- April 20th, 2006, 8:56 am
#12379
You have to love the reporter's stupidity with the NAIA crack:
All Shook uphttp://www.thepresstribune.com/articles ... _shook.txt
Valley Christian's senior ace might provide right mix for Lions to contend for a title
By: Bruce Burton, Assistant Sports Editor
Wednesday, April 19, 2006 2:40 PM PDT
If he were five or six inches taller, Ryan Shook might be a baseball scout's or recruiter's dream.
As is, the 5-foot-11-inch senior has already performed the not-so-mean feat of getting a few recruiters to attend small-school Valley Christian Academy games to check out his skills.
Liberty University, an NAIA school in Virginia, sent a representative to watch Shook. San Jose State and Fresno State are among other colleges that have shown interest.
All of them are intrigued by the youngster's abilities as a pitcher, where the combination of his southpaw delivery and a fastball that tops out at 88 mph hint at exciting possibilities.
But last week as the Division V Lions won three of four games against higher division foes in the Cordova Easter Tournament, Shook, who has a .486 batting average, stood out at the plate with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBI to his credit.
"We were playing on fields that didn't have fences," Valley Christian coach Brad Gunter Jr. said in reference to Shook's extra-base hits. "At any yard that has a fence, he has four more home runs in the tournament."
Shook plays first base when he isn't pitching, and hasn't yet decided what position he prefers. "I kind of like hitting and playing first base over pitching, but pitching is what got me all of these scouts and (college) offers," he said. "Whatever gets me into college."
If he does fulfill his dream of playing for a four-year college and, eventually, the pros, Shook will be going a few steps farther than the men who sparked his interest in the sport.
Bradley Shook first put a toy bat in his son Ryan's hands when the kid was 3-years-old. The elder Shook, along with Ryan's uncle Kent Shook, both showed promise as players at Foothill High two decades ago, but neither was able to extend their careers beyond high school.
Ryan Shook looks like a good bet to do them at least one better. Last year he played in both a summer showcase in Florida and in the Junior Olympics in Arizona. At the latter event, his team included players from some of the area's top Division I schools, including Jesuit, Elk Grove and Laguna Creek.
Playing with and against players from higher division schools hasn't proved daunting for Shook or his Valley Christian teammates. The Lions routinely dominate Sacramento Valley Christian League opponents, but their 9-4-1 record includes recent wins over Division I Will C. Wood of Vacaville and Rodriquez of Fairfield, and a respectable 3-1 loss to Division II Roseville and its ace pitcher Brandon DeLeo.
Shook didn't throw against Roseville, but he has still had some impressive pitching outings, including his 6 1/3-inning, 11-strikeout performance in a 6-2 win over El Dorado last week in the Cordova Tournament.
Of that effort, he said, "I've got to give most of the credit to my team. I had a great defense behind me."
Ironically one of his least impressive outings happened on April 7 with the scout from Liberty in the stands. The Lions were in the midst of a 26-0 rout of Sierra Christian and Shook allowed one hit and recorded nine strikeouts in three innings of work. But his fastball never surpassed 84 mph, in part because the recent rains limited his opportunities to throw from a mound.
"We have 87 or 88 MPH (for Shook) confirmed for us by a Cubs' scout," said Gunter, who has no doubt his ace has enough pop to pitch at the next level.
For now Shook is concentrating on what the Lions can do at the high school level. Despite owning the SVCL, Valley Christian has never won the ultimate prize - a Division V section championship. Three losses in its first four games in March didn't bode well for its chances this season.
But with Shook, A.J. Contreras and Joey Bettencourt leading the way on the mound and with their bats, the Lions aren't sleeping anymore.
"We started out the first couple of games and really didn't hit because our (batting) cage wasn't up," Shook said. "But our bats have come around and we're on fire now."
- By broncosliberty