Exploring every road to success

Penn baseball player Chris May has been running most of his life.

But he hasn't just been running around the bases or chasing fly balls, as one might expect.

He's also been running post and out patterns.

In fact when May -- a four-sport athlete in high school -- received a recruitment letter from Penn, the focus wasn't on his stellar batting average.

"When I got recruited at Penn, it was pretty much football-driven," May said. "Baseball was on the back burner."

And despite being offered a full ride from Atlantic Coast Conference schools like Maryland to play wide receiver, May chose Penn in the end.

"I decided to come to Penn because it was a good place where I could play both football and baseball and get a good education," May said.

May discovered from playing Legion Baseball -- Pennsylvania's high school summer league -- that he was good enough to play the sport after high school.

"Legion Baseball has a thing called the Scouts' All-Stars, and I was lucky enough to make it through all the tryouts my junior year," May said. "I got to play at the Vet. I realized then that maybe I had the talent to play in college at the Division I level."

And after arriving at Penn and completing his freshman year, May decided to drop the pigskin to focus on America's favorite pastime.

May decided that specialization would improve his performance in baseball.

"I've definitely gotten a lot stronger, and I've put on about 20 pounds during my time at Penn," May said. "I really learned how to drive myself, work hard and have the motivation to go and do the extra stuff.

"Not just the practice, but the offseason in the weight room, and hitting the batting cages in the winter."

The move has paid off, as May's stats have gone up every year.

In the final season of his collegiate career, the native of Biglerville, Pa., hit .455 with 10 homeruns, 11 doubles and three triples en route to driving in 55 runs.

His numbers have not gone unnoticed, as May has been named the 2001 Ivy League Player of the Year and first team All-Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

May also won the Charles H. Blair Bat for batting a league-leading .452 in Ancient Eight contests.

"I really worked hard on my swing over the course of the offseason," May said. "It was one of my goals coming into the season to be one of the best hitters in the Ivy League. So just because it was one of my goals and I worked so hard to fulfill it, that was pretty special."

But most significantly, May was named a third team All-American this season by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

"I kind of thought I had an outside chance of making the team because I had a good year," May said. "But it was a little bit of disbelief and shock that I actually got that kind of recognition."

And for these successes, May thanks many people along the way who have helped him.

"My dad played a big part in getting me to the field every day," May said. "My Legion coach Mike Chroniger played a big role in the technical stuff -- working on my swing, my approach to the game and the fundamentals. My high school coach Jeff Taylor also played a big role.

"And my grandparents too, they're probably my biggest fans."

And having completed his collegiate baseball career, May was looking forward to the next step -- playing in the pros.

But the third team All-American was unexpectedly not drafted by any Major League Baseball team in the First-Year Player Draft held last week.

"I was really expecting to get drafted by somebody," May said. "I got invited to a couple pre-draft invitational tryouts, and I showed pretty well at them.

"I thought I had a good chance, so draft day was definitely really disappointing."

But May hasn't given up on a career in baseball, as he's been actively pursuing ways to get signed through free agency.

"I had a really good tryout with the [Boston] Red Sox the other day, so I'm still waiting to hear from the them," May said. "I have some other tryouts later on in the week as well.

"I think I have a pretty good shot at getting my foot in the door somewhere."

And with the hard-working mentality he was brought up with, it's likely that May will end up doing what he loves somewhere by the end of the summer.

"All my eggs are in that basket for now, and I definitely want to explore every alley possible before I throw in the towel."

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