Hide Article Text (OCR)
Md. youth readies for draftWILLIAMSPORT (AP) — Big league scouts have been dog ging Nick Adenhart for months, so it’s only appropriate that the Williamsport High School righthander elicits a Pavlovian response with every movement on the mound.As soon as Adenhart winds up his 6-foot-3 frame, two dozen scouts behind the backstop raise their radar guns As a fastball crosses the plate, onlookers check digital readouts in unison to ascertain the speed of his fastball, which usually registers around 92 mph.When Adenhart surprises a hitter with a new super-slow changeup, scouts produce note books and jot down a reminder of the gutsy pitch selection. And when Adenhart is pulled after five innings with Williamsport comfortably ahead, many of the scouts promptly pack up and leave, often before the reliever takes his warmups.Ever since it became appar ent that he has the talent to become the first high school pitcher selected in baseball s June amateur draft, Adenhart, 17, has drawn quite a crowd.“I guess I just kind of block it out, said Adenhart, 5-1 with an 0.73 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 381-3 innings “Some nights, we get 500 people with all the scouts and fans. It’s more than you usually see at a high school baseball game.’’Then again, Adenhart is hardly the run-of-the-mill high school pitcher.His fastball consistently reaches the low 90s, and has topped out at 94 mph. At one point ranked as the best high school player in the draft by Baseball America, he possesses a powerful curveball that fools hitters.“He’ll go high in the first round,” predicted Wildcats coach Rod Steiner, noting that Milwaukee, Kansas City and Baltimore have shown particu lar interest in his ace. “He could go anywhere from third to 10th.”“It would be an honor to be drafted,” Adenhart said. “It doesn’t really matter to me where I go or when.”Adenhart also boasts a 74 mph changeup — a new ad dition to his arsenal.“He really uses the fastball to set that pitch up, and it’s be come an out pitch for him,” Steiner said.
Newspaper Details
Capital Gazette
Annapolis, Maryland, US
Tue, May 11, 2004
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MD, USA 24 Jan 2025
Other Publications Near Annapolis, Maryland
Capital Gazette
Annapolis Maryland Republican And State Capital Advertiser
Annapolis Maryland Republican
Annapolis Capital Gazette
Maryland Gazette
