Maury McDonald wasn't part of winning teams at Eckerd College, then Florida Presbyterian when he was a student-athlete.

Instead, McDonald was the talented player who took a chance on a young program and endured the hardships that come along with it.

While McDonald and his teammates battled through the frustrations of being on the ground floor of a fledgling Triton baseball program, he also was instrumental in the few wins the team had in its early years and more importantly the long-term survival of a program that would soon compete on the national stage.

Along with teammate Cris Frost, McDonald helped lobby to keep the team alive when it was said that the school was leaning toward eliminating the struggling program.  According to Bob Chick of the St. Petersburg Independent, McDonald offered to pitch every day just to keep Florida Presbyterian on the diamond.

An overlooked prospect out of Miami discovered by Jim Harley, McDonald had been told he was too small to play major college baseball. He later tossed a two-hitter against the team of the very coaching staff who told him he wasn't good enough.

Official statistics from those early years have long since been lost, but it's said that McDonald was a .300 hitter who worked the majority of innings on the mound in his seasons as a Triton. 

While McDonald was long gone from Eckerd by the time the program rose to national prominence, it was his effort and leadership that helped keep the team alive in its formative years.