By Hilary May, Special to ESPNRISE.com Baseball

Jake McCasland out of Piedra Vista (Farmington, N.M.) High School took some time to answer some questions.  Last year, as a junior, he hit .483 with six homers.  The first baseman also saw time on the mound and posted a 9-1 record with a 1.41 ERA.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could pick another sport to play, which would it be and why?

Jake McCasland: Football because I like to play the game.

ESPNRISE.com: What do your pre-game rituals consist of?

Jake McCasland: Drinking a Red Bull and thinking about the game.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could face one hitter/pitcher of any era, who would it be and why?

Jake McCasland: Babe Ruth because he was the best player.

ESPNRISE.com: Why do you play the game of baseball?

Jake McCasland: It is the greatest game ever.

ESPNRISE.com: Who are the key influences to your success in the game of baseball?

Jake McCasland: My first coach and some of my other coaches through the years.

ESPNRISE.com: Where do you see yourself in baseball in the future and what are
you doing now to get there?

Jake McCasland: Hopefully playing college ball - by working hard and playing more baseball.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could hang out with one person, dead or alive, who would it
be and why?

Jake McCasland: Babe Ruth.

ESPNRISE.com: What do you do when you are not playing baseball?

Jake McCasland: Go fishing or hang out with friends and family.

ESPNRISE.com: Who is your favorite music artist?

Jake McCasland: Metallica.

ESPNRISE.com: If you had a free round trip ticket to anywhere in the world,
where would you go and why?

Jake McCasland: Alaska.

ESPNRISE.com: Write something interesting about yourself that most people don't
know.

Jake McCasland: I like to hunt and fish.

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Posted by Andrew Drennen, ESPNRISE.com Baseball

Looking back on the 2009 Area Code Baseball Games one interesting outcome actually came at the beginning of the week when the first three games all ended in ties. Call it timely hitting, faulty pitching or both, there were three ties. The second game on August 5, 2009 was one to remember. Two of the Chicago White Sox pitchers were dominant. Both Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley were lights out in that first game, and Bradley, a member of the 2011 class, looks to be one of the best arms in the nation.

The Cincinnati Reds Area Code Team turned in the best record of the week and for the second straight year it came down to the final day in determining the best team of the week. The Reds had a solid team this year and it may have been one of their best teams they have brought from the Four Corners. In an event such as Area Code, when there are no practices and such, it is hard for a group of players spread across a region to show up and play together. That is what the Reds did and they looked like a group of players that had been out there together before.

A couple more names that standout on the 2009 All Area Code Team are Josh Sale and Tony Wolters.

Sale is a two-time member of the Washington Nationals Area Code Team and he is a two time member of the All Area Code Team. Sale, hit two homers this year at Blair, which is no easy feat. It just sounded different when he hit the ball, in comparison to others there.

Tony Wolters was one of the best infielders at the Area Code Games. He got hit in the head early in the week, but still came back and finished the week strong. A couple of days later Wolters traveled down to Petco Park and played in the AFLAC All American Game.

...

(Read full post)

By Hilary May; Special to ESPNRISE.com

Sam Wilson is a pitcher / outfielder out of El Dorado (Albuquerque, N.M.) High School. He recently made the cut and is on his way to Long Beach on the 2009 Cincinnati Reds Area Code Team.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could pick another sport to play, which would it be and why?

Sam Wilson: If I could play any other sport it would be Lacrosse because I have never gotten the opportunity to play it and it seems like a very competitive, fun game to play.

ESPNRISE.com: What do your pre-game rituals consist of?

Sam Wilson: I have always tried to do very similar routines before games because I am a little superstitious about things. I always try to eat something before the game and warm up the same way.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could face one hitter/pitcher of any era, who would it be and why?

Sam Wilson: I would love to pitch against Babe Ruth because he is a legend in the game of baseball and it would be a great experience.

ESPNRISE.com: Why do you play the game of baseball?

Sam Wilson: I play the game of baseball because it is very competitive and every play makes a difference in the outcome of the game. Players need to always be aware of what is going on and the situations so when the challenge shows up, we know what to do with the ball. I love the focus that it takes to play.

ESPNRISE.com: Who are the key influences to your success in the game of baseball?

Sam Wilson: The key influences for me are my parents because they have always been very supportive of me in everything I choose to do. Another major influence in my baseball life is Ryan Brewer. He has been my pitching coach since I was very young and he has also given me the opportunity to play on his very competitive club baseball team. He has opened many doors for me and has taught me almost everything about the game.

ESPNRISE.com: Where do you see yourself in baseball in the future and what are you doing now to get there?

Sam Wilson: I have given a verbal commitment to UNM, so my plan is to attend school there and play baseball at the Division 1 level. Every day I try to do something to get better. I try to go down to the Albuquerque Baseball Academy every day to hit in the cages and get lessons. I keep reminding myself to give it my all every time I step on the field.

ESPNRISE.com: What are your plans for the summer?

Sam Wilson: This summer I am out of town multiple times for baseball. I play for the ABA and for my High School American Legion team so my schedule is filled with many games.

ESPNRISE.com: If you could hang out with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Sam Wilson: Nolan Ryan, because he has been a baseball player that I have looked up to my whole life. I love watching old videos of him pitching. He is a very strong competitor and it would be nice to talk to him and maybe get some tips.

ESPNRISE.com: What do you do when you are not playing baseball?

Sam Wilson: When I am not playing baseball, I like to go golfing, swim, hang out with my friends and family, and eat a lot.

ESPNRISE.com: Who is your favorite music artist?

Sam Wilson: I listen to all kinds of music so i have a favorite for every genre, but my absolute favorite would have to be....Taylor Swift.

ESPNRISE.com: If you had a free round trip ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Sam Wilson: New York, so I could see the Yankees play. I have never been able to go, so someday I hope my dad and I could take a trip out there to see my favorite MLB team play.

ESPNRISE.com: Write something interesting about yourself that most people don't know.

Sam Wilson: Most people know pretty much everything about me because I am pretty open. One thing, that isn't very interesting, is that I have read Josh Hamilton's book, Beyond Belief, five times. When I am very bored I like to just sit back in a chair and read. I can't really read anything that doesn't have to do with something I am interested in, so I just kept re-reading his book.

Andrew Knepper; ESPNRISE.com

The final of the three Cincinnati Reds Area Code tryouts was almost stopped due to some eerie weather that brought rain, thunder and even some funnel clouds to Regis University.  The state of Colorado produced a fair amount of players for the Area Code Games, but this year the talent was far superior in the Rockies than in the desert.  In a tryout that was loaded in catchers and pitchers, the Reds seem to be set in completing their roster for this year's tournament in August.

The first bright spot of the tryout was when lone Hawaiian in Denver, Christian Carmichael, stepped up to the plate for his batting practice.  He displayed a smooth, potent swing with raw power. Behind the dish he threw a 1.89 pop time and showed a great deal of quiet confidence and great feel.

Another out of state athlete hailing from Farmington, N.M., was Jake McCasland, a pitcher/first baseman, who showed well on the mound.  Hitting 87-89 with his heater, 73-71 with this curve and 75-76 with his change, Jake made an impression on every scout in attendance with his consistency and his ability to throw all pitches for strikes.

Yet another out of state player, Trey Nielsen, from Holladay, Utah, had an impressive day in the field and at the plate.  With natural actions playing third, his defensive work during batting practice caught the attention of every person paying attention.  It is rather difficult to get noticed when all the attention is focused on the hitter during batting practice, but Nielsen displayed his own show.  This 6-foot-1, 195 pound gamer just fit the bill. 

Moving onto the home body of Colorado, one person needed no introduction when he stepped on the mound.  Kevin Gausman out of Grandview High School has been on scout's radars for a couple of years now.  Trying out last year as an underclassman, Gausman had a good chance of making the team, but knowing he had another year to go, he had to wait. On the mound, he was clocked at 90-92 with his fastball, 67 with his curve, and 76 with a change, he made the impression everyone that he was "electric”. 

Below are players who made a strong contribution to attend this year's game in August under the Californian sun.

Tito Nava – With one of the best performances of the day, Nava threw all three of his pitches for strikes and sat at 88-90 with his fastball with an average curve.  His change is what got every hitter off balance, clocking in at 75mph and had great sink working off of his fastball.  The most impressive part of Nava's game his he creates such quality velocities with a frame of 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. 

Adam Duke – The little brother or Brock Duke, who tried out for the Reds team last year, looks to be a little further advanced at this stage than his brother was.  Sitting at 89-91 with the fastball, 73-74 with his breaking ball, Adam repeated his delivery consistently and made one of the strongest cases to make the team.

Matt Wollenzin – A well-built catcher out of Green Mountain High School displayed raw power and good times behind the dish.

Aaron Berk – This 6-foot-3, 205 pound catcher absolutely hit the leather off of the ball in batting practice.

Marco Gonzales – being athletic, Marco ran well and hit 85-86 consistently with his fastball and a good change at 74-75.

Underclassman who impressed:

Greg Bird – Being an underclassman, you would never know it by looking at him.  Weighing in at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Greg is the perfect build for behind the plate.  He hit for great power and threw well in the pop times with a 2.03.

Austin Darby – Austin is a smooth swinging lefty with good power potential that we are looking forward to see moving in on the years.

With the Reds tryouts now officially over, the final rosters for this years games should be release within the next two weeks, check back soon to see who made it.
 

Andrew Knepper; ESPNRISE.com

ARIZONA -- The Cincinnati Reds Area Code Tryouts continued on Saturday at Chandler-Gilbert community college in Arizona and with the temperatures steaming at a hundred degrees, the hotbed for the four corners was ready to work.  Last year the Reds team consisted of Arizona draft picks Tommy Joseph, Jake Barrett, Trent Stevenson, Matt Helm, and Thomas Lemke and today we are in search for next year's crop.
 
With the usual professional workout, the 60 yard dash kicked off the tryout and it consists of all eighty scouts at the end with their stop watches and all position players running their tails off to get that sub-seven number.  The player who ran their way to the under the "Line” speed number were:

Drew McKeever – Sahuaro High School, Arizona (6.90)
Michael Benjamin – Basha High School, Arizona (6.94)
Jake MacWilliam – Arcadia High School, Arizona (6.97)
DW Warner – Desert Ridge High School, Arizona (6.98)
Chaz Contreras – McClintock High School, Arizona (6.87)
Christian Muscarello – Catalina Foothills High School, Arizona(6.97)
Hunter Zwart – Mingus High School, Arizona (6.84)
Michael Howard – Prescott High School, Arizona (6.74)
Joey Rocha – Mountain Point High School, Arizona (6.81)
Sam Wilson – El Dorado High School, New Mexico (6.82)
Trever Allen (6.84)
CJ Rodriguez (6.77)

Next it was the outfielders chance to display their prized arms:  below are the top arms at the tryout.

Michael Howard – Prescott High School, Arizona
Sam Wilson – El Dorado High School, New Mexico
Jacob Doyle – Deer Valley High School, Arizona

The infielders were next: Below are the top fielders in this crop:

James Farris – 1B, Highland High School, Arizona
Jake MacWilliams – 2B/SS, Arcadia High School, Arizona
Darian Ramage – SS, Deer Valley High School, Arizona (2011 Graduate)
Alex Real – SS, Pinnacle High School, Arizona, (2011 Graduate)
Jackie Samora – SS, Apollo High School, Arizona

The next drill was the Catchers Pop Times (the duration from when the pitch hits the catcher's glove to when the middle infielder catches it at the second base bag).  Below are the recorded best pop times of the day:

Jason Parks (2.00)
Tanner Murphy (2.06)
Nathaniel Causey (2.00)
Kevin Cron (2.12)
TC Mack (2.02)
Shaun Chase (2.00)

More to come on this tryout this week.
 

Andrew Knepper; ESPNRISE.com

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The 2009 Area Code Baseball Tryouts started this weekend at Cashman Field, Home of the Toronto Blue Jays AAA ball clubs the Area 51's.  The Cincinnati Reds hosted 45 top recruits to tryout for the Area Code Games in Long Beach Calif., this coming August.  There were some returning faces from last year's tryouts which showed confident strides due to their previous experiences.  Brett Harrison, Derek Dunaway and Marquise Hall showed improvement from last years performance and look to be becoming fine ball players.
 
Taking in the top 60 yard dashes were Drew Robinson (6.81) Bobby Stahel (6.96) and Jeremy Ioane (7.00).  The running surface was uncharacteristically shaggy for Cashman Field and with the wind gusting into the players faces the slow overall times was directly affected.
 
With the outfield arms not bringing too much noise to the show, the infield work brought about an emerging player from the Island of Oahu.  Chace Numata from Pearl City (Honolulu, Hawaii) High School showed a good glove with a strong arm. 

The strength of Chace's arm drew strong curiosity to how he would fare behind the dish, and with never playing catcher before; he threw pop times of 1.97, 2.09, 2.06 and 2.03.  It was easy to see that his footwork was off, but never throwing from home to second this was impressive.  Listing in at 6-foot-0 and 165 pounds, Chace is currently playing shortstop, but down the line it looks like catcher might be a perfect fit.
 
Joining Chace in the catching drills was Jordan Stewart out of Foothill (Henderson, Nevada) High School, who tossed the best times of the day with a 1.87 and 1.93.  Not only were his pop times impressive and accurate, his bat was just was strong.
 
Moving on to batting practice with the wind howling in form right field, nothing left the yard until the second to last group batted and Cameron Harper belted three no doubters to left field.  His smooth approach and power stroke got attention of the fifty plus scouts in attendance.
 
Also showing good bats during batting practice were Marquise Hall, Jordan Stewart, Brett Harrison, Drew Robinson and Patrick Gallagher.
 
Once the simulated game began the first pitcher of the day, Eric Holdren, retired all five batters he faced with an 87-88 MPH fast ball and a good breaking ball. 
 
Players Below are a few player who made a good showing in Las Vegas.
 
Patrick Gallagher, a 6-foot-2 225 pound first baseman out of Reno showed good raw power in batting practice and also mashing an impressive opposite filed homerun in the simulated game.
 
Drew Robinson, a 2B/OF out of Silverado (Las Vegas, Nevada) High School displayed a good arm in the outfield drills and took home the best 60 yard dash with a 6.81.
 
Jake Hager, an underclassman at the tryout, a 2011 graduate, showed good overall tools and soft hands at the plate.  Look for him to possibly make some noise next year at the tryout.
 
Kavin Keyes, a switch-hitting middle infielder from Sandy, Utah, showcased good plate discipline, a good arm in the infield drills and an overall polished game.  He too is a 2011 graduate.
 
Brett Harrison, another 2011 graduate and two time Area Code tryout attendee, showed once again why the underclassman keeps receiving an invitation to tryout.  He squared up on every plate appearance during the simulated game.
 
Zack Hartman, a shortstop from Arbor View (Las Vegas, Nevada) High School displayed at strong arm in the infield drills and good fielding ability with crushing a few in the simulated game.
 
Cameron Harper had the best batting practice out of any player in attendance showing good raw power coming from his 6-foot-1 190 pound frame.
 
Buddy Bordon, the 6-foot-2 righty from Las Vegas showed one of the better repitoires of the day with a 88 MPH fastball and a good 72 MPH breaking ball.
 
The tryouts are moving on the Chandler Arizona and Denver Colorado as the Cincinnati Reds and Area Code Baseball look to compile the best player out of the four corners and Hawaii. 

Andrew Drennen; ESPNRISE.com

The Cincinnati Reds Area Code Baseball Team tryouts start next week and like last year there will be three tryouts.  The first one will be in Las Vegas at Cashman Field on June 12, followed by one at Chandler-Gilbert Community College on June 13 and the final one at Regis College in Denver on June 15.  The team will be built consist of players from Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.

	Courtesy of Kaczmarek Family
	Taylor Kaczmarek is one of this year's hopefuls for the Cincinnati Reds Area Code Team.

Last year's team showed great talent, with pitchers like Casey Upperman (Notre Dame Prep, Scottsdale, Ariz.), Jake Barrett (Desert Ridge, Mesa, Ariz.) and 2011 phenom, Bryce Harper (Las Vegas, Nevada).

Taylor Kaczmarek, a 6-foot-2, 210 pound first baseman / outfielder is one of over 100 players heading to a tryout next weekend.  He is a teammate of Jake Barrett, and his Desert Ridge High School baseball team just won the Arizona Class 5A II state title.  They did it topping another of Arizona's top programs, Horizon (Scottsdale, Ariz.) High School.

"It was a once in a life time opportunity,” he said of winning a state title. "Not a lot of teams win it and knowing that our team was talented and will be next year, too.  It was a crazy game and Horizon is a good team.”

This past year, Desert Ridge topped Horizon twice and with its success earned a spot in the ESPNRISE.com FAB 50 National Rankings at No. 16, and with baseball in other parts of the nation still in season, they could move even higher. 

"Trying to do well and make it to the next level,” he said of his goals for the workout on June 13.  "I just want to play anywhere D1.”

Schools that are talking to him now include Oregon, Virginia Tech and Arizona.

Kaczmarek is one of three players from Desert Ridge invited to the Reds' tryouts.  And his teammate Barrett had the opportunity to play in Long Beach, Calif., last year.

"Two of my friends, who are seniors, got invited last year and tried out.  I think it is a big deal,” he remarked. 

Coming off a remarkable season, even if they did fall one game short of winning another state title, right-handed pitcher Josh McAllister is headed to the tryout in Denver.  This year his La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.) team finished as the runner ups in the New Mexico Class 5A finals and is currently No. 49 in the FAB 50 National Rankings. 

"I kind of relate it to playing at ASU in a way,” McAllister remarked. "Everyone is out to try and get you and you are going to have a god team every year.  Every year you can compete for a state title.”

There is a reason why he chose to compare La Cueva to Arizona State.  He recently gave a verbal to the Sun Devils and he looks forward to the Pac-10 Conference.

"My dream is to play in the college world series and obviously they have a good chance year in and year out,” he said of Arizona State.  "I love the coaches there and I love the town. It was a no brainer after I visited there.”

He was open to play anywhere but he noted that the Pac-10 is one of the premiere conferences. 

McAllister will be one of the players at the Area Code Baseball Tryout in Denver on June 15. 

"I am expecting to see a lot of good players and everything good competition and pitch real well,” he said of his expectations going into Denver. 

From the three tryouts, the Cincinnati Reds will build a roster to represent the four corners, Nevada and Hawaii this August.