Crack of the Bat

By David Rawnsley

State Baseball Classic  --  Part 3

As expected, there have been some interesting emails in response to the imaginary "State Baseball Classic" and the eight teams of high school age players that were nominated to compete against each other.

Perfect Game Scouting Supervisor Blaine Clemmens, who knows the prospects on the West Coast better than just about anyone, points out that Arizona has an excellent group of 2007 prospects and would like to put together the following team to challenge the eight listed.

Arizona

Brayden Ashdown (CF)

Adam Bailey (LF/P)

Luis Tovar (3B)

Khris Davis (RF)

Lucas Johnson (1B)

Jason Jarvis (C/RHP)

Kevin Rhoderick (DH/P)

Brandon Macias (SS)

Riccio Torres (2B)

Tim Alderson (RHP)

Charles Brewer (RHP)

Taylor Lewis (RHP)

Sammy Solis (LHP)

Seth Furmanek (Res./OF/RHP)

Matt Newman (Res./OF/LHP)

Blaine comments "All the 2006's have signed with big time programs such as UCLA, Notre Dame, Fullerton, Irvine, Arizona and Arizona State.  But the key to this group is that it has six 2007 players and even one 2008 (Riccio Torres).  Alderson, Solis, Rhoderick, Johnson, Macias, and Newman are going to make Arizona a top state in 2007 and there is sure to be more kids develop before then, too.

"Looking at it as a series against other states, Arizona will have an advantage with the depth of their pitching.  In addition to four solid primary pitchers, Rhoderick and Jarvis are both 88-91 mph throwers and Newman is a polished southpaw with three college level pitches as a junior.

"Watch out for Arizona over the next few years!"

Another reader points out that there already is an event that features groups of top players organized by state high school associations from many states, the Sunbelt Classic.  And that the team from Tennessee has won this event against all comers, including most of the nominated eight teams, two of the past three years. 

The 2006 Tennessee Team would have problems matching up with their peers in depth of talent, but we checked back to the 2004 and 2005 classes, remembering all the great teams that two Tennessee based WWBA teams, Dulins Dodgers and the Knoxville Yard, had put on the field.  In retrospect, the 2004 team from Tennessee could have taken on the best from any state and any year.

Tennessee (2004)

Zach Cozart (CF)

Cale Iorg (2B)

Tony Delmonico (SS)

Matt McGahey (LF)

Ryan Jones (RF)

Michael Fisher (3B)

Matt Spencer (1B)

Chris Kirkland (C)

Scott Hawkins (DH)

Kyle Waldrop (RHP)

David Price (LHP)

Bryan Morris (RHP)

James Adkins (LHP)

Matt Lea (Res./RHP)

John Lalor (Res./RHP)

There is a bit of hindsight involved in picking this team, Waldrop and Morris each came on very quickly their senior high school seasons to become first and second round picks respectively, and Price and Adkins have emerged as potential first round picks in 2007 only after stellar freshman seasons at Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

Cozart is a shortstop who we've moved to centerfield, but if you can play shortstop in the SEC, as Cozart does, one would suspect you can play centerfield as well.  That shows you the depth of the Tennessee infield.  Waldrop and Price are first rate athletes who could contribute with the bats if given a chance.  There was more than one scout (including this one) who had Waldrop evaluated higher as a power hitter than a pitcher prior to his senior year. 

There are numerous talented players, including many 2006's who would have been sophomores in 2004, who were left off the 15 player roster.

The more you look at this group, the easier it is to imagine it beating any state team you could put out there, including the Big 3.  There will be many, many playing in the Big Leagues over the next decade or so.