"In restrospect, maybe that was a bad idea"

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruits

■ The Detroit News chimes in with Divine Child baseball player earns scholarship to Missouri

Pitcher/shortstop Myles Smith of Dearborn Divine Child has earned a scholarship to play baseball at Missouri. Smith hit .390 with six homers, 13 doubles and 27 RBI for Divine Child last season. He also had a 7-2 record as a pitcher, with 47 strikeouts in 43 innings.

Smith chose Missouri over Michigan State, Central Michigan, Arkansas and Georgia Southern

■ San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg (#1 overall draft pick in June 2009) surrendered only 5 home runs in his collegiate career. The second of those was given up to San Diego's Nick McCoy, brother to 2010 Mizzou recruit Zack McCoy. Video of the dinger on YouTube.

Mizzou Baseball: Summer Ball

■ I'm told that three current Tigers have committed to play their 2010 summer ball with the Cowlitz Black Bears of the West Coast League, coached by former Tiger Bryson LeBlanc:

• Garrison McGlagan
• Andreas Plackis
• Andy Heifner

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Bryson Leblanc (05-06) is the head coach of the Cowlitz Black Bears of the West Coast League (a summer wood bat league). TDN.com has article about his first signee, with quotes from the former Tiger.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ ESPN's Jason Gray has scouting reports on a select group of pitchers he saw in the Arizona Fall League, including former Tiger Aaron Crow:

Aaron Crow: Crow hit 94 mph for me with a solid mid-80s slider, and also showed a better change than I expected, with sink and fade. That will be a key pitch for him against left-handed batters. Considering how much he's pitched in the past two years after being a very high pick in the draft two years in a row, he looked fine and should move quickly. His wrist wrap/curl in the back during his delivery is bothersome, though.

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruit: Michael Franco, 3B/RHP

Michael Franco, 3B/RHP

5'9", 170 lb, R/R
Moody HS (Corpus Christi, TX)

2009 Offensive Stats: .395 avg, 6 hr, 47 rbi, 42 r

2009 TXSWA All-State Class 4A 3rd Team

2009 All South-Texas Baseball Team

■ Photos of Matt Franco signing his National Letter of Intent

■ Franco's team, Moody HS, was ranked 14th in ESPN's final 2009 Fab 50 High School teams

■ Moody wins battle of nation's top two baseball teams (maxpreps.com)

Meza kept the attack going with a basehit and Matt Franco singled to left, chasing Hoelscher from the mound with five straight hits allowed and no outs. After Travis Neslony replaced Hoelscher, Moody worked a sacrifice and a sacrifice fly to move ahead 4-0.

Although Calallen closed the gap in the top of the third on a two-run homer by Matt Garza, Moody lengthened its lead with six runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Franco hit a solo shot to left field with one out and Randy Rodriguez followed with a basehit. After a walk to Geraldo Gutierrez, A.J. Longoria singled to plate Franco

.
■ Moody's Franco signs with Missouri (caller.com)

The District 30-4A first-team pick hit .418 with 42 RBI, 12 doubles and six home runs a year ago. He also provided a solid defensive presence at the hot corner and played a key part in Moody’s run to the state tournament.

Franco is expected to lead the way back this season.

“I told him we’re going to jump on his back and go for a ride,” coach Corky Gallegos said. “He’s our leader and we look for him to lead by example. He certainly does that. He’s out there getting dirty and showing younger players how to do things.”

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruits

■ DC Trio signs to play college ball (pressandguide.com)

Some valuable autographs were signed last Wednesday at Divine Child.

Seniors Myles Smith, Jeremy Shay and Anthony DiPaolo all inked National Letters of Intent to play college baseball in a ceremony held in the school lobby and attended by a number of classmates, teachers, coaches, friends and family members.
. . .

Smith became the first DC athlete to sign with a Big 12 school when he opted to head to Missouri.

He has been a major contributor for the past two years as a pitcher and shortstop for the Falcons and said he will continue to play both positions at the next level.

“They told me I’d be doing both,” he said. “They’re a young, up-and-coming team right now and I really liked the atmosphere down there when I visited the campus.

“It seems like a great place to be.”

Smith said he plans to major in business with a minor in psychology.

In the meantime, he still has some work to do before leaving DC.

“As Jeremy can attest, I still need to improve my control a little,” Smith said with a nod to Shay, who sometimes has to put his catcher’s equipment to the test chasing fastballs in the dirt. “There are always some things you can work on.”

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruits

■ Franklin senior Ian Ekery signs with Missouri (El Paso Times)

Wearing the black and gold of the University of Missouri, Ekery signed with the Tigers on Monday as he sat between his parents, Alan and Adj, in the Franklin library.

"It's amazing; it's almost surreal," Ian Ekery said. "You almost can't put this into words. I've dreamed of playing college baseball all my life, since I was a kid, and getting to go to the Big 12 and have an opportunity like this, it's amazing."

. . .

Success helped garner interest from several colleges -- such as Texas A&M and UCLA -- but Mizzou captured the youth's heart.

"Basically, a lot of schools in big cities tend to get lost in the town, as another part of what there is to do in the town, whereas at Mizzou, you got a little over a third of the town's population going to the school," Ian Ekery said. "Everyone's at the football game. The city life revolves around the college and college athletics."

SimmonsField.com profile of Ekery

You Make the Call: Which Tiger newcomers will have the greatest impact?

Our previous poll finished this weekend, with Aaron Crow winning decisively over his competition for the MU alum most likely to make the Show. It's time to move on.

Our new pair of polls asks which Tiger newcomers will have the greatest impact on the team. One poll asks about this year's talented freshman class; the other poll asks about an impressive collection of JuCo transfers.

Many fans have read a lot about these players; many have seen them play in practice or during the Fall World Series. Others may be familiar with these newcomers from following them before their Tiger careers began. Others will make up their mind on this poll based on sharing a last name with their favorite new Tiger.

Whatever drives your voting, it's all up to you. Cast your vote in the left-hand column now through the end of 2009. Supposedly you can only vote once, but history has shown it's not that hard to get around the restrictions. So vote early, vote often.

You may vote for more than one player.

Last year's winner of this poll (we tossed the freshmen and transfers in together last year) was Ryan Gebhardt.

2010 Recruit: Dillon Everett, SS

Dillon Everett, SS
5'11", 185 LB; S/R
Horizon, AZ


2009: .333 Avg, 27 GP, 90 AB, 23 R, 30 H, 19 RBI, 7 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 16 BB, 14 K, .434 OBP, .544 SLG%, 4 SB

• USA Baseball 2009 Mountain West National Team

• 1st team All-5A II Pima Region

• Arizona ‘92’s National Team Identification Series in Salt Lake City

■ Perfect Game Scouting Report:

Dillon Everett is a 2010 MIF with a 5'11'', 180 lb. frame from Scottsdale, AZ who attends Horizon. Strong athletic build, well-developed, switch-hitter, RH-strength in swing, balanced, quiet hitting approach, bat has some juice, LH-smooth swing, barrels the ball up well, ball jumps off the bat, stays inside the ball, good raw power, hammered ball to the fence during a game, runs well, 7.02 sixty, short clean arm action in the field, good range, solid actions, strong student, good all-around player.

■ From AZTeenMagazine (September 2007):

Although the youngest of this group, Dillon Everett hasn't let his age stop him. In fact, Everett left our overnight photo shoot to go tend to his baseball duties, catching absolutely zero sleep the night before. As shortstop on his Horizon High’s varsity squad as well as the Angel Scout Team, which is basically a stepping stone to playing in the major leagues, Dillon doesn’t see baseball as simply a pastime.

“I love everything about the game. Not only is it exciting, but it is a game that forces me to stay focused and pay attention," he says.

Dillon’s secret for baseball success and carrying a 4.25 GPA is not as obvious as one might think: “Stay close with your family.” Dillon plans to attend college to earn a degree in business and pursuit of a career as a professional baseball player.

Along his path, Dillon is always strengthened and inspired by his love for God. He is an active member at Living Stream Church and is in regular attendance with his family. What separates him from the masses is that he doesn’t care what others think and can make his decisions on his own. Some lasting advice this All-American poster child has for azTeen readers: “Make good choices, be patient, and do the right thing because it always pays off in the end, no matter how long it takes.”

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

MU in the Minors

■ Crow closes AFL stint with a gem (mlb.com)

Despite a shaky start to his pro career, when Royals prospect Aaron Crow walked off the mound at Surprise Stadium on Saturday, he left the crowd with little doubt as to why he was the 12th overall pick in this year's Draft.

After allowing a one-out double in the opening frame, Crow retired the final 11 batters he faced in a four-inning outing that best illustrated what all the hype has been about concerning the highly touted right-hander. In his final Arizona Fall League start, Crow struck out four and didn't issue a walk, falling short of a win as the Rafters fell to the Scottsdale Scorpions, 4-2.

"I think just the last couple times out [I was] just missing up a lot," Crow said of the 0-2 record and 7.92 ERA he had in his previous three AFL starts.

"Being out there and being on a scheduled routine and facing hitters every [start] and every week and focusing on keeping the ball down, it's been a lot easier to do
when you're in a routine."

Crow's rhythmic approach worked wonders on the Scorpions, as he consistently worked off of his cutting fastball to set up his off-speed stuff. He exited after throwing 39 of 54 pitches for strikes.

■ Project Prospect has video of Aaron Crow on the mound on November 9th

Mizzou Baseball alums nominated for MU Athletics Hall of Fame

■ Six new inductees chosen for 2009 class of MU Athletics Hall of Fame (ColumbiaMissourian.com)

• Ryan Fry, a Missouri baseball player from 1995-1998 who was a 2nd-Team All-American in 1998, and was a two-time Academic All-American.
  
  
• 1964 Baseball Team, which finished the season as the national runner-up and posted a 27-5-1 record

The group will be inducted January 22 in Columbia.