Best Prep Ballplayers to come out of NC in the past 20 years...

As noted above...

Another one of my State Games players! MacPherson playe at Rabdleman HS I believe in the Pros now as well!?!?!

 

Here are some guys i played with/against or coached that i think are worthy of mention here. most of them are from the late 80's but a couple played in the early 90's.

Ray Durham - Harding - 2b, OF. don't need to say much here. great all around athlete. all-american in football. natural hitter. great speed.

Scott Tate - Harding - P. NC Player of the Year in 1988 and MVP of the 1988 State Championship Series. Without him, we do not beat Rose.

Tim Thompson - Harding. SS, OF. Great hitter. hit 15 HR's in 30 games as a FRESHMAN on the 1988 team. Had great teachers in his two uncles (Alfred and Bobby Thompson) who played as high at AAA with the Cardinals.

Darrin Hart - Harding. SS. Didn't look the part, but one of the best all around athletes i ever played with. Drafted by the Padres out of HHS. Good hitter with decent power. Never missed a ground ball. We made a pretty good DP tandem. He was also the #1 receiver on the football team that played Garner for the State Title in 1987.

Kreg Gresham - Independence. P. Hit low 90's as a senior. Went to UNC but had arm problems.

Tuck Helms - West Mecklenburg - 2b. Son of former Red Tommy Helms. the guy never made an error and i can't remember him striking out. Played a couple of years at West before moving back to Cincinnati. 30 minutes after we lost in the Legion playoffs to Burke County, he looks at me and says "I can't wait until next season'. The guy loved to play the game.

Telly Helms - West Mecklenburg - C. Tuck's cousin. This had all the natural talent in the world but it never seemed to come together for him.

David Darwin - West Mecklenburg - P. Tom Glavine clone. Sneaky fastball with good offspead stuff. Went to Duke and made it to AAA with the Tigers.

Danny Wills - East Mecklenburg - P. Great soccer player too. went on to play 4 years at App State.

Cameron Browder - East Forsyth - 1B. Damn this guy could hit. Left hander. Hit with power to all fields. Good glove around the bag. Played at UNCC.

Jack Kimel - West Forsyth - P. Lefty. Went 9-2 his senior season. Went on to play for Western Carolina. Played pro ball for a couple of years.

Axel Smith - Greenville Rose - OF - I am not sure how we got him out at all in the State Championship series. Went on to play at ECU. Got drafted and played a few years of pro ball.

 

Telly Helms is a cousin of one of my friends. Her dad is his uncle and always told me that he could have made it big but he chose his girlfriend and got married. He told me that Telly says he regrets it to this day, because him and his wife eventually divorced....

 

There is a moral to this story.

The difference between the one's that make it and the one's that don't is not necessarily talent...but their commitment or lack of to the game. I saw many, many talented guys that didn't make it because of the reason WestMeck stated above.

 

I agree that talent is not always what sets them apart but there are pleny of guys that were talented that just may not fit the typical pro size or build but still had outstanding careers in high school and college. Some of these guys had some of the best work ethics but just werent blessed with size and body.

 

I totally agree...I had a few open chances to go to colleges to play ball, I didn't have any offers, but my coaches for my summer team last year told me a few teams would look at me (I graduated 2004)...and I had chances to send coaches some information about me, but I didn't do it. After the summer went by and I had to go to a community college that doesn't field a team, I realized that my heart really isn't into playing the game and there was no way I could make the commitment to play baseball when I know it's more than likely not going to put me into the major leagues. I would love to teach middle schoolers and high schoolers what I know about playing. My heart is into coaching, I love letting people learn what I know. I have more talent than most, and I put up amazing numbers my senior year, so the talent for me wasn't the problem. I don't think I could play D-I baseball, but I could play JUCO and maybe D-II or D-III. I have talent, but the commitment is the hardest thing.

What my point is, sometimes people don't have their heart in playing the game, and realize that the commitment is too much. It's a tough commitment to make, and for the parents that have children that are in college (and for parents that played in college and so forth), you should know more than anybody how difficult it is to go through school while playing ball.

 

Another pretty darn good player was Carl Willis who was originaly from Caswell County.

 

Ya know, in looking at WMeck's thread, I see the one thing that sets apart many good vs great players, that is committment. To succeed at the next level, you need that, if you are complacent, then you will be average at best. If you want to be average, then that's ok, but if you want to excel, then average just won't cut the mustard.

 

Commitment is tough, especially for a 17-18 year old young man coming out of high school. It was the toughtest thing for me, and that's what set me apart from a great ballplayer. Commitment is tough, and I know alot of guys that have given up playing due to the commitment.

Brian Biggs graduated from West in 2003, and was an all conference infielder and pitcher that had offers from a few D-I schools, but figured he wasn't going pro so the commitment was pretty much not worth it.

It happens a lot, but if you don't grow up knowing that college baseball is what you want to play when you graduate, it's a tough decision. That's 4 years of your life that you will be giving to play the game. I wish I could have gotten the chance to play in college (and my chances are not done yet), but commitment is tough.

 

I know you are Charlotte area guys, but I am surprised Josh Hamilton's name has not come up more in this thread. Heck, I have been the only one to mention him. Have ya'll heard of the guy?

No disrespect to the guys ya'll mentioned, but Josh literally is one of the best (if not THE best) ballplayers to come out of NC in the past 20 years....