AURORA — Because a wet Pacific Northwest spring has broken out in Colorado, Connor McKay and his Regis Jesuit baseball teammates had to practice indoors earlier this week.
McKay, a senior outfielder and pitcher who is considered one of the state’s top two high school prospects for the major-league draft June 6-8, carried an equipment bag and — significantly — a knee brace as he headed to the Regis Jesuit gym.
After surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament five months ago, McKay surprisingly made it back into the Raiders’ lineup this month, just in time for their postseason run.
“I wanted to come back for the team,” McKay said. “I talked to a lot of the guys who said, ‘Hey, I wish we had you in the lineup.’ Hearing the guys say they wanted me to be back made me want to be back even more. It gave me the drive to be back early. I feel good, I really do. I just know I can’t sprint and I can’t cut yet, and that will come with time.”
In the final weekend of the Class 5A state baseball tournament, Regis Jesuit, with McKay likely confined to designated-hitter duty, is scheduled to play Highlands Ranch at noon today at Denver’s All-City Field. Cherry Creek, the only undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination bracket, is set to meet Cherokee Trail at 2:30 p.m. The tournament, which will determine a post-dynasty successor to four-time state champion Rocky Mountain High of Fort Collins, concludes Saturday.
McKay and Grandview catcher Greg Bird are the state’s top college and pro prospects, and it’s a bit surprising that McKay still is playing (or playing at all) while Bird and his top-seeded Wolves didn’t make it out of the first weekend of the playoffs. McKay suffered the knee injury while carrying the ball on an end-around in the Raiders’ loss to Mullen in the state championship football game in December. He was expected to miss the entire baseball season.
Yet he has returned to DH duty this month, with a courtesy runner coming on for him if he gets on base. Committed to Kansas if he plays college baseball, McKay leaves the distinct impression he was tired of being left out of the fun as a senior.
McKay, 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, hit .432, with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs as a junior. Despite the injury, it’s still possible he could be a high pick in the major-league draft.
“Hopefully, this will help my draft status,” he said. “That would be a bonus. But that’s not the reason I came back. You play the game because you love it. The first time I stepped back on the field and got a single, even though I had to have a pinch runner, that was a feeling like no other. When you’re out with an injury, and you come back, you really realize how much the game means to you.”
McKay is hitting .471 (8-for-17) since his return, with a double and five RBIs.
“I don’t feel any pain whatsoever, hitting or running,” he said. “I’m cleared to run faster now. It just keeps getting better and better.”
Regis Jesuit coach Steve Cavnar is being cautious with McKay, and it’s complicated by the reality that pinch-running for him a second time in a game means he has to come out of the lineup.
“I keep telling him, ‘Hey, if you need me to run, I can run, don’t worry about it,’ ” McKay said. “I’m not going to push it and hurt myself. I know my boundaries now.”
Said Cavnar: “Connor has great resolve. He’s had to fight through adversity for many months now. When he wasn’t rehabbing, he was at practices. He’s been part of the team the whole time. It shows a lot of character on his part to want to get back, even though he’s limited physically. He’s still a presence at the plate, he’s prepared himself for those opportunities and he’s done a nice job.”
The knee injury, plus his tentative college commitment, likely will nudge him down the draft boards of MLB teams. The questions are: How far? And what will that translate into at the bargaining table, when he has to decide whether to sign and play minor-league ball this summer or head to college in the fall?
McKay said he’s going to be open-minded about listening to an offer after the draft, but that he hasn’t pondered or set a dollar figure that would convince him to sign.
“I saw this as more of a challenge to get back and show everyone I am healthy and I can play at the highest level,” he said. “Whatever happens with the draft, happens. I’m just going to keep working my heart out and say I’ve done all I can do.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Quite a catch
Before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the state championship game in December, Regis Jesuit baseball star Connor McKay had a productive football season as a wide receiver.
Rushing: 10 carries, 114 yards, one TD
Receiving: 45 receptions, 623 yards, eight touchdowns
