Grote epitomizes how baseball should be played

Furman's Carter Grote makes a diving catch.
Photo courtesy: Furman University

I don't think I could have a proper Furman baseball blog without writing something about senior leftfielder Carter Grote. I figured a prelude to the Southern Conference Tournament would be as good a time as any.
My friend and former Greenville News' colleague Manie Robinson beat me to it though:
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/sports/college/furman/2017/05/22/college-baseball-socon-tournament-greenville-furman-paladins/335698001/
Manie's terrific story offers insight from Grote and coach Brett Harker about what even casual Furman baseball fans the past few years have noticed - whether it's batting, fielding or running the bases, Grote plays the game the way it's meant to be played.
More on that in a minute.
There's been plenty of fun things to see for fans of the Paladins (29-26) this season as the team went 18-6 in their last 24 regular season games to secure a winning record in Harker's first year.
Brandon Elmy came back from an injury-shortened 2016 season to hit .341 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs. After hitting .212 last season, Landon Kay leads Furman with a .344 average to go along with 10 homers and 33 RBIs.
Senior catcher Cameron Whitehead is the third Paladin with double figure homers (11). Whitehead has been on fire down the stretch to raise his average to .300, and he's driven in 30 runs. Meanwhile, opposing baserunners continue to try to run on Whitehead for some reason. He's thrown out 16 of 37 runners trying to steal after throwing out 14 of 25 last season.
Starting pitching has excelled in the second half, led by junior Will Gaddis. After winning 2016 SoCon Pitcher of the Year honors with a 3.45 ERA last season, Gaddis has posted a 1.88 ERA this year. Among pitchers who've thrown at least 88 innings this season, Gaddis' ERA ranks seventh-best in Division I.
Left-handed starter Grant Schuermann has put up an 0.90 ERA over his last four starts and a 35-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last six.
Then there's Grote.
Sure, he's batting .336 with eight home runs, while leading the team in doubles (15), triples (5), RBIs (52), total bases (125), walks (26), on-base percentage (.425), fielding (0 errors) and outfield assists (6). He's also the only Paladin who's started all 55 games.
But it's the way Grote's gone about amassing those numbers that is truly special. In nearly 40 years of following Furman athletics, I can't recall anyone in any sport that's played harder than Grote has every time he's on the field.
One play this season perfectly sums up the effort Grote always puts forth.
On April 29, Furman trailed Citadel 1-0 with one out in the first when Grote hit a routine groundball to short. I never noticed the slightest bobble the Citadel shortstop had fielding it, but I did see Grote fly down the line to barely beat the throw to first. After what should've been the third out, Elmy and Kay hit back-to-back singles and Grote came home with the first of Furman's 19 runs that day.
What's all the more remarkable about what Grote has accomplished in his four seasons is the humble entrance he made into college baseball. I'll never forget the way former coach Ron Smith talked about Grote during his freshman season.
After Greg Harrison, Furman's top hitter in 2014, was suspended along with Smith for a game following an ejection the night before, Grote entered the starting lineup for a Saturday game at then-first place Western Carolina. Grote went 4-for-5 with three RBIs in the Paladins' 9-6 win, including an RBI-single in a three-run ninth inning.
This was what Smith said about Grote following that series' win:
“He had gotten two at-bats on Friday and hit the ball hard twice. On Sunday, we  got him out there in left field and he went 1-for-3 and hit the ball hard one other time. He made two sparkling defensive plays, so he really gave us a lift this weekend.
“This from a guy who was an absolute walk-on tryout. He just hit his way onto the team in the fall and has worked very, very hard.”

Grote is living proof that hard work pays off, sometimes in unimaginable ways.

On March 15, 2016, Grote played a big part of one of the most historic nights in Furman sports history. Nobody knew what was to come that night when the Furman men's basketball team hosted Louisiana-Monroe in the CIT, while the Paladins' baseball team hosted College of Charleston.

After Daniel Fowler hit an off-balance, buzzer-beating jumper in the basketball team's 58-57 win, I left Timmons Arena and made my way across campus to Latham Stadium.

I got there just as Charleston scored in the top of the ninth to snap a 6-6 tie. In the bottom of the ninth, Sims Griffith and Jabari Richards reached before Grote deposited a 1-2 pitch over the left-centerfield fence for a walk-off homer in Furman's 9-7 win.

The next morning, replays of Fowler and Grote's heroics were shown on ESPN. After the highlights, there was Fowler and Grote live on my television screen being interviewed by ESPN anchors about their feats the night before.

I have a six-year-old son and my dream is that some day he's drafted by the Cleveland Indians - preferably high enough to buy his mommy and daddy a new house immediately after signing. But I digress. I don't want to be one of "those" parents.

No matter what dream my son decides to pursue someday, I simply hope that he will chase it just as Carter Grote would.