OMAHA, Neb. — Cameron Warren is a man of few words.
But, when he does decide to string together more than a sentence it becomes notable for the strapping 6-foot-3, 230-pound first baseman who leads by example.
The only senior on the Texas Tech baseball team did that and more while he sat at his locker room and soaked in what’s been a banner career — capped off by a senior season that included hitting a team-best 18 home runs and 79 RBI.
“I would have liked to have been remembered as being a member on the first national championship team,” he quipped when asked how he wanted to be remembered. “But, I just want people to know that I played hard everyday. Gave it everything I got.”
Warren is certainly an interesting subject to profile, considering he made a habit of chewing toothpicks and later plastic — specifically the ring under the bottle cap — while he patrolled first base, stood in the batter’s box or hungout in the dugout.
Last season, former teammates Grant Little — who plays for the Fort Wayne TinCaps, a Class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres — said Warren chews on whatever he finds which as been bottle caps or even Capri Sun straws.
In some ways, it shows just some of the toughness and grit of Warren who hails from Midwest City, Oklahoma. The former Carl Albert standout helped his schools to three baseball state titles while also garnering all-state accolades in baseball and basketball. He’s jokingly credited his time on the hardwood for helping improve his speed on the basepaths.
Warren showed his speed throughout the College World Series, notably hustling from first base to home following a Dru Baker single through the right side in Friday’s elimination game against Michigan. The 22nd round pick by the Cincinnati Reds was on the move and finished his dash with a feet-first slide to give Texas Tech its first of three runs in the second inning to take a 3-2 advantage over the Wolverines.
The No. 8 Red Raiders would drop the contest 15-3 and see its season come to an abrupt end.
“I hadn’t really thought about it a lot, to be honest. I wanted to keep playing here in the College World Series,” Warren said when asked about continuing his playing career in the minor leagues. “Now, that I’m done playing here at Texas Tech, hopefully I get a chance and play well at the next level.”
Warren has plenty of ringing endorsements from his teammates, who have seen the former Seminole State Junior College power hitter develop into a sold defender at first base after playing in right field and being penciled in as a designated hitter.
“Cam’s just been an awesome defender at first,” Texas Tech junior second baseman Brian Klein said. “There’s not a ball he doesn’t pick. That’s what I know about him. At bat, all the home runs and the RBIs.
“He doesn’t even have a lot of strikeouts. He’s just an all-around good player. He helped us too, being an awesome bat in the middle of the lineup.”
Tim Tadlock feels the same way.
The seventh-year Texas Tech coach was quick to provide a scouting report for his senior following a 3-0 win over Dallas Baptist in a Lubbock Super Regional. In the contest, the two-time Big 12 Player of the Week hit a three-run home run that hit the top of a tree in left field to propel the Red Raiders to the Super Regional round.
“Start with great teammate,” Tadlock said. “I’d start with a guy that could hit in the middle of an order. Start with a guy that’s become a really good first baseman. A lot of people don’t know this but in high school, Cam threw really hard. And so he used to be a third baseman, believe it or not, and he’s athletic enough to play a corner in the outfield. Anything he does from this point forward won’t surprise any of us, I don’t think.
“But really, what I touched on a minute ago is the numbers back up what he is. Those numbers pretty much will tell those people — I don’t know if you know, front offices, there’s a lot of people in there looking at numbers, and his pretty much back up what he does. … I think they know we love him. I mean, it’s a neat deal.”
And now, Warren gets to continue to play the game he loves.
“It was amazing to help lead this group of guys,” Warren said. “We came up short, but it was a great season.”
