For Auburn pitcher Carson Myers, 'This is where I want to be'

Carson finished his debut outing by striking out the side in the sixth inning.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Matt Myers, who won his first SEC start at Tennessee vs. Oklahoma State in 1996. “I watched the game and rooted for every player in orange. It was about enjoying my son being a part of this place and out there competing. That’s all I was focused on.”

A 6-2 junior lefthander, Carson Myers came to the Plains last fall after pitching his first two seasons at UAB, drawing upon his dad’s counsel when deciding which program to join.

“With him being a coach here in the past, his words stayed true about the coaching staff,” Carson said. “Coach Nonemaker, Coach Gross, Coach Teaford, Coach Thompson, they’re all great human beings. It’s the type of people I want to play for. It made the decision so much easier.”

“He was looking for a good culture and a place that he could grow,” said Matt, who was complimentary of the coaching and mentorship Carson received in his two seasons at UAB. “When he got here and walked around campus, he said, ‘This is what I’ve been looking for. This is me.’

“He said, ‘This is where I want to be.’ It happens to be with a couple good friends, too.”

Before Auburn, Matt Myers was an assistant coach and head coach at UNC Asheville. After Auburn, he served as the head coach at Western Kentucky for four seasons before coaching pitching at Lipscomb and UNC Wilmington.

“I remember coaching with his dad here at Auburn my first time here and going over to their home,” recalled Auburn coach Butch Thompson, whose first stint as an assistant on the Plains overlapped with Matt Myers’ tenure. “My first view of Carson was in a highchair eating baby food. 

“To track with a family that long and to be that good of friends and then to see a day like today, and him to get to go out there and pitch the way he did, that’s a surreal moment.

“I’m glad that family could take that in. They’re dear to me. It’s good to see Carson all grown up being able to play Division One baseball.”

Minutes before Carson’s first pitch, Auburn baseball’s social media account shared a picture of Carson from nearly two decades earlier: a little boy, wearing an Auburn jacket standing not far from the pitcher’s mound he would soon ascend.

“You always wish that you could be at a place like this forever,” Matt Myers said. “All the memories are great. Seeing Carson with that jacket on, it was pretty special.”

Who better than Matt Myers, a veteran pitching coach now in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, to offer a scouting report on his son?

“No. 1, he just competes,” Matt Myers said. “He works fast, he’s got full conviction in all of his stuff. They’ve done a very good job with him, developing a sinker and a changeup with his slider and his four-seam.

“The strength and training staff have done a phenomenal job. He’s got a lot of run, he can go both sides of the plate, but he just competes with conviction.”

Carson’s conviction and competitiveness helped him earn a spot in Auburn’s weekend rotation, delighting his dad.  

“There’s something special about this place,” Matt Myers said. “You have amazing people here influencing these guys to be really good men when they leave.

“For 25 years, to the best of my ability, I’ve taken care of other peoples’ children. I wanted someone to take care of mine and develop him as a man. I don’t care what happens on the baseball field, that’s all earned.”

Continuing a family tradition by wearing an Auburn baseball uniform, Carson Myers hopes to help Auburn continue its climb in the SEC.

“The culture is awesome,” Carson said. “It’s everything I could have expected. This is such a prestigious school in baseball. To be able to put on this uniform is awesome.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer