written by Jaylan Hayes
Ty McClintock might be in his second year at AU but he's no stranger to Augusta. He was born and raised in the city and he's happy that he decided to go here. McClintock isn't the only one that is glad he stayed so close to home.
"My family was very happy I stayed. My mom wouldn't know how to deal with me being farther than 30 minutes," said McClintock.
McClintock came to AU with a declared major of kinesiology but just recently changed it to healthcare management. The main reason for the change was because of biology 1107. He quickly learned that the science route might not be for him.
While he expects to graduate in four years, it might be a little longer if he decides to change his major again. He's thought about possibly switching to education but hasn't finalized his plans.
He will have a good connection if he decides to go that route.
"My dad's the athlete director of Richmond County. So, if I went that route, I'd have a good plug to get into what I want to do there," said McClintock.
He would love to play baseball as long as possible and even go professional if he could, but he considers himself a realist. If he were able to pick the team to play for it would be the Los Angeles Angels since he's a Mike Trout fan.
McClintock played third base until he came to AU when he was moved to second base. A decision that he is happy they made. While he might have been nervous starting his first year, he set a goal for himself to get through it.
"People say there's cocky and confident. I was feeling confident. I wanted to make an impact in year one. I'd say I brought the energy boost to the team, kind of kept everybody up when moments were low and that kind of helped with comebacks," he said.
When practicing, his favorite part is when he's in the batting cage hitting. It's one of the main reasons he plays baseball.
McClintock considers himself a people person and loves to talk to anybody and everybody. He wants to get to know people and not have one-sided conversations. He's that person on the team that anyone can come talk to.
He also has a very special skill that helps his teammates and has basically become the team's barber. It's a skill he picked up during the COVID lockdown because his mom always wanted to cut his hair, and he wouldn't let her.
"The team will come to me when they need it. They'll just ask when I'm available and I become their barber," said McClintock.
Pretty much everyone has an embarrassing moment and for McClintock, it happened during his first-grade spelling bee. When he spelled a word wrong, due to the principal's southern accent saying it differently, he stood on stage and started crying. It took him a couple years to get some redemption, but he finally won the spelling bee in fourth grade.
During his down time McClintock can be found hanging with his friends, cooking, working out, or planning trips to the beach. He'll probably be found with his favorite drink in hand, a diet coke.
McClintock has never been on a plane but hoping to do so in the near future. He wants to travel out west and would much rather fly than drive. Going somewhere tropical is also high in his list of places to visit.
With baseball season coming up McClintock is ready to see what will happen and hoping to make it as far as they can. Besides team goals, he's set some for himself as well.
"I've been hitting a couple home runs lately, so I'd like to hit at least five home runs this season," said McClintock. "But all I really want to do is win."
Baseball schedule
