CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 41 means nearly unhittable. By fall, he was throwing at 90 miles per hour and the curveball was breaking even more. "When he began pitching, he learned it fast and he learned to dominate,'' said Guy, who has remained close to Warren and his family. But more than technique, he had a gi that many pitchers fail to understand. "I tell our guys all the time and have for 22 years, pitchers have to learn quick and have a short memory,'' Guy said. e lesson Austin learned was to forget bad pitches and quickly move on. "He never gets rattled,'' Guy said. "at's an amazing mental aspect.'' Aer a successful stint at Wake Tech, Austin had interest from colleges, but finally settled on the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a school that didn't even have a scholarship to offer. e Seahawks invited him to walk on. It was with the Seahawks that Austin developed into a legitimate professional pitching prospect. "He became the reliever, the setup guy,'' his mother remembers. "He once told me he loved coming in for an inning and just shutting them down.'' He became part of a year-round baseball program, one that put emphasis on regular conditioning and strength training that made Austin smarter and stronger. Austin's dad, Marty, had been a high school baseball star at Terry Sanford and played for Cumberland County's last major league pitcher, the late Calvin Koonce. Koonce, a Hope Mills native and member of the world champion 1969 New York Mets, coached Marty Warren at Campbell University. Austin was draed by the Chicago White Sox in 1985 and spent two seasons in the minors, posting an earned run average of under 3.00. Marty thinks the key to his son's success are the pitches he's developed. "He's got very good stuff,'' Marty said. "You don't have many guys his size with a fastball that's hitting 96 (mph) and a major-league slider. I think he has continued to work his butt off. "I didn't give him a whole lot of advice,'' he said. "He took it and went with it. He advanced every stage he went to. Everywhere he went, he put up good numbers and kept going.'' Aer growing up with a father who was in pro baseball and a brother who played all his Downtown at 147 Maxwell Street (910) 882-3780 liverycigar.com Livery Cigar Emporium provides a relaxing environment where anyone from any walk of life can connect with people who share similar interests while enjoying quality cigars and craft drinks. Memberships available.

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