ALL-AREA: Gators' Coor named baseball player-of-the-year

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on June 13, 2015 11:28 PM

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By CAM ELLIS

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Allen Coor had the best season of his baseball career.

He raised his batting average 81 points and more than doubled his total doubles, triples and home run numbers from last year.

He did it, not to mention, all while playing out of position.

He did it, not to mention, with a partially-torn labrum.

The 2015 News-Argus All-Area Player-of-the-Year, Coor tore the labrum during the fall of 2014 which put his entire senior season in jeopardy.

"I was at a baseball camp at Campbell," Coor said. "That's when it started hurting. It was kind of a gradual thing, it wasn't just one throw."

At first, Coor didn't think much of the injury. He ignored it for a few months, thinking it was just another example of the wear and tear that year-round baseball can have on a player.

By January, though, he knew something was wrong. He sought advice from a few different specialists before going to get his shoulder checked out at Wayne Memorial Hospital.

Although he didn't want to hear it, the news could have been much worse.

"I knew something was going to be bad," Coor said. "But I was glad it wasn't a full tear or I would have had to have surgery. They said I could get through it with just physical therapy."

The labrum is a ring of cartilage that surrounds the shoulder joint and provides stability as well as a wider range of motion. The shoulder socket is shallow and unstable, so when the bones pop out of place, the cartilage surrounding it can be torn. These tears are common in sports that require overhand throwing such as water polo, volleyball and baseball.

Coor's injury, like most other labral tears, was minor enough that surgery was avoidable.

Playing middle infield and pitching were not options for Coor this spring. Head coach Heath Whitfield moved the Limestone (S.C.) College into the designated hitter role and if cleared by doctors, Coor could see time at first base.

"During the season, I was probably at about fifty percent," Coor said. "There were some days were I felt really good, and there were some days that it didn't feel good."

Even with his shoulder being at half strength, he was cleared to play first a few weeks into the season. Eager to get back on the field, Coor didn't hesitate to man the corner infield spot, despite never playing there before.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," he said. "First base isn't that terrible of a position to be at. You don't move a lot. I had to do a lot of picks, but the hardest part was mainly just knowing where I was supposed to be on bunts and plays like that.

"I had the hardest time knowing where to be when balls were hit to the out field, or when we were throwing home. Situations like that."

Despite the .515 batting average, 24 RBI and two home runs he hit this year, it was -- and always has been -- been Coor's defensive versatility that stood out to Whitfield.

"That's a special kid that can (make the transition to first)," he said. "Last year, he caught for us basically the whole year because our catcher got hurt. That's a special kid -- you can stick him out there anywhere and he's going to play well."

Coor is confident he'll fully heal before the fall season at Limestone.

"I am tickled to death for him," Whitfield said. "I love to see him accomplish that."

"It's always been a goal of mine to play college baseball," Coor added. "It felt great to be able to accomplish that."