Friday Day III Aflac All American Classic
Staff Report
It was another beautiful morning at Cunningham Stadium on
theUniversity of San Diego
campus.
The Aflac All Americans took a quick round of infield and
batting practice before today’s main attraction, the first round of the Home Run
Derby.
Scouts filed in all morning and the stands were nearly full
for the home run contest. Lots of Major
League scouting directors here today and even more are expected to attend the 5th
Aflac All American game tomorrow.
Jack Armstrong RHP/1B from
Florida
was the first hitter and he hit 3 out of the park.
With the wind blowing slightly in, Destin Hood OF from
Alabama
, hit 3 HRS including one monster shot over the left field wall.
Ethan Martin 3B from
Georgia
then hit 4 to take the lead, including a shot over the 20 foot high centerfield
wall 400 feet away. Adrian Neito then hit 3 to tie both Armstrong and Hood. The West team’s only representative
for the finals was Clark Murphy 1B/OF from
California
who also hit 3 in the first round.
After the first round Ethan Martin qualified for the Home
Run Derby before tomorrow’s game at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With only three spots left Armstrong, Nieto, Hood and Murphy went into a
five swing tie breaker for the last three spots.
Armstrong was shutout in his 5 swings, though banging at least three off
the wall. Hood then put on the best
power display of the day to gain a spot in tomorrow’s final.
In 5 swings he hit one well over the scoreboard in left center, then hit
one out to deep right centerfield and if that wasn’t enough, he hit one over the
20 foot wall in straight away center.
All three were well over 400 foot drives.
Nieto followed with a home run to make also insure his spot in the finals.
Murphy didn’t hit one in his 5 swings, so that forced a final sudden death
tie breaker between Murphy and Armstrong.
Armstrong was shutout in 5 swings and it looked like Murphy might do the same thing
before he unloaded on one that sailed far over the right center field wall.
The four finalist for tomorrow’s
Aflac Home Run Derby are Ethan Martin, Destin Hood, Adrian Neito, and Clark Murphy. Should be very interesting
The Aflac All American Banquet is always a big event. Each year Perfect Game gives out an
award for sportsmanship to a most deserving Aflac All American.
PG Aflac Sportsmanship award
We considered several
players for this award before settling on two finalists.
A few months ago… We
struggled with whether or not to select a certain player as an Aflac All American…
Not because of anything
to do with his ability, but for some other more personal and possibly even selfish
reasons.
First of all, this player
is from our home state of
Iowa
and we always worry that any kid we select from
Iowa
will be unduly scrutinized and some might think we showed favoritism. I know that’s
worrying about ourselves a bit too much.
We worried about
Iowa
kids and past Aflac players we selected as Aflac All Americans, like Jon Gilmore
and Jeremy Hellickson. Then Gilmore
ended up being drafted 33rd overall last year and Hellickson we feel
will pitch in the Big Leagues.
Of course we had to
pick BJ Hermsen from
Iowa
this year, You will all find out why we had to do that in the near future… He was
a no brainer!
There was yet another
reason we hesitated picking this other kid, Brent Warren,
in spite of showing us some amazing tools both on the mound and as an outfielder
over the years.
You see Brent’s baseball
life nearly came to a screeching halt this past winter.
It was discovered that he had a serious heart defect that not only threatened
his baseball career but more importantly his life.
Open Heart surgery was
performed at the Mayo Clinic around Christmas and Brent was told he would never
again be able to play the game he loved and had worked so hard at.
This spring he was released
to play after a miraculous recovery that surely was the result of modern medicine,
his faith and many prayers.
We did not think he
would be able to play at his past level, but he showed up at an event in Cincinnati
in June and ran a 6.4 sixty twice, hit a couple out in BP and played like an Aflac
All American in every way possible.
Still we were concerned
about actually selecting a home state player who had life threatening open heart
surgery less than 6 months earlier.
I had to go talk to some scouting directors and top level college coaches who were
in attendance about our concerns. They unanimously recommended selecting Brent based
on his ability and performance alone.
So did we favor him? Well!!! Yes we truly did!, but in exactly
the same way we favored all the rest of the young men being honored as Aflac All
Americans. We favored him because he
simply deserved it and met every possible criteria for being an Aflac All American!
And he meets every criteria to win the sportsmanship award.
Two year’s ago we were
scouting the Sun Belt Classic in
Oklahoma
. It’s a great tournament with lots
of talented players from all over the country.
We saw a young kid pitching there for Team
Tennessee
who really drew our attention.
Sonny Gray wasn’t very
big, but he completely dominated a very good team.
He showed a great arm that easily reached 90+ velocity.
But it was the way Sonny
conducted himself and even his personality that drew us to follow him closely for
the past couple years. Yes, those probably
aren’t the most important things in scouting, but you know…
There really are some things that are more important than baseball.
Just ask Brent Warren
and his family!
Anyway, from strictly
a scouting standpoint… We’ve seen this young man throw up to 96 mph several times
and we’ve never seen him when he didn’t throw at least low 90s.
And he can really pitch and he’s an outstanding athlete in addition. In fact, Sonny Gray was named the athlete
of the year in his state.
Most importantly he
personifies everything we love about a young baseball player and what the sportsmanship
award is all about.
He is confident, yet
humble. He is polite and friendly to
everyone whether they are those who can help him or not.
His smile can light up a dugout.
He will be a tremendous role model for many years to come.
Yes, he’s just a damn
nice kid, but he’s tough as nails when he sets foot on a baseball field.
It hasn’t been easy…
This young man suffered a devastating loss when he lost his father in an automobile
accident in 2004.
A few weeks ago he found
out that he wouldn’t be allowed to play in this year’s Aflac Classic due to a
Tennessee
High School
rule. That’s a bummer, but the good
part is… his future is extremely bright!
I’ve been correctly
quoted as saying this year’s group of Aflac All American’s is the best one yet in
terms of the number of high class individuals.
Many among this year’s Aflac All Americans deserve this award, but there’s
never been two more deserving players to receive it than Brent Warren and Sonny
Gray.
We decided to name them
co winners of the award this year.
These two are a welcome addition to the future of baseball and both will be great
role models for those who follow.
Baseball
America
named their pitcher of the year and to no one’s surprise this year’s recipient was
Tim Melville RHP from
Missouri
who plays for the Richmond Braves during the summer.
Melville was a very deserving recipient of Baseball
America
’s annual award.
Then came the most prestigious award in amateur baseball,
The annual Jackie Robinson Player of the Year Award.
This award goes to the top high school player in the
United
States
. Past winners have included Justin
Upton who is already making his mark at the Major League level.
The six finalist for the Jackie Robinson award were…
Ethan Martin 3B from
Toccoa,
Georgia
and the East Cobb program
Harold Martinez SS from
Miami,
Florida
and All American Prospects
Tim Melville RHP from
Wentzville
,
Missouri
and
Richmond
Braves
Isaac Galloway OF from
Rancho
Cucamonga, California
and RBI
Eric Hosmer 1B/OF from
Cooper
City
,
Florida
and the
Midland
Redskins
Sonny Gray RHP from
Smyrna
,
Tennessee
and the
Brentwood
A’s
Video clips of all six (all wearing Perfect Game uniforms
no less) were shown and Jackie Robinson’s grand daughter, Sonya Pankey, read off
the winner… Tim Melville’s name was called again.
Ozzie Smith, who earlier gave a moving speech about character and persistence
and Jeff Herbert CMO of Aflac presented the award to Melville as the large crowd
stood in applause.
While the game is all about the players the cause
is what makes the Aflac Classic so very special.
Herbert presented a $20,000 check to “Coaches Curing Kid’s Cancer”.
Later he presented a check for $150,000 to the Rady Children’s Hospital in
San
Diego
. The proceeds from the banquet and
game go to Children’s Pediatric Cancer Research.
There’s nothing quite like the Aflac All American Classic. It’s in a class of it’s own as every player
in attendance at last night’s banquet now understands.
And the game isn’t until tomorrow.
The game is nationally televised live on FSN starting at 3:05 Eastern Time.
The starting
lineups for tomorrow’s game
East
Xavier Avery
CF
Tim Beckham
SS
Ethan Martin
3B
Destin Hood
LF
Harold Martinez
2B
Wes Freeman
RF
Jack Armstrong
1B
Garrison Lassiter
DH
Taylor Hightower
C
Michael Palazzone
P
West
Robbie Grossman
CF
Andy Burns
SS
Isaac Galloway DH
Kyle Skipworth
C
Clark Murphy
1B
Aaron Hicks
RF
Ricky Oropesa
3B
Chris Amezquita
2B
Brent Warren
LF
Tim Melville
P
The PG Showcase game was played today with several players
and pitchers standing out. The game
lasted 13 innings and we will be writing a complete report after the Aflac game
has been completed. Here’s a hint…
The 09 class looks very strong!