TWO FOR THE SHOW
McClancy prospects could be first pair from same NYC school to get picked in MLB draft since 2004
Ask Quentin Holmes about himself, and the highly touted center fielder breaks into team-first cliches. Pose similar questions to Charlie Neuweiler, and the hard-throwing pitcher talks about the importance of the next day.
But mention the other’s name to either one, and a big smile breaks out. After all, the two McClancy baseball stars wouldn’t be on the cusp of a professional career without the other.
“We push each other, because we always want to be the best,” Holmes said. “You have to want it more than anybody else. The work that we put in, the motivation that we have, it’s deep down inside. It’s definitely something we both have in our heart.”
Early this week, that determination is expected to pay off.
They are projected to become the first duo from the same New York City high school to be taken in the first 10 rounds of the MLB FirstYear Player Draft, which starts Monday, since George Washington’s Rafael Gonzalez and Angel Salome were taken in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, in 2004. The last McClancy player to get selected out of high school was Khari Council in 2000, a first baseman taken in the 33rd round by Arizona.
“It’s one in a million,” said McClancy coach Nick Melito, who is in his 17th season at the northwest Queens school. “It’s something you experience once in your lifetime as a coach.”
Holmes could become the first New York City player to go in the first round since Jason Marquis was taken 35th overall by the Braves in 1996. A lightning bolt of a center fielder considered the fastest prospect in the draft, the 6-foot-2 phenom is rated as the No. 33 prospect by MLBPipeline.com, and was a firstround pick in two of the past three mock drafts by Baseball America. The 6-foot-1 Neuweiler — a hard-throwing right-hander who has a spike curve one scout told Melito is a “major league breaking ball” — is projected to go as high as the fifth round.
“There’s excitement all around,” said the 6-foot-2 Holmes, who has signed with Mississippi State and hit .420 this year with 18 extra-base hits, seven of them home runs, scored 33 runs and stole 22 bases on 23 opportunities.
The two met six years ago when facing each other in a summer league game in New Jersey. They attended McClancy’s summer baseball camp, and felt comfortable with Melito and the homey school. The coach had a feeling almost immediately Holmes would be special. In batting practice, he hit a ball over the scoreboard in right-center field.
“That’s enough hitting,” Melito told him. “No more of that.”
“I didn’t want anybody else to see him,” he recalled with a laugh.
Holmes and Neuweiler became close friends and workout partners, along with the pitcher’s twin brother Ryan. When one wasn’t feeling like putting in the extra work, the other demanded it. They trained on their own before school and after practice, and extensively during the offseason, often returning in the fall and spring significantly stronger.
“I’ve never seen kids with this talent and ability and this work ethic,” Melito said. “It’s rare. These guys work 12 months a year. Most players, you have to tell them, ‘Hey, c’mon. Let’s work.’ These kids, you don’t
have to tell them anything.”
Holmes was so advanced he started as a freshman, and Neuweiler made the varsity as a sophomore. Together, they led McClancy to three second-place finishes, 21 wins this season — the program’s most in the past 25 years — and the Catholic league final four this year.
Though Holmes became a household name in scouting circles this summer after playing for the under-18 U.S. national team, Neuweiler didn’t get the same exposure. He passed on national showcases out of loyalty, not wanting to leave his summer program, the Midville Dodgers.
It is why he opted to sign with LIU Brooklyn, to get the chance to play college baseball with Ryan. The Blackbirds were the first program to show serious interest in him, and he never strayed when big programs began to take notice.
“People say if you’re good enough they’ll find you anywhere,” said Neuweiler, who went 7-2 on the mound this spring with a microscopic 0.28 ERA, six shutouts and 110 strikeouts in 64²/₃ innings. It is called the “Halo effect.” When scouts came to see Holmes, they would discover Neuweiler and leave just as impressed with his curveball and low 90s fastball. His teammate helped matters, talking him up to scouts whenever possible.
That is Holmes’ egoless character. He has been the school’s mascot, a Crusader, the past three years. When classmates ask him about his future as a potential millionaire, Holmes just laughs it off. He doesn’t want to come off as cocky. When a former teammate’s house burned down, he started a GoFundMe account for his family.
“Everyone who spends time with him, he makes such a big impression,” a longtime area scout said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I haven’t found any kids [his age] like him personality-wise, makeupwise.”
No matter what happens in the draft, and in the future for Homes and Neuweiler, Melito said he believes his two stars already have left their mark. They’ve set a standard for future players at McClancy. They’ve put the program on the map, for college coaches, future players and scouts. They’ve handled success with graciousness, managing to be honor roll students as well. Classmates look up to them. Teachers praise them.
“Their names are going to be synonymous with success here,” Melito said. “Any time we get a kid. I’m going to say maybe he’s the next Quentin Holmes, maybe he’s the next Charlie Neuweiler.”