Local contingent puts talent on display at Area Code Games in California | Baseball
Published 3:37 pm Monday, August 15, 2011
Arizona, California and Florida have long been known for churning out the nation’s best baseball talent thanks to year-round sun and top-notch collegiate programs.
Washington, however, may soon join the fray thanks to a strong performance at the Area Code Games, which was held Aug. 5-11 at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif. and included local standouts Taylor Jones (Kentwood), Reese McGuire (Kentwood), Ryne Shelton (Kentlake), and Mike Rucker (Auburn Riverside).
Jones, McGuire, Shelton and Rucker were among 30 players from the Northwest chosen to represent the Kansas City Royals in this year’s Area Code Games, which brought together the best high school underclassman players from geographical areas based on telephone area codes. Eight Major League teams — Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals — were represented at the annual event.
“It’s quite an honor (to be chosen),” said McGuire, who was the South Puget Sound League North Division MVP this past spring, when he hit .545 with four home runs and 35 runs batted in during his sophomore season.
The local contingent were among nearly 70 Northwest players who took part in an invitation-only tryout June 27 at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. More than 25 scouts from various Major League clubs and colleges were on hand for the tryout. Similar tryouts were conducted in 21 other locations throughout the country.
Representing the Kansas City Royals, the boys from the Northwest showed they can play with the best prep players in the country, completing the six-day showcase as the lone team with a perfect 5-0 record. Kentlake’s Shelton, a shortstop/pitcher, earned Player of the Game honors in a 2-0 win over the White Sox. Shelton went 0-for-2 in the victory, but drove in the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly and stole a base en route to scoring the other run of the contest.
As a junior last spring, the 6-foot, 185-pound Shelton posted a .435 batting average and a sparkling 1.07 earned run average on the mound. A first-team All-SPSL North selection at pitcher, Shelton ranked second in the division in strikeouts and allowed the fewest hits per seven innings (3.8) much thanks to a fastball that often registers in the low ’90s.
The highlight for McGuire came in a 7-5 win over the A’s in which he started a five-run, seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single.
“The experience was kind of overwhelming,” said McGuire, who was just one of three juniors-to-be on Kansas City’s 30-man roster. “There were easily 400 scouts there. It was just a lot of fun.”
The most fun part, however, proved to be winning, which wasn’t necessarily expected from the Northwest-based team.
“It was a shocker (to go 5-0),” McGuire said. “Most of the people didn’t think we could play baseball up here in the Northwest.”
Jones agreed.
“I think we definitely proved a point,” said Jones, a second-team All-SPSL North selection at pitcher in the spring. “I don’t think anybody expected us to go 5-0.”
Due to the size of each team’s roster, players were used sparingly, receiving a few innings and at-bats in each game.
Jones, who has committed to Gonzaga University, enjoyed every moment of the inning he received on the mound.
“I actually wasn’t nervous at all once I got out there,” said Jones, who allowed one run in his inning of work, and who also plays first base. “I felt pretty good.”
