Posts belonging to Category High School Baseball

Growing up, every aspiring baseball player shares a common dream: to one day play for their hometown team.  For many, it’s a dream that dissipates over time, as the daunting reality of what it takes to even play at the collegiate level takes center stage.

But for St. Louis native Lance Jeffries (right), the dream became a breathtaking reality on June 7, when the St. Louis Cardinals selected the McCluer outfielder in the 10^th round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft.  Two days later, Jeffries and the Cardinals made it official when he signed his first professional contract, and was subsequently assigned to the organization’s Gulf Coast League affiliate in Florida.

As a senior, 6-foot, 205-pound Jeffries garnered Prep Baseball Report Missouri First Team All-State honors after posting a .457 batting average and .587 OBP, with 10 home runs, 38 runs scored, 45 RBI, and a perfect 46-for-46 in stolen bases.

However, it was obvious that Jeffries’ sheer athleticism extended well beyond his robust stats.  In August of 2010, the speedster opened eyes nation wide by running an event-best 6.6-second 60-yard dash at USA Baseball’s Breakthrough Series.  Then at Prep Baseball Report’s Super 60 draft showcase in McCook, IL last February, Jeffries flashed his 90+ mph arm and plus bat-speed.  In a matter of months, he had emerged as one of the nation’s more intriguing five-tool prep prospects.

Now, after an impressive inaugural campaign in the GCL, Jeffries is back in St. Louis and spending time with his friends and family. And despite his success and acclimation to life as a professional baseball player, the awe of being drafted – by his hometown team nonetheless – has hardly faded.

Continue reading ‘A dream come true year for Lance Jeffries’ at PrepBaseballReport.com >>

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Hank Molina was my first, and best, boss.  Hank had been the Farmington Amateur Baseball Congress Umpire in Chief since before I was born, and he turned eighty years old the year I started working for him as an ump.  Never a large man, Hank’s body had shriveled considerably by the time I met him, and the top of his hunching head just reached my shoulders.  But he carried a spirit the size of the Bambino in that little old frame, and his mind was sharp as a spiked cleat.  He once told me, “I’ve forgotten more about baseball than you’ll ever know,” and his authority on the diamond was unquestionable. Whenever a game got ugly or coaches got belligerent disagreeing over a rule, all you had to do was call Hank.  Actually, all you usually had to do was threaten to call Hank.

But if threats didn’t work and you had to go through with the call, Hank would pull up in his old Chevy Blazer (always stuffed with so much umpiring gear that it couldn’t hold more than one passenger), make himself a parking spot as close to the gates as possible, and mosey up to the field.  He would meet with the umpires, away from any coaches’ earshot, and after a quick discussion, he would calmly inform the concerned parties that the right call had been made, and the umpires’ decision stood.  It didn’t matter if you had made the correct ruling or not, Hank always had your back and that was that.  No coach, parent, or player ever tried to argue with him about it.  Or if they did, Hank never bothered to listen.

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Perhaps the most accomplished position player in the history of San Juan County, Piedra Vista HS and Strike Zone Cardinal CF, Shilo McCall, has verbally committed to Arkansas.  McCall is an excellent student with elite tools across the board.  At 6-foot-1 and 210-pounds, and just 17 years of age, Shilo is one of the more imposing players on any diamond he plays.  His mechanics have always been sound as he takes a very direct path to contact with excellent weight transfer.  Everything Shilo does on the offensive side of the ball is exceptional as he also has run 60’s in the 6.5 to 6.6 range.

Shilo still has room to grow as a player, particularly on the defensive end.  His actions in the outfield are representative of a player who is still somewhat new to an everyday outfield role.  Some have suggested that his tools play better in left, but with obvious speed and the ability to improve in terms of jumps on the ball, there is no reason that Shilo cannot stay in center.  There is also no reason that his arm can’t tick up to a point that he can be an everyday right fielder.

I’ve heard from pretty reliable sources that Shilo has a chance to get inside the top three rounds of the draft, so hopefully he is left with a very difficult choice to make this summer.  Now that he has a career in the SEC as leverage, something tells me that his stock is rising.  Good luck and congratulations!

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A year ago at this time, Johnny Eierman was in the midst of an arduous recruiting process, weighing which school would provide the best opportunity to extend his career.

These days, the former Warsaw High School (MO) standout is fresh off his first professional season and starting instructional league in Port Charlotte, Florida as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Drafted in the third round (119^th overall) by the Rays in June’s MLB Draft, Eierman (right) ultimately decided to begin his professional baseball career and forgo a scholarship to collegiate baseball powerhouse Louisiana State in the process.  As a junior, the shortstop hit .574 with five home runs, 10 doubles, six triples, 36 RBI and 17 stolen bases on his way to Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-State honors.

In the wake of an eye-opening showing at the Area Code Games last summer, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound shortstop hit .571 with 10 home runs, 10 doubles, 33 RBI and 24 stolen bases as a senior, and garnered MHSBCA First Team All-State and Prep Baseball Report Missouri Player of the Year honors.

For Eierman, however, the decision to begin his professional career was merely a matter of following his heart, even with a scholarship to LSU on the table.

Continue reading the article at Prep Baseball Report Missouri

This week preliminary rosters for the Arizona Fall League were announced.  The AFL is a prestigious league for what are typically regarded as the surest bets in the Minor Leagues.  While there are some exceptions, in general the rosters for the AFL are comprised of the top prospects in the game.  Exceptions include those pitchers and hitters receiving September call-ups and obviously those players making playoff rosters as well as pitchers who have approached appearance caps, innings caps, or other forms of usage limitations.  Even without these players the rosters can be pretty damn impressive.  Look no further than the Scottsdale Scorpions’ outfield for proof.  It will feature the game’s top two prospects in Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.  Whitney also happens to live a few blocks from their home yard, so I am absolutely ecstatic about the Scorps.  What has me even more thrilled, however, about the Scottsdale roster is a lefty reliever named Will Latimer, a Four Corners baseball product hailing from Bayfield, CO.

Bayfield is a tiny community located immediately east of Durango and well within the gorgeous San Juan Range, which is famous for ski areas like Telluride, Purgatory, and Silverton.  In recent years Bayfield has become a community where Durango’s workforce establishes residence to flee outlandish real estate costs in the Durango city limits.  Will Latimer was raised in this community and ultimately graduated from Bayfield High in 2004.  Latimer played his club baseball in the Farmington Connie Mack league but was never a standout talent until college.  Latimer signed at Trinidad State (CO), which currently rosters former Strike Zone Cardinal Austin Rochford.  While at Trinidad, Latimer saw his fastball begin to pick up pace and his slider begin to bite harder.  He was selected by Boston in the 22^nd round of the 2007 draft and, after missing much of 2008 and 2009 due to injury, is on the right track at the age of 25, reaching as high as Double-A this season.  With a healthy ERA in the low 3’s and more than 3 K’s per BB, his stats certainly justify his AFL invitation.  A quality showing for Scottsdale could land Latimer in the high minors to begin 2012, and with a three-pitch mix featuring a low-90’s fastball and a lanky 6-foot-3 build; the former BHS Wolverine has a very realistic shot at the Show.

In other Four Corners baseball news, former Piedra Vista Panther and current UNM Lobo Jake McCasland has received an invitation to the Cape Cod Baseball League.  If you are a regular guest at The Sombrero, I assume you know what that means.  For those of you who aren’t, The Cape is the premier amateur baseball league worldwide.  Rosters are comprised of nothing but elite collegiate players fighting to climb draft boards.  Jake is the first product of Farmington baseball to crack a Cape roster, and the community is absolutely ecstatic about his invitation.  Jake is arguably the finest local product the town has ever produced, and, after a freshman season at UNM in which he started 15 games, Jake is ready to step back into the weekend rotation in Albuquerque as the Lobos look to build on their 2011 Mountain West title.  Congratulations!