Since the 2012 high school season began, something was off about shortstop Andy McGuire (Madison High, Vienna, Va.). He knew it, his coach knew it and others familiar with his ability knew it. For months, McGuire couldn't figure out why he wasn't firing on all cylinders, and the answer finally came right before he was to report to Southern California with Team USA. A partial tear of his labrum and bone spurs in his left hip was limiting McGuire's mobility. After winning a gold medal in Korea at the IBAF 18U World Championship, he had surgery to fix the tear on Sept. 19.

"I had to play without really telling anyone something was going on," he said. "I wasn't really sure what to tell them because I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it was throwing me off because my feet weren't working as quickly."

McGuire described it as discomfort rather than pain and saw an orthopedic doctor in March, but X-rays and an MRI didn't reveal anything so he took a few days off to see if the discomfort would subside. It came and went so he played through it and his on-field performance suffered.

"That was tough, not performing to the best of my ability after working really hard in the offseason," McGuire said. "That was more of a confidence and mental thing that I as struggling with." [...] Continue Reading »