BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — With the short hour trip from Lackawanna County to Binhamton, New York on Friday night family and friends of Altoona pitcher Max Kranick came to support and cheer on their hometown hero as the Curve faced the Rumble Ponies.
It was Kranick's 2nd "AA" start for the Pirates affiliate in the Eastern League and the first time his uncle and grandfather had a chance to see him pitch professionally.
"It is pride. We get emotional at times. We live and die by every pitch. It is kind of hard to enjoy the game, but we are trying to sit back and just watch him grow. He is right there we feel. And we are looking forward to the future," said Pat.
Just keep playing hard and do the best that you can. How proud are you of him? Very...Very proud," said Pat.
."Yeah I love it because you know that I have traveled to see him but not all of his family has been able to travel to see him. So it is super nice. You know that his grandpa is here. What more could you ask for to hop in the car and be here in less than an hour," said Emma.
"Yeah it is really refreshing to see family and friends in the stands. I think that was the first time that most of those people actually saw me pitching professionally baseball. So it's probably been 5 years since they have even saw me," said Max.
After giving up 4 runs in the 1st Kranick settled in for 4 shutout innings. It is a constant adjustment re-fining and changing pitches to professional hitters.
"Before every start I am studying heat maps for 1-2 hours probably pre day the day before my start and like you said people have a book on you .You know looking at my first two games I was fastball and cutter heavy so now I need to change it up and add the other two in," added Max.
In Max's debut in "AA" in a game out in Altoona he consistently at 96 mph on his fastball and topped out at 99>
"It's definitely a lot more weighted ball drills just to keep my arm stroke a lot shorter than it used to be. It is easier to re-peat. It is easier to be on time. It just comes out a lot easier and better than it used to. So I think that is in a really really good spot and I am going forward and I feel good about it for sure," again said Max.
His next start is against the Harrisburg Senators the "AA" affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Binghamton New York.