​Grain Valley grad has breakout season for Rockhurst, Building Champions

by Michael Smith
 
Grain Valley graduate Avery Garmon remembers how stressful his freshman season was at Rockhurst University.
 
He admitted when he came on to the team, he was pressing to try and prove himself. At first, playing Division II baseball was a struggle.
 
Fast forward one year later, Garmon has found his confidence and has been one of the strongest hitters not only the Hawks; he’s been a standout for his Ban Johnson summer league team – Building Champions.
 
For Rockhurst, Garmon started in 26 games and played in 40. He was an extremely productive hitter, having a .345 batting average with a .970 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, two home runs and 25 runs batted in.
 
In the Ban Johnson, he was named an all-star and played at Kauffman Stadium last Wednesday as a part of the National Division Team. He had a breakout season, hitting .40, having a gaudy 1.124 OPS with two home runs, 18 RBIs, 17 runs scored and six doubles.
 
Having the support of his head coach at Rockhurst, Garry Burns, helped him have a successful sophomore season.
 
“Coach Burns had faith in me at Rockhurst,” Garmon said. “That helped me gain confidence. I had the freshman jitters at first, but at the end of the year, I was rolling and everything felt like normal baseball. I am relaxed and confident.”
 
At Rockhurst, Garmon had hit anywhere from third in the batting order to seventh. He has played at third base, second, first, and even the outfield once. He knew his strength was going to be his hitting and he’s proven to be a reliable bat for both Rockhurst and Building Champions.
 
“The key to success was knowing that I didn’t have to do a lot. I just needed to hit the ball hard like normal,” Garmon said. “If you put too much pressure on yourself, it makes things a lot harder. At the end of the day, it’s just baseball.”
 
Going into Rockhurst, Garmon didn’t know what position he was going to play. Coach Burns asked what position I am going to win and I said, whatever position my bat gets me. I have always been a good hitter and have always hit for average.”
 
Added Building Champions manager Jim Hernandez: “He can hit for average and he has a little bit of pop. He’s hit a couple of home runs for us. He takes what they give him. He sprays the baseball all around the field. He grinds.”
 
Garmon credits his father, Rob, for much of his success at hitting.
 
“I worked with him a lot on my hitting,” Garmon said of his father. “He would take me to hit at the batting cages whenever he could. He threw me a lot of batting practice pitches. My friends looked at him as the hitting guru.”
 
“He was my hitting coach off the field.”
 
As a left-handed hitter, one of the bigger challenges of his career has been hitting left-handed pitching. In baseball, it is common for left-handed hitters to struggle against left-handed pitches, but Garmon said he feels like he’s handled it pretty well overall.
 
In high school, lefties would maybe have three pitches. In college, the average pitchers have three pitches and sometimes four,” Garmon said. “Some of the pitchers throw fastballs in the 92-93 range and have four pitches (in college). As the spring went on, the more comfortable he got hitting left-handed pitching.
 
“The hardest pitch to hit is a curveball that comes in level with your front shoulder. It looks like it’s about to hit you and that it’s not a strike, but then it falls right in the strike zone then you look kind of uncomfortable.”
 
Currently, Garmon is on pace to have a successful baseball career in college. He said he is enjoying the game that he has been playing since he was 4 years old. He said his goal is to help Rockhurst make it back to the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a feat his team accomplished this spring.
 
He also wants to move up in the lineup and earn all-conference and all-Midwest region honors. If his season in the Ban Johnson League this summer is any indication, he has a good chance at accomplishing those goals.
 
“No one thought we were going to make the conference tournament this year,” Garmon said. “With the way the schedule is lined up next year, we have a good chance to do it again.

“I also want to be an everyday player and be the best guy for this team.”
 

Grain Valley graduate Avery Garmon is having a breakout season with the Building Champions team of the Ban Johnson baseball league over the summer. He was named an all-star of the league. Photo credit: Michael Smith