Kody Clemens is getting a head start on following in the footsteps of his famous dad.
The Texas slugger and son of former Yankees fireballer Roger Clemens helped his team secure a spot in the College World Series with a 5-2 victory over Tennessee Tech in Austin, Texas on Monday.
“It means a lot,” the Longhorns’ lefty-swinging junior said after the game. “You know Kacy [Clemens] and all my brothers have told me that it’s the best time of your life. My dad definitely said it was one of his favorite moments ever playing baseball. I think that everyone is pretty excited. I’m definitely super excited. It’s going to be a fun time, and we have unfinished business.”
Clemens was taken in the third round of the MLB draft by the Tigers last week, but that news does not seem to have distracted him from the task at hand.
A finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the country’s top college baseball player, Clemens has mashed 11 home runs in the past 15 games, including one in each of Texas’ three Super Regional games against Tennessee Tech.
“This is definitely what my class and the class above me have been working for,” he said. “Omaha is the goal. You put in all the work in the offseason, you grind with your teammates, everything in the weight room and on the field you do as a team — you work to get to Omaha.”
Clemens’ 24 homers this season place him second in the NCAA behind Arizona State’s Spencer Torkelson, and the infielder entered play Monday batting .352 this year for the Longhorns.
“This young man is the best hitter in college baseball when the game is on the line, and he’s proven that from the very beginning to right now,” second-year Texas coach David Pierce said of Clemens. “It wasn’t the first month, [when it was] cold or the back end of the season. He’s been doing it since Day 1.
“And he does it in the biggest moments, and that’s what makes me think he’s the best hitter in college baseball right now.”
Clemens still is a few wins away from matching his dad, however.
The former Yankees ace and seven-time Cy Young winner was on the mound for the Longhorns in 1983 when they won the College World Series title over Alabama.
He also set a then-record with 35 consecutive scoreless innings pitched and became the first baseball player in Texas history to have his jersey number retired.
But if Kody Clemens can help his team earn College World Series glory this year, who’s to say which of dad’s achievements might be next in his sights?