Baseball hopefuls feel spring pressure
Athletes lead teams in playoffs and deal with career decisions
Simeon Woods-Richardson might be unable to remember the last time he didn’t see a radar gun in the stands when he was on the mound. “There have been times where probably the whole stands are filled with them,” the Kempner righthander said. “It’s the same movement (in the stands) every pitch.” The gun raises, the senior pitches and scouts make a note like clockwork. Thursday might be a good time for scouts to be in Stratford High School’s baseball stands. Kempner and Tompkins are in a win-or-go home bi-district playoff game and one of Houston’s top high school prospects for next month’s draft is getting the nod.
Woods-Richardson is one of a handful of area players who begin what could be the most exciting month of their lives. The biggest steps toward state title hopes begin Thursday. The UIL baseball playoffs act as one of the final lasting impressions before the biggest step toward the majors is realized in June.
Magnolia’s pair of infielder Jordan Groshans and righthanded pitcher Adam Kloffenstein are as exciting as any. The expectation is the pair will get picked early in June, making the decision between Big 12 baseball or the pros difficult — or not difficult at all with a peek at the pick values. WoodsRichardson signed with Texas; Groshans picked Kansas and Kloffenstein chose TCU.
George Ranch will not have injured lefty Joseph Menefee for the postseason. The Longhorns open with a three-game series against Clear Springs on Thursday. But Menefee is another to keep an eye on as far as high draft picks.
Cypress Ranch pitcher Ty Madden is in the conversation, too. The Mustangs always have high hopes in the playoffs. There are many more — postseason-bound or not. The list of Houston-area prospects in the 40-round draft will run deep.
Extra attention
The attention is magnified for some of the aforementioned names, though. Magnolia coach Taylor Shiflett said scouts and general managers have been a constant this year. The team handles the attention well.
Kloffenstein’s two no-hitters prove the pro upside is there. Ditto for 6-4 Groshans’ .585 batting average in district play and his many tools.
Shiflett said baseball players have the unique balance every May and June between playoff aspirations and things that matter to high school seniors, such as prom and graduation.
Float in the decision between signing bonuses, pro dreams and college baseball for players like Groshans and Kloffenstein and the scale is heavier.
For those reasons, Shiflett considers a state baseball title the most difficult state championship to win in Texas.
“There’s a lot of things those kids have to deal with right now at 18 that you could try to refocus them and let them know we still got unfinished business that we have to do here,” Shiflett said. “We have to be focused enough to make a deep playoff run. Let it fall where it may after that.”
Pressure is on
Woods-Richardson will be in a lot of pressure-packed situations if a fourth-place Kempner team that’s dealt with injury and loss can get past the stateranked District 19-6A champions. Tompkins knocked Kempner out in a three-game series this time last year. The Cougars hope a one-game series changes fortunes, and it’s no secret they’ll coin-flip for one-gamers if necessary.
“We got just what we wanted with the setup of the series — a one-game playoff, winner take all,” Kempner coach Marcus Jones said. “We feel like with (Simeon) on the mound, we’re kind of a tough team to knock out.”
Jones is retiring this year and Woods-Richardson wants to taste playoff baseball deep into May again. They were in the regional quarterfinals when he was a sophomore in 2016.
Jones remembers WoodsRichardson entering his sophomore year with 8 more inches on his height and 12 more mph on his fastball. Radar had him at 91 mph. Two weeks ago against Fort Bend Austin with scouts in the stands, it was 97.
Woods-Richardson, 17, has been told his landing spot could be in the top three to five rounds of the draft. He’ll have a chance to show his “bulldog mentality” once again and is looking forward to it.
“I love that adrenaline,” Woods-Richardson said. “I love the weight on my shoulders. I like to be that guy that everyone is looking at and say ‘OK, it’s up to him. If he does it, we move on.’ ”