Surgeries can’t contain spark of wildness from pitcher Vaughn

CLEMSON — Ryan Hinson learned everything he needed to know about his future Clemson roommate, senior pitcher Matt Vaughn, when they met at USC’s baseball summer camp in 2003.

All other campers were dressed in baseball pants and gear when Vaughn strolled in with a mismatching long-sleeve T-shirt and mesh shorts, having arrived late from a Summerville High football workout.

“Coach (Ray) Tanner just said, ‘You want to toss a little bit and throw tomorrow?’ ” Vaughn recalled. “I said no, I can throw today. So I got up on the mound and threw. Coach Tanner told me afterward, ‘You think you can wear baseball pants tomorrow? You kind of stand out a little bit, maybe put on some socks, too.’

“I don’t tend to take myself very seriously.”

Those are what Vaughn calls “another 92” stories — as in, back in the days the 6-foot-3 former standout prep quarterback could hit that number on the radar gun effortlessly.

As the 14th-ranked Tigers head into this weekend’s super regional series at No. 2 Arizona State, Vaughn is thrilled to be hitting 88 mph again after his history of shoulder surgeries — or even to be pitching, for that matter.

While his baseball story qualifies as a standard tale of perseverance, it is Vaughn’s character that inspires coach Jack Leggett to suggest he could not have scripted a better way to pull out Monday’s regional-clinching victory than with Vaughn on the mound.

Freshman shortstop Brad Miller said the most underplayed element of Clemson’s comeback was the emotion stirred when Vaughn stormed to the dugout after getting the Tigers out of an eighth-inning jam, yelling to teammates that they were going to get the job done. They did in their subsequent at-bats.

Leggett views Vaughn as the perfect bridge between the coaching staff and the players, mainly because he is never afraid to tell either side what he thinks.

Vaughn is the team’s self-professed fungo star and spearheaded its charge to celebrate by climbing into the right-field stands Monday.

“He’s one of those guys that rarely come around,” Leggett said. “He’s got leadership qualities. ... He’s my go-to guy. Matt, take care of this, keep an eye on that. Boom, it’s done. He’s that kind of guy.”

Vaughn (2.30 ERA, four saves in 31Ð innings) has been the guy the Tigers turn to when in need of damage control, whether necessary in middle relief or as a closer.

But it was hardly the role he envisioned as a cannon-armed teenager who could hit 94 without warming up.

Before his junior baseball season at Summerville, he hurt his right elbow on a pitch to former Clemson teammate Taylor Harbin. In an admittedly hard-headed, “stupid” move, Vaughn opted to play quarterback again the next fall despite undergoing Tommy John surgery five months earlier.

Both his parents played sports at USC — Tim started at football free safety in 1981, while Cathy was a standout gymnast — but Vaughn chose Clemson because of its commitment regardless of his arm surgery.

He was left off the 2006 College World Series travel roster because of pitcher Sean Clark’s emergence, then experienced his career awakening the next fall during a sit-down with then-pitching coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

Vaughn’s fastball had modestly jumped from 84 to 87 mph — which O’Sullivan found encouraging and Vaughn disheartening.

But O’Sullivan encouraged Vaughn to develop a slider and sinkerball and learn to be crafty with his control, and Vaughn credits that conversation as a turning point.

After serving as Clemson’s closer last season, Vaughn underwent a pair of shoulder surgeries — one in August, another in November — to repair a frayed labrum and remove a bone spur.

“I remember coach Leggett telling my dad he had no doubt in his mind Vaughn would be back,” Miller said. “That guy, I don’t know if he even has anything left in his arm, but he’s going to will something out of it.”

Vaughn was back throwing in the low 80s again. Coaches sat him for the mid-April Virginia Tech series because of bursitis in the shoulder, and Vaughn said he wouldn’t have blamed them if they would have dropped him from the regular bullpen rotation.

But they stuck with him, and the benefits are as evident on the field as with locker-room chemistry.

The ACC tournament marked the first time his shoulder quit tightening up between innings, and Vaughn said he feels he has command of his pitches again.

After finishing the final 3ð innings against Oklahoma State, Vaughn received a text message from former Clemson pitcher Daniel Moskos, lightheartedly mocking the celebration by asking if the Tigers aren’t supposed to win a home regional.

Vaughn replied not after what Clemson went through last year in missing the NCAA tourney.

“It’s really been a grind,” Vaughn said. “To come on strong now, I don’t think I’d have it any other way. Starting off slow makes you appreciate this.”

Mum’s the word. Leggett and pitching coach Kyle Bunn said they would likely decide on their starters for the opening two games today. Sophomore lefty Casey Harman figures to be a lock for one start, while other candidates include lefty Chris Dwyer and righties Scott Weismann and Graham Stoneburner.