Where Are They Now? . . . JD McReynolds

By Wyatt Hardy

JD McReynolds was an all-star baseball pitcher and basketball player at Sullivan High School. In his senior year, he was selected to the 2021 All-Conference, All-District, and Honorable Mention All-State teams. McReynolds also was a three-year letter winner, and participated in the Missouri High School All-Star Classic.

His last season as an Eagle was one for the books. McReynolds shined on the mound with an amazing .81 ERA, .625 pitching percentage, and only allowed 17 runs in the 8 games he played. When hitting, he had a team-high slugging percentage of .508, batting average of .400, on-base percentage of .542, and 22 hits.

Many college scouts were very impressed by his playing capabilities. McReynolds signed up for the University of Central Missouri to further his chances of playing professional baseball someday. Soon, he would be showing off his pitching expertise to bigger crowds and tougher teams.

But the transition to playing at college was more challenging than he had expected. McReynolds describes it as “going from a town like Sullivan, being a big fish in a small pond, and coming here and being around guys that are better than you. It was something that caught me really off-guard.”

During his freshman year, McReynolds felt he was too quiet and reserved. He struggled with connecting to his teammates, and didn’t have the same bond that he did with players at Sullivan. “It was just a completely different atmosphere because it was fast-paced and just trying to get you to move fast. While high school was a little more relaxed and about having fun.” In his first season, McReynolds did not play as much as he wished, and only pitched for a few innings.

His experience was not going as planned, and he knew he could succeed at UCM by forcing himself straight into the fire. He describes his new demeanor as “this year has got to be different. I have to be outgoing with everything. I got to talk. That mindset changed to just go be out there and be friends with people and make relationships that are going to last forever. It just made baseball so much more enjoyable than it was compared to last year.”

There was no more holding back. In his sophomore season, McReynolds proved that he deserved to be on the team. In just one year, he earned three All-American honors and was selected First Team All-American as a relief pitcher. Making 23 appearances, he gave up only four earned runs on 13 hits with 51 strikeouts and just 11 walks. He also posted a fantastic 1.08 ERA and went a perfect 5-0 with six saves. He is now one of the most valuable players for UCM.

None of this would have been possible without his faith in God. He credits Jesus for pushing him through the toughest of times. “You’re going to go through things in life that you’re not going to be able to handle on your own and having Jesus with you to go through that just makes it a little better. And having a good relationship with Him, first and foremost, I would tell any athlete to start doing.”

McReynolds always played with painted black crosses under his eyes back in high school. It symbolized how big his trust was in God, and he wanted to spread his message to the crowd. One night, a kid went up to him after a game and asked him why he wore the crosses. McReynolds told him that, “I have been extremely blessed by God and that me wearing that is to show that I wouldn’t be in the place I was without being blessed beyond measure.”

By staying strong, his confidence and faith lifted him up during his sophomore year. McReynolds enjoyed everything he loved about baseball again. He looks onto the future in high hopes, and will keep leading his team to victory. “A lot of the things that I’m saying today weren’t original thoughts, they were things I learned from people that knew the game like my dad, my high school and my Summer ball coaches, [as well as] the coaches here. Just surrounding yourself around the people who know the game of baseball is just something that you can’t put a price on. It helps everybody that is here with us at UCM right now.”