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The Signal - Oncoming Freshmen - 08/27/2010
It's early.
Granted.
But kids are being tracked at earlier ages.
The people down at the Little Leagues and PONY fields know it.
They talk about it.
They talk about the 6-foot-5-inch incoming freshman baseball player. Or the Canyon Country kid who's supposed to be a stud. And they talk about Nick Valaika and Jake Bird.
"Nicky's a straight baseball guy. He was born to play shortstop and born to play the game. Jake's got a power arm and a great mind for the game and he's a strong kid. Always been very good. He's now a guy that's taken off and growing into his body," says youth baseball coach Jamie Faulconer, who has coached both players in the past. "He's going to be special. They both are."
Both players will be entering high school along with a slew of others.
But few players were thrust into elevated levels during the summer.
Bird is a 6-foot-2-inch incoming freshman who played for the West Ranch High Junior Varsity VIBL (summer league) team this summer.
The 14-year-old said his best game was a three-inning appearance in which he struck out eight batters. He is overpowering, throwing a fastball that scrapes the low 80s, but is still learning about command.
He understands already that the switch from youth baseball, where he was a perennial travel-ball player, to high school will take a big adjustment.
"I learned (from playing in the VIBL) that you have to get more of a sense of urgency throughout the whole game," Bird says. "In high school, you have to fight for a job."
He has already impressed West Ranch head baseball coach Casey Burrill, particularly with his versatility.
"Jake has come in and is a great-sized kid for a freshman. He's shown the ability to do a lot of different things," Burrill says. "For the JV team this summer, he pitched, caught, played shortstop, third base and the outfield. Obviously, we think he's a pretty good athlete and has a lot of options."
Bird won a World Series with the William S. Hart PONY League Pinto team when he was 8 years old. Valaika was his teammate.
The 14-year-old played six games for the Hart High varsity VIBL team this year, but mostly played on the JV team.
His arrival at Hart has been talked about for years, mostly due to his name.
Big brothers Chris (now a Triple-A shortstop in the Cincinnati Reds organization), Matt (a Single-A second baseman in the St. Louis Cardinals organization) and Patrick Valaika (an incoming freshman shortstop at UCLA) have all been Hart varsity shortstops.
"It's kind of hard playing with the Valaika name on my back. I have a lot to live up to," Nick says. "Tons of pressure."
But Faulconer says Valaika, as well as Bird, are the kind of humble, egoless kids that can handle that.
"They won't let it affect them," he says. "They'll be embarrassed of (attention)."
Valaika is a rangy 5-foot, 10-inch, 140-pound shortstop, who Hart head coach Jim Ozella says is advanced for his age.
"The prospects for him are good," Ozella says. "He's got a lot of hitting skills, a lot of fielding skills. He's got a possibility of playing at a high level very quickly."
But it's early.
Valaika says one of his goals is to have fun in high school.
That's four years for the valley to have the same thing watching Valaika and Bird - fun.
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