Schnur opts for Fairmont State baseball
BUTLER TWP — When it came to athletics, Mac Schnur had plenty of paths from which to choose.
He chose to allow his heart to guide him.
“I decided to wait until football season was over to see how much I’d miss it,” the Butler senior and record-setting quarterback said. “If I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about it, that I couldn’t wait to play again, I was gonna play football in college.
“I wound up feeling otherwise. So I decided to go back to my first love, which is baseball.”
Also a standout pitcher for the Golden Tornado and a member of the basketball team, Schnur recently signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and baseball career at Fairmont State College in West Virginia, a Division II school in the Mountain East Conference. The Falcons also recruited him for football.
Schnur plans to major in business marketing or finance. He also considered California (Pa.), Notre Dame (Ohio), Walsh and Tiffin.
“Fairmont State has a good, competitive team and it’s not far from a home my family has in Deep Creek (Md.),” Schnur said. “I believe I can contribute to the team there early in my (college) career.”
Schnur pitched 24.2 innings for Butler last spring, allowing 22 hits. The right-hander struck out 24, walked 17, and posted a 1.98 earned run average while limiting opposing hitters to a .229 batting average.
“Mac’s biggest asset is he’s a competitor,” Tornado baseball coach Josh Forbes said of Schnur. “He’s determined to win the battle against the opposing hitter, the opposing team. He just keeps battling until he wins.
“He’s got a high spin rate on his breaking ball that will play well at the next level. He’s got great control of his fastball, too. Now that he’s going to be concentrating on baseball, he’s only going to get better.”
Fairmont State was 27-22 overall last season, 22-10 in MEC play. The team finished second in the conference. Matt Yurish is entering his second year as the Falcons’ head coach this spring.
“I want to show enough that I can at least get some innings in during my first year, if not start,” Schnur said of his upcoming Fairmont State career. “My goal is to definitely be a starter by my sophomore year.”
By choosing to extend his pitching career, Schnur is following in the footsteps of his father, former Knoch baseball coach Curt Schnur, who pitched at the University of Delaware and had a stint in professional baseball.
Schnur couldn’t hide a grin when asked about his father.
“Dad and I butted heads a few times when it came to talking baseball,” he said. “I think the world of him. Everything I do on the mound, I learned from him. I love him to death. That’s my guy.”
Even while playing basketball for Butler this winter, Schnur kept up with his bullpen sessions.
“He never missed,” Forbes said. “Mac is a dedicated athlete. He does what he can for every team he plays for.”
Schnur is saying goodbye to football despite passing for a school-record 2,053 yards and 23 touchdowns last season.
“That record is something I’ll cherish. It’s nice to have it in my back pocket,” he said. “It will always serve as a reminder of how much I enjoyed going out there and playing on Friday nights.”
