As hard as it was for Hudson Roberts and his Ozark teammates to bid adieu to Cooper Pumphrey two years ago, it made his return to the Tigers as a junior this year that much sweeter.
“I was pumped when he came back,” Roberts said. “I hadn’t seen Cooper in a while, but knew he was good. To have such a great player like him come back in our program, we definitely got better. Getting an arm back like his for our rotation is a big boost for us. He will help us win and he’s also helping our player development because he’s very knowledgable in what he does.”
Suddenly, Ozark has two NCAA D-I commits in its dugout for this spring, as well as next season. Roberts verbaled to Arkansas nearly two years ago and Pumphrey took Mizzou up on its offer last month.
Pumphrey and Roberts will look to form quite a 1-2 combo in Ozark’s pitching rotation, while Roberts will be at third base when not pitching and will hit in the middle of the Tigers’ lineup.
"If Cooper is throwing good, I’m sure he’ll be our number one, or if I’m throwing good, I can be our number one or number two,” Roberts said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m worried about winning games. Whoever coach (Justin Sundlie) sees as being best on the mound is who I want on the mound.”
It’s been a happy reunion for Pumphrey and the Tigers.
“I was good friends with all these baseball guys growing up,” Pumphrey said. “To get back here and be working out with them, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Pumphrey is a different player and a different young man now than he was when he left Ozark following his eighth-grade year for the Culver Military Academy, a boarding school in Culver, Indiana (about 40 miles from Notre Dame).
Pumphrey values his experience and lessons he learned at Culver.
“The relationships I made there are going to last a lifetime. I still talk to almost all my friends there," Pumphrey said. "Me and my roommate felt like we had known each other for years, after only a month and a half, because we were together all the time.
“Going to a boarding school taught me a lot about maturity,” he added. “It was like going off to college as a freshman. You were expected to be (at classes, meetings, etc.) at this time, but they weren't going to force you or spoon-feed you. Throwing me into that environment, I was uncomfortable for the first 2-3 months. After a while, what they instill to you is you have to be mature, have conversations and communicate effectively with adults, your peers and leaders. In my recruiting process, a lot of coaches told me that I seem very mature for my age. I owe all credit for that to my parents, Ozark and (Culver).”
Pumphrey also grew physically the past two years, enjoying a growth spurt of four inches to put him at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds.
“My biggest focus point the past year or two was to gain weight,” he said. “I’ve hit the weight room a lot and found a home there with (Ozark strength and conditioning coach Corey Roy and football coach Jeremy Cordell. The weight room has become a big part of who I am while I try to become, bigger, faster and stronger.”
Most impressively, Pumphrey upped his velocity. His fast ball is regularly clocked at 90 mph.
Naturally, a 17-year-old with a 90 mph heat drew the interest of college coaches. During the summer following his sophomore year, Pumphrey attracted plenty of attention at showcases.
Upon making a visit to Mizzou, he was instantly sold.
“When Mizzou came along, I was thinking, ‘I get to represent my state and I can’t pass up the opportunity to play SEC baseball,’” Pumphrey said. “I committed on the spot. It was a no-brainer for me.
“I was talking to (Mizzou pitching coach Tim Jamieson) and he was telling me stories of how he coached Max Scherzer,” Pumphrey added. “They’ve got a meeting room and on the walls are all their MLB draft picks and what they are doing in MLB now. I want to be a part of that.”
Pumphrey hopes to establish himself as a pitcher, rather than simply a hard-throwing right-hander.
“I can rely on my fast ball. I can throw 75 percent fast balls and probably get away with it in most games,” Pumphrey said. “But kids are going to be able to hit my fast ball. What I’m really trying to focus on this year is not relying only on my fast ball. To have four pitches I can confidently throw for a strike would be huge. My curve ball is there, but it’s hit or miss some days.
“I’ve got three pitches I can count on,” he added. “I want to locate my fast ball, slider and changeup and be able to throw them in any count.”
OZARK SCHEDULE
March
15 — W 10-2 @ Jefferson City; 20 — @ Kickapoo; 22 — Jefferson City Helias; 23 — @ Columbia Battle; 28 — @ Springdale Har-Ber (Arkansas); 29-30 — @ Red & Blue Classic
April
2 — @ Republic; 5 — Columbia Rock Bridge; 6 — @ Ft. Zumwalt West; 9 — Nixa; 11 — Neosho; 12-13 — @ Owasso Nike Nine (Oklahoma); 16 — Branson; 17 — Glendale; 18 — @ Joplin; 19 @ Springfield Catholic; 20 — Eureka; 23 — @ Willard; 25 — Webb City; 27 @ Staley; 30 — Carl Junction
May
2 — @ Carthage; 3 — @ Rogers, Arkansas; 7 Lebanon
