophy in half,” Gilmore said. “Both have been awful good for us. Those two guys have helped us hold it together all year long.”

The only other available lefties in the bullpen who have pitched this year are freshmen Dylan Gentry and Trevor Damron. Gentry has thrown 16 innings and has a 3.31 ERA, while Damron has a team-high 8.79 ERA in 14 innings.

Asked about Causey’s value to the program this year, Thomas recalled a Mastercard adage. “You know that old commercial where you’ve got this and this and the last thing is priceless? I’d go with that,” Thomas said. “We have no other lefty in the pen that can do what he does.”

Causey has a fastball that can creep into the low 90s, a slider and a changeup that he throws to righthanded hitters. “Just no changeups to lefties,” he said. “That’s just asking for a home run.”

He has a lower release than most pitchers, which makes it difficult for hitters to pick the ball up out of his hand, and he’ll change speeds in addition.

“I’m not necessarily surprised because if you look at his numbers on the TrackMan machine and what he does, the deception is plus-plus deception,” Thomas said. “He just put it to work. It was there, he just didn’t command the baseball [in the fall]. . . . He has commanded the ball all year and that deception works to his advantage.”

Causey expects the Causey clan to be out in full force when the regional starts Friday at Springs Brooks Stadium. He believes 50 or more relatives and friends of the family will attend games, and with his value to the team, they’re sure to see him in action this weekend.

“As long as the innings keep coming in I’m going to keep giving them what I can give them,” Causey said.

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 7:55 PM with the headline "How a Conway offensive lineman has transformed into an invaluable pitcher at CCU."