How Chester County's Hunter McLemore signing with Freed-Hardeman baseball has impacted his season

HENDERSON – Mike Goff remembers the first time he saw Hunter McLemore in action.

Goff, the Chester County High School baseball coach with more than two decades of experience, first saw McLemore playing at Chester County Middle School.

“He was special even then,” Goff said. “I knew with the caliber of ball that he played, he was going to get better and better year after year.”

That stretch of year after year has run its course. Looking at it now, Goff still feels that way about McLemore, now a senior at Chester County.

McLemore is hitting .550 with 21 RBIs and seven doubles and two home runs among his 21 hits. He had three hits, including a double, and a RBI in the Eagles’ 8-0 win over Jackson Christian on Thursday at Freed-Hardeman’s Five Wells Field.

Ironically, McLemore will be spending his next four years at Five Wells Field. He signed with the Lions on March 23 after committing to the program on Oct. 15.

“It was a lot of stress going into making a decision,” McLemore said. “But after I made that decision, there’s a lot of stress off knowing I’m going to be able to play somewhere for the next four years.”

That stress-removal has helped McLemore play more relaxed baseball and not worry about making a choice or what the consequences of a bad game might mean.

Not that he often has bad games, but having that certainty of the future is a major lift for the 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior who plays third base, first base and pitches. He has a fastball, a changeup, a slider and is looking to add more pitches when he gets going at FHU.

McLemore plays AAU ball for the East Cobb Astros and plays in showcase tournaments all across the South. He started playing baseball when he was a little kid. “I fell in love and been in love with it ever since and I’ve never gotten tired of it,” he said.

Whether it’s on the baseball field, playing hitting games in the batting cages or playing games of Spikeball with teammates, McLemore is the kind of guy teammates want to be around. He’s got the personality and the game to match.

Goff said simply, McLemore is just a winner.

“He’s been a leader here since he’s come in,” Goff said. “The amount of baseball he’s played and the knowledge of the game and the God-given talent he has, people feed off that. They want to be like him and feed off of him.”

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Goff was happy knowing that McLemore is moving on to the college ranks, but his mind goes back to that first meeting in middle school. It doesn’t seem all that long ago for the longtime coach.

“I knew the time would come when he’d be a senior and I’m just trying to enjoy every second with him,” Goff said. “I know my time is getting limited with him, and it’s the good ones that the time flies by with.”

Austin Chastain is a high school sports writer covering West Tennessee. Reach him by email at achastain@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ChastainAJ.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: How Chester County baseball's Hunter McLemore destressed senior season