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Once his star left-hander went down with a groin injury earlier this season, Fort Worth Paschal baseball coach Stephen Smith invented a new exercise: the Geoffrey Davenport stretch. Now, the Panthers stretch twice a day.
Davenport injured his left groin in early February and missed about three weeks of the season during rehab. By missing three weeks, Davenport’s fastball dropped from 89 to 84 mph and his mechanics became shaky.“When he’s locked and loaded, he’s one of the top 10 pitchers in the area,” Smith said. “After he injured his groin, he wasn’t able to throw strikes. He was walking five or six guys a game. This last week, he’s finally got his control back.”Not only does Davenport get it done on the mound, but also at the plate. He is one of the area’s top Class 5A hitters, with a .571 batting average, hitting No. 3 for the Panthers.But it’s pitching that Davenport is known for and that will take him to Arkansas next season.How did the groin injury affect your pitching?“Pretty much, it really messed up my mechanics. Every one of my pitches – fastball, curveball and changeup – hurt to throw. The other day, though, I started feeling a lot stronger and things are starting to come back.”After making it to the area playoff round last year, what do you think of this year’s team?“I think we have the capability of going further than last year. We have seven returning starters and when I got hurt, Hoby [Milner] really stepped up on the mound. We’ve also had great hitting throughout the lineup, so I think my injury actually helped the team because people had to step up.”On offense, what type of hitter are you?“I’d probably say more of a punch hitter. But if I get the right pitch, I can hit it pretty far. My focus is just moving runners over.”Any player you look up to?“I really like Josh Hamilton. He was down and he’s rebounded. He also plays centerfield like I do, if I’m not pitching. I read that he used to throw 95 mph, too. I’m not saying I can do that, but I look up to him just because of how he’s rebounded from everything.”What else do you do?“I just like hanging out with my friends. I’m in no other clubs or anything outside of baseball.”
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