Reed signs on with Oregon St.
American Canyon High outfielder, ‘five-tool player’ inks letter of intent to Pac-12 school
American Canyon High School head baseball coach Matt Brown has described senior outfielder Tyree Reed as an “exciting, fivetool player.” On Wednesday, Reed made it official that he wants to set up his next workshop at Oregon State University.
Although Reed had verbally committed to the Pac-12 school a year ago, he finally put pen to paper on Wednesday.
“Early on in the recruitment process for me it was stressful,” Reed said. “It’s such an important decision in your life and you want to be confident in your final decision. But yesterday it felt more real when I put pen to paper and it became official. Now it seems more of a reality.”
Brown said he’s thrilled that Reed is able to complete a dream he’s had for a long time.
“He set his goal early on when he was little before I even knew him,” Brown said. “He always knew what he wanted and he worked very hard for it. I’m really happy to see him happy.”
Reed, a transfer from Will C. Wood, was only able to play four games last season for American Canyon before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the season for the Wolves. In one of those games he hit a three-run homer against Benicia.
Still, scouts have noticed Reed for a while now and he was selected as selected to play in the Area Code Games as one of the top 220 high school baseball players from across the country from the classes of 2021 and 2022. Eight regional teams play in a five-day showcase in Georgia, which includes events like a home run derby. The games are usu
ally played in Long Beach, but coronavirus concerns moved the tournament to Atlanta.
Although the 17-year- old Reed played in the Area Code Games as a sophomore in Compton in 2019, he decided at the last minute not to play in the 2020 games, citing a personal family decision.
His choice to go to Oregon State was a lot easier.
“I like that the coaches never say the word ‘ team’ but instead you join ‘ the family,’ Reed said. “I really liked the coaches and the team. I was able to visit some members of the team and they invited me into their homes and were very welcoming. They didn’t really talk about the coach that much because he was still new at the time, but they discussed that college is a grind and you have to learn how to balance school and baseball.”
Reed will be playing for Mitch Canham, who took over as Oregon State head coach in 2020. Canham was on both the 2006 and 2007 Beaver teams — back-to-back NCAA champions at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
“He’s shown a lot of trust in me and I believe he’s confident in me as an outfielder,” Reed said. “Of course I still need to show up and I need to work hard and earn a spot, but I’m coming to the school as an outfielder.”
Reed said he hasn’t decided what he will major in, but the 17 year old believes he made the right choice at his college — from the second he stepped on campus in the “college town” of Corvallis.
“Once you walk on the campus you know you are in a college town. I mean, even the air seems different,” Reed said. “I wanted to get the whole college experience. I like that the school has a lot of trees, some older buildings and that the baseball stadium is right in the middle of the campus. But I’m not going to be a baseball player my whole life. I wanted to be at a program that would teach me how to be a man as well as a baseball player. There is absolutely nothing I can complain about with the school.”
For now, Brown is glad he has Reed for one more year, even if it will be a different season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reed said he still works a lot with his hitting coach and that he has a complex at his house that he’s recently helped construct. Other times he goes to a nearby park when nobody is around and practices his swing by taking cuts off a tee.
“The impressive thing about Tyree is that sometimes he can just completely take over a game,” Brown said. “He can hit, hit for power, and he has an excellent cannon of an arm, but he can especially take over a game with his speed. It’s gets to the point where he can get in a pitchers head and change their strategy. He is able to steal bases and go first to third all the time. And Oregon State knows all of this. They’ve known about him for a long time.”