Whenever coaches from other teams casually commented to Scott Stricklin about the Bulldogs and what players they were most impressed with during the course of the 2018 campaign, who do you think came to mind?
Former left fielder Keegan McGovern was an All-SEC performer as one of the top power hitters in the conference. Michael Curry? He certainly enjoyed a stellar career.
However, both answers would be incorrect. Catcher Mason Meadows, on the other hand …
“Opposing coaches gave him a lot of credit,” Stricklin said. “We talked after the season and they gave a lot of credit to Mason Meadows. They said that guy kind of changed your team and made them go.”
Not a lot of expectations were placed on the former Pope standout when last year’s season began. But by the time Georgia’s run to the finals of the Athens Regional was complete, Meadows not only batted an impressive .289 with three homers and 25 RBI, but defensively became a rock of stability who helped the Bulldog pitching staff enjoy one of its better seasons in recent memory.
Meadows set a single-season school record for catchers with a .998 fielding percentage, making just one error in 424 chances while throwing out 29 percent of base stealers (14 out of 48) with only nine passed balls.
His efforts resulted in some impressive post-season awards, including a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team and coaches to compliment Stricklin on his young catcher who certainly figures to play a key role for the 2019 version of the Bulldogs.
“That’s exciting,” Meadows said of the kind words from opposing coaches. “That’s good to hear because I feel like I took a beating last year. But man, I love doing it, the catcher is the rock of the team and being in that position is a fun spot to play.”
Those who know Meadows best aren’t surprised with his success and the effect that he’s had, although Stricklin admits he wasn’t initially sure as the former Pope standout redshirted his freshman year.
“I don’t want to say came out of nowhere, but we didn’t expect that,” Stricklin said. “We thought he would be a good player for us, would develop, but man, he really started to take over the leadership for our team.”
Meadows already had a little bit of experience in that regard.
“Just being a quarterback in high school I think really helped prepare me for it … being the senior class president at my school … I’ve always been in that kind of role,” said Meadows, who despite batting .413 with four homers and 43 RBI his senior year, was thought more of for his defense than the offense he would ultimately provide.
“Defense has always been my strong suit but the staff here has really done a great job of preparing me well. That’s kind of my approach, and that’s the thing that changed the most for me last year,” Meadows said. “It got me ready for the SEC pitching, some of the best in the country, and I think that’s really where I took the next step.”
As the Bulldogs continue their preparations for the Feb. 15 season-opener against Dayton, Meadows hopes to pick up where he left off.
He certainly wants to avoid the slow start he endured to start last year, until a grand slam at The Citadel helped turn his season around.
“I kind of started off the year slow. I remember the first game, I was nervous as anything, I was shaking up there and I think I struck out four times,” Meadows said. “But I had gotten a hit the week before at Kennesaw State, and that really kind of burst the door open a little bit. Then at the Citadel, when we needed a big hit, being able to come through in that situation it really kind of freed me, let me know that hey, I really do belong here and I’m good enough to play at this level.”
