By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
REMEMBER the name Marc-Richard Culmer.
The five-foot, eight-inch, 175-pound right fielder is making an impression as a member of the West Virginia University Golden Bears baseball team.
In completing his junior year, Culmer went 9-for-19 for a .474 batting average, including five doubles with eight runs batted in (RBI), three stolen bases and five runs scored in a six-game stretch against Point Park University, Ohio Christian University and the University of the Cumberland.
The feat earned him the Golden Bear Star Performer for April 24-30 as WVU ended the 2013 season with a 24-28 win-loss record.
“It was a pretty good season,” said Culmer in an interview with The Tribune. “I started off really well and I struggled a bit in the middle, but I finished it off pretty good. So I think I’ve improved a lot this year. My stats were pretty much similar to last year, I think I improved a whole lot.”
Playing in 52 of their games, 47 of which he started, Culmer had a .327 average after going 49-for-150 at the plate. He registered 10 doubles, a triple and two home runs, while driving in 30 runs and scoring 47 times. Defensively, Culmer snagged down 89 balls, had 84 put outs, assisted with three put outs and made just two errors for an impressive .987 average.
As the season came to a close, Golden Bears’ coach Lawrence Nesselrodt said that Culmer “has shown signs of becoming a great player and he was a force at the plate.”
The former Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN) player attended St Andrew’s School up to the ninth grade before he left the Bahamas to enrol at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, which at one time hosted the famed Williams sisters (Venus and Serena).
From there, it was on to WVU where the 22-year-old has been making a name for himself.
“Originally, it was pretty tough because I had fallen behind in baseball because we didn’t play as much baseball here as they did over there,” Culmer said. “But I caught up pretty quickly and I was able to get right into the flow of it.”
Culmer, however, said it was a total transformation for him as far as the game is concerned.
“They play year round and when they’re not playing, they’re practicing,” Culmer said. “We didn’t play baseball here in high school and we only practiced at JBLN a couple times a week and we had games on the weekend. But here, we had games every day.”
With his season done from last month, Culmer is now preparing for the closing of school before he takes a much needed break to come home to spend some time with his family and friends. Then, it’s back to the United States where he will be enrolled in a summer league programme to help keep his game sharp for his senior year in August.
“There’s a lot of things that I can work on, improving the fundamentals,” he said. “I just hope to get better defensively, hitting and staying mentally sharp because the game is tough mentally, especially if you mess up on a play. Last year, I played in the Valley League where Brandon Murray played, but I actually broke my (left) hand when I got hit by a pitch batting.
“That ended my summer short, but I was able to bounce back. I was really pleased with the way I was able to turn things around and I ended up playing this year.”
If his career continues the way it’s progressing, Culmer said the future looks bright for a shot at the professional ranks, whether it’s the minor or the major league.
“Last year, I got a look from the Royals and the Padres. I didn’t get drafted, but that was pretty cool getting an invitation from them,” he said. “If things don’t work out for me at the end of next year, I would still have another year of eligibility, so I will see what happens.”
Culmer, a major in sports management, is the youngest son of G Clifford and Corliss Culmer. His older brother is Myles, a chartered accountant at BDO Chartered Accountants & Advisors. He had nothing but some sound advice for those younger players in the JBLN and the other baseball leagues in New Providence.
“Just make sure you work hard on your fundamentals every day, like hitting, taking ground balls,” he said. “Baseball is a pretty tough grind and so you have to stay sharp every day. That’s the most important thing.”
So far, those instructions have helped Culmer to stay focused on his career.
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