DISTRICT NEWS & PR |
Shannahan shines with strong will to win
April 15, 2009
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Jason Reckamp
Collinsville Herald
April 15, 2009 |
Collinsville senior gives it his all in basketball, golf, basketball
When you first meet Erik Shannahan, he portrays the vibe of a normal high-school student - complete with a carefree, laidback attitude and an unassuming face.
But that face and attitude pull an about-face when the Collinsville senior is on the mound with the bill of his hat pulled down low over his eyes, just above a half-smile-like snarl that says, 'I'm going to beat you.'
That's the face of competition. And that, coupled with a fastball that climbs over 90 miles per hour on the radar gun and a lethal, knee-buckling curveball, is what makes Shannahan so good.
"One of his best attributes is his attitude on the mound," said Collinsville coach Pete Trapp. "He knows when he goes out there that he has a one-on-one competition between himself and the hitter. He's gonna beat you. He likes to win in everything he does. It shows a lot.
"His skills are great, but his attitude is what really probably puts him above and beyond a lot of other good pitchers. He doesn't like to lose at anything. Playing golf (for fun), running sprints...he just doesn't like to lose."
Shannahan, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound pitcher/shortstop, has always been competitive. With everything. But sports, in particular. And he turns it up a notch when he's on the mound.
"Yeah, basically everything," Shannahan said. "Checkers, gym class, whatever, I just don't like to lose. I've calmed down a little bit with gym class because people got mad. But anything with sports, pickup games, I try to win everything.
"It's definitely stronger on the mound, especially in big situations. I always try to go all out, but it's different on the mound."
Shannahan, the Madison County Journal Male Athlete of the Year, and other athletes from throughout the Suburban Journals coverage area will be honored Tuesday prior to the Cardinals-New York Mets game on the field at Busch Stadium.
While 'the face' isn't as noticeable on the golf course or on the basketball court, Shannahan excels there, too. He was named to the all-Southwestern Conference golf team all four years and was all-area three times. He was also a honorable mention selection on the all-conference basketball team.
"He's not the guy that's going to run circles around you on the basketball court," Trapp said. "But he knows how the ball is going to bounce. He knows where the ball is going to lie, knows the wind, stuff like that. He has that instinct. He spent a lot of time playing sports and being competitive in a lot of things, he knows that stuff. I'm sure if he was a wide receiver in football, he'd be pretty good because he knows where the ball's going to come down."
Collinsville's Zach Holland has seen the best of Shannahan's competitive nature, both on the golf course and on the baseball diamond. Best friends, Holland and Shannahan have fed each other's will to win. And wallet.
"I've lost plenty of money to Erik Shannahan," said Holland, a junior who is hitting .398 and leads the Kahoks with 10 RBI. "He's probably the second most competitive person I know. The first one is Trapp. (Shannahan's) a competitor and it rubs off on everyone, not just me. But he does it in a good way. He doesn't get in your face and yell, he just tries to bring up to the level he knows you're capable of.
"He's a short-memory type of guy. Good or bad, no matter what. He'll get mad about a shot he made, but he will forget about it before the next shot because he knows he has a job to do."
"I have limits in basketball, I'm slow," said Shannahan, who started playing golf when he was 4. "I try doing all I can. But in golf, I always have competitions with the other guys. Holland and I always get into it on the course and stuff like that."
His numbers on the mound are eye-popping. And those numbers, along with his competitive drive, are what earned him a full scholarship to the University of Arkansas. In his four years with the Kahoks, Shannahan has pitched 157 1/3 innings and has struck out 196 hitters. He was a first-team all-SWC selection and was named to the Post-Dispatch All-Metro team, despite the pitching-heavy class ahead of him - including MLB draft picks Jake Odorizzi, Tim Melville and Otto Roberts.
Also one of the area's top shortstops, Shannahan hit .391 with 16 RBI last season and .398 with 4 RBI as a sophomore. This season, while lately being hampered by swelling in the ulnar nerve in his throwing elbow, he leads the team with a .400 average.
Shannahan is well steeped in ultra-competitiveness, dating back to when he was a little kid. His grandfather, former Belleville West and O'Fallon basketball coach Dave Shannahan, would razz him in driveway shooting hoops or beat him at a board game. And then ridicule him a bit after a win.
"It's how I grew up," Shannahan said. "I remember, I would be like eight years old and he would rub it in my face whenever he beat me."
Another grandfather, Gene Richardson, who competed in pole vault for the University of Missouri track and field team, help fuel the competitive fire.
"Both of them are real competitive and hate to lose at everything," Shannahan said with a smile. "So, I guess that pretty much rubbed off on me."
What has rubbed off on Shannahan's teammate is a desire to win. While he can be laidback and a jokester off the field, he's all business on it. And his injury this season has forced Trapp's hand a bit. But Trapp believes Shannahan brings something that few players do - an ability to not only play virtually every position, but the ability to excel.
"I've been saying it a lot, I know, but he loves to win and that's very contagious," Trapp said. "He's a good leader on the field. He has instincts that as a coach you can't stop and teach in the middle of a game. That's one of the biggest things he brings to the table as a teammate. It's the little things, the hustle here or the groundball there. It's not always the home runs or the strikeouts. Erik is going to be a standout on the field wherever he is."
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