A Look Back: McGinley and the 1955 CWS
6/5/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 5, 2013
Courtesy OutreachNC.com
Wake Forest is the only Atlantic Coast Conference school to win a national championship in baseball. The Deacons have a place in history, in large part, because of a skinny pitcher who went on to become a school teacher and administrator in Fayetteville.
Wake Forest won the 1955 College World Series behind a miraculous pitching performance by Jack McGinley, a sophomore from New Jersey, who blossomed into a star when it mattered most.
McGinley, who still lives in Fayetteville, had a 3-2 pitching record during regular season. But then the right-hander put together a postseason of which dreams are made. It was simply unbelievable.
He was the winning pitcher in three of the Deacons' five College World Series victories and won two additional games in the regional playoffs, giving him a 5-0 record in postseason. He finished 8-2 for the 1955 season with a team-leading 2.52 earned run average over 90 and a third innings.
"It was kind of amazing how it all worked out," says McGinley of his sensational stretch run. "I don't know exactly how I got to start all of those big games or how I was able to pitch as well as I did. I guess I just got hot at the right time."
An understatement to be sure, but then, those who know the retired school principal would tell you he is a master of minimizing his own accomplishments.