EMERSON, Ga. – The first time an intrepid Perfect Game reporter crossed paths with Texas catching prospect Garrett Wolforth was in December, 2013, when the then-sophomore at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, was performing at the PG National Underclass Showcase-Session 1 in Glendale, Ariz.
The switch-hitting Wolforth, listed as both a catcher and a shortstop, was one of the top national prospects in the class of 2016 at the time of that event, and scouts were taking notice; he was ranked in the top-70. The youngster had already committed to Dallas Baptist University, but college recruiters were still taking notes, as well.
The prospect and the PG reporter crossed paths again on Friday, this time at the Perfect Game High School Showdown at PG Park South-LakePoint where Wolforth’s Concordia Lutheran Crusaders were proving emphatically they are one of the top teams in the elite tournament field.
But instead of being a junior on the Crusaders’ roster – as the math from December 2013 would indicate – Wolforth is now listed as a member of the class of 2015, a senior who will graduate in May.
He was one of the top prospects in the class of 2016 right until the start of this school year when it was determined he would have enough school credits to graduate a year early, and he will graduate in May. That enables him to enroll at Dallas Baptist this fall instead of the fall of 2016 and also makes him eligible for June’s MLB First-Year Player Draft.
“The main reason for doing it is I’ll just be younger going to college, and if I did have the opportunity to be drafted this year, I would be younger for that, as well,” he said. “I want to get to that next level and be able to improve myself because, obviously, playing college baseball is at such a whole other level.
“I figured the younger I (arrived there) the more I could improve myself and the better of a player I could be in the future.”
Ron and Jill Wolforth, Garrett’s parents, own and operate a baseball training facility on 20 acres of land near Montgomery, Texas, called the Ron Wolforth Texas Baseball Ranch. The pitcher’s training center has been in operation since 2003.
The Texas Baseball Ranch claims to be the “number-one pitching facility in the world” based on a coaching technique created by Ron Wolforth that, according the facility’s website, emphasizes “seven key elements he found to be critical in developing the ‘complete’ pitching athlete.”
Baseball provides the family’s livelihood and it is with his parents’ blessing that he decided to make the move. Wolforth said that his parents became very supportive of the decision once all the particulars were brought to their attention and the details were discussed.
“I feel like with my dad and what he does in baseball, I’ve been around a bunch of guys that have played college or professional baseball, and they’ve been able to guide me through with the expectations and the level of performance that they have,” Wolforth said. “They’ve been able to help me understand what it’s going to take and the maturity you’re going to have to have to be at that level.”
Concordia Lutheran head coach Rick Lynch is a bit of a Texas high school legend having amassed 500 victories in his career, which included an 11-year stint at Tomball High School. He came out of retirement in 2011 to take the CLHS job, and Wolforth for one appreciates everything he has brought to the program.
“It’s been a great experience just the way Coach Lynch teaches the way to play the game,” Wolforth said. “The experiences that he’s had with all the places he’s been and the great players that he’s coached, he’s been able to pass that down to all of us. It’s just been a great learning experience and a great opportunity for all of us to play for a really good high school coach.”
The 17-year-old Wolforth won’t celebrate his 18th birthday until Oct. 13, 2015, which means he will still be 17 at the time of June’s MLB amateur draft. It also means that he could attend Dallas Baptist for three years and gain all that experience and still be only 20 years old the next time he is eligible for the draft in 2018. Lynch, with all his experience, feels Wolforth is up for an early high school graduation.
“He’s probably the most prepared player I’ve ever coached, starting at an early age to where we are right now,” Lynch said. “He knows what he wants and he’s very prepared to do this. He’s grown up around it and he’s prepared for it. I think he’ll go to college – I don’t think he’ll play pro ball – but you never know depending on what the (draft) round is and everything that goes with that.”
On Saturday and throughout the rest of the spring, Wolforth – now ranked No. 56 in the class of 2015 – will be content to enjoy his senior year at Concordia Lutheran, and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely at the PG HS Showdown.
The Crusaders blanked Sarasota (Fla.) High School, 4-0, Thursday night and the punched out Savannah (Ga.) Christian, 7-0, on Friday. They will play in one of the event’s semifinal games on Saturday.
“We just thought it was a great opportunity to come out and play some really good teams,” Wolforth said. “These are teams we haven’t seen before, and a lot of teams in we play in Texas we know a bunch of the guys and everything about them. It’s a good experience to come out here and see guys we haven’t seen before and play against them.
“Just to be able to compete against some of the best teams from across the country and see how we stack up against them.”
Lynch took the Crusaders to the PG HS Showdown in Fort Myers, Fla., a year ago and thought they played well enough to deserve the opportunity to return to the event this year. He feels like he has a team that can compete at the highest level nationally and it has certainly done nothing to dispel that notion during its two-game march to Saturday’s semifinals.
It is a talented group, one in which four or five of the regulars have been playing on the varsity since their freshman seasons. The leader of the group is unquestionably senior third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, a Perfect Game All-American and the son of long-time big-leaguer Charlie Hayes.
Ke’Bryan Hayes has signed with Tennessee but scouts seem to be in agreement that he will be a first-round draft pick in June; he hit two long bombs and drove in three runs in the Crusaders’ 7-0 win over the Savannah Christian Raiders Friday afternoon.
“He’s one of the highest character young men you’ll ever be around, whether it’s in the library or on the baseball field,” Lynch said. “He’s a real high-character young man and he’s a winner; he loves to come to the field every day and I think he’ll play in the big leagues, I really do.”
Joining Wolforth and Hayes as the top seniors are outfielder/left-hander Tre Jimmerson (Texas A&M) and first baseman/left-hander Garrett Spencer (Kansas State).
“We’re excited about this team and having the opportunity to get back to the state tournament if we take care of business,” Lynch said.
The Crusaders have started the 2015 season with an 11-1 record and with seniors (yes, seniors) like Wolforth and Hayes driving the train, another trip to the state tournament doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
In looking back, that intrepid PG reporter should not have been surprised at all that Wolforth was prepared to reclassify and make what most certainly will be a life-changing move. On that somewhat chilly day in the Arizona desert in December 2013, this is what the then recently turned 16-year-old Wolforth had to say:
“I just always want to keep making steady improvements; you don’t want to plateau for too long. If you plateau that means that you’re not really improving on anything, so I just want to continue to improve and make those steady improvements.
“Anytime you do anything competitive you have to come in with those expectations. If you’re not going to come in with expectations you’re not going to be prepared for what’s going to happen out here.”
Sounds like soon-to-be Concordia Lutheran High School graduate Garrett Wolforth just might be ready for college.