Photo by Abigail Cook, TexAgs
Texas A&M Baseball
Memorial's Jeremy York remembers HS careers of White, Pennington
Key quotes from Jeremy York interview
"Those two kids (Boomer White and Walker Pennington) are such hard workers. They've earned their way and they're just great kids and they just make Memorial Mustang Baseball proud every time they step out there on that field. We've been very fortunate at our program to have some quality kids come through."
"There is no question there was something special in both of them. You know, they're a year apart so we had them come in one right after the other. I guess when we knew Boomer was pretty special, and this is going to sound crazy, was when we turned and handed him the ball at freshman football mini-camp. We knew that this kid had something special going on. I'm sure everyone knows, in football as well, but as a freshman he came in right away and swung the bat well and then as a sophomore and junior he led us to the regional finals. Walker actually came in a year later, and I don't know if people know this or not, but Walker was on our varsity basketball team as a freshman. That year we went to the regional final, and as a sophomore he made some contributions and then as a junior as well. They're special kids, there's no doubt about it. The reason they're where they are is because they worked their tails off everyday swinging the bat."
"Boomer made some noise in the athletic scene at Spring Branch Middle School when he was there and not only as a football player, but also as a basketball player. I mean, he's an unbelievable athlete, and everybody said you've got a good crew coming. His entire class was really, really good. He was the leader of that pack and like I said, we were extremely fortunate. From 2009 all the way up to 2013-14 or something like that, we had some quality young men come through but Boomer's group was really special, led by him of course."
"Boomer was always an Aggie fan and always wore the Aggie stuff around practice and stuff. We see so many Aggie shirts around our campus that you don't think that much about it,but I guess when I really realized moreso that he was into A&M was when he decided to make that move. Once he made that move, it kind of made sense. I know his best friend in high school went to A&M and then of course his brother, Tug, ended up going to A&M and it seemed like he spent a lot of time at A&M when he was at TCU. TCU was where he felt he wanted to go and things happen and things change and he made that decision. It's funny, people ask me all the time if I knew anything about it and to be honest I didn't."
"There's a lot of factors that come into play (when deciding where on the field one can play professionally). The thing he found out, even with our program, is that he's such a good athlete that he can adjust and adapt to just about any position that you want him to play. He played some left field for us and caught for us as well, but for our purpose, for our team at the time when he was a sophomore and a junior he played left field when he wasn't catching in the second half of the double header. He did a wonderful job, and of course as a senior he took the catching job and just ran with it and did a great job."
"As you say, it's always extremely surprising when someone has stepped in and been a legend at a particular program. but with is brother being at A&M and of course his best friend in high school being there, (the transfer) then starts to begin to add up. You start saying, 'Hey, I've always told kids to go where you're going to be happy. Go where you're going to enjoy your friends and make life long memories' and he's followed that and has done a great job with it."
"This weekend is going to be exciting. But I was watching Boomer in an interview the other day and he said, 'Don't let me be the storyline, let our team go out there and let our team make this thing happen.' That's why that kid is special and Walker is the same way. They want to put the team first, they want the team to be successful and they want to do whatever they can to help the team succeed."
"Oh there's no question, Walker is going to do great. He's a good hitter and the big thing is that he is such a team guy. He puts the team first and he's willing to accept whatever role is there for him and he's done a great job with that. He was able to do that some with us as a sophomore, to accept that team role and do some things as a sophomore for us in a platoon situation, and he excelled at that time as well so he's been in that role before. He does a great job with it."
"Well, with Justin Seely nothing surprises me. He's such a good baseball guy and on top of that he's such a good person and that comes honestly. His dad is a real good friend of mine and he was actually very influential in my career, but anything Justin does doesn't surprise me. He was a great hitter in high school as well and I think he has that home run in Nebraska history that will last forever, that grand slam that sent them to the College World Series, so he probably speaks these guys' lingo really well."
"I think Boomer is going to go out and have fun against TCU this weekend. To me, that's what separates him from a lot of folks. He understands that you go out and have fun and the rest will happen for itself. He's done a really good job of that throughout his entire career and he really enjoys playing the game and it shows. When people watch him play they go, 'Wow, that kid is really cool.' We went to a tournament up in Lufkin a couple years in a row when he was in high school and I had so many of the fans that had nothing to do with our team say, 'Man, I love watching that kid play.' He goes out, he has fun, he enjoys it, he does a great job with it and he has confidence in himself, but again I think that goes back to his preparation and his work ethic. He knows what he can do and he doesn't try to do too much."
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