Best pitcher to ever come out of your school?

[donkey]

i think MIF04 doesnt know wat hes talking about when he talks about clay...get a life

[bevo]

This discussion needs to stop. Clay and Jay are both GREAT players,and very very good friends. It doesnt matter who runs the fastest, who can throw the hardest, or who can hit the best, they are both very close to a dream. Without injury both will be in the Majors very shortly. So just let it go, but if you need to know and you want to know Clay ran a 4.25 forty and a 6.2 sixty and Jay is right ther with him. If you want praise them great, if you want to cheer for them great, if you want to compare them ok but please do it in the correct manor. After Clay and Jay played each other last sunday night they went out and ate and talked about the furture not about the past, so lets do the same for them and wish them the best.

Thank you, Both players were good in school and are still good.  Both of your opinions are valid,  but they are just opinions.    But I do believe Clay is the faster of the two and He is an all around better ball player.  That is just my opinion

[donkey]

he was also highly disrespectful to say something like that

[MIF04]

i think MIF04 doesnt know wat hes talking about when he talks about clay...get a life

Considering the source, thanks for the compliment.  To be excluded from the rarified air that 'donkey' breathes may be the highlight of my month.  Again, thank you...thank you...thank you.

[donkey]

cool dude

[donkey]

and how was bruce even brought into this convo...brandon castolenia is probably the best pitcher to ever come throuh WB....he was setting records all over..and he didnt throw hard he just hit his spots and threw a lot of junk

[justacoach]

Just to clear the air on a young man that I know and respect......

Clay was recruited as a 2 way player here at Angelina, both as a pitcher and position player (ss/of).  He did not mysteriously show up with an additional 5 mph as was stated earlier, in fact he suffered a back injury early in the fall of that year that allowed him to focus on mechanics as part of his rehab process.  When he healed later in the fall, he not only was healthy, but had added an improved arm action to go along with it.  Clay as a player is guilty of nothing more than chasing a dream and listening and believing in instruction that worked for him.  To insinuate anything else is to me both uninformed and inappropriate.

These forums are an excellent environment for both the fans as well as us coaches to gain valuable information about each given geographic area.  I thank all of you as a coach for your contributions, and congratulate you on your passion for these players, and the game itself.  It's sad that mud slinging takes place, but it always seems to do so if given enough time.

I'll step down off my soapbox now and return you to your regularly scheduled programming.  Congratulations to every player who's high school career was worthy of having your name brough into this discussion.  It's not often we ever get to be considered among the "best". 

[Big Daddy]

I heard a couple of pro scouts talking about Buchholz when he was at Angelina.

Angelina had a head coach that taught him a few things and as he matured his velocity increased to mid 90's.  He was a special player both ways in High School but his time at Angelina is what really pushed him into an elite group.   He was promoted to AAA Pawtucket Reds Sox a few days ago and we all wish him the best.  I hope to be watching him on TV soon.  Go Clay !

Thanks Coach, for verifying my earlier post above.

You said it with a lot more class.  Very well worded !

[Gabe]

Best I ever covered so far was Ehlert and I only saw him his freshman and sophomore seasons. Haymon in BC was incredible til his injury. Hicks will be awesome and Stringer was great. Remember these are just I have covered! Allen Harrington of PNG was a stud.

But Ehlert his freshman year was amazing for a freshman. He took a no-hitter into the last inning at Vidor and if I remember right did it again his sophomore year and both got broke up. I could be wrong on that but I truly remember it that way.

[BUNA95]

All American Jeff Granger from Orangefield!

A great player

[lumberman367]

Beau Hale And John Patterson should be in this discussion.The game between them at LCM their senior year was one of the greatest high school games i  have ever seen. there had to be at least 50 scouts there to watch both guys were in the mid 90's with awesome junk.

[643]

Beau Hale And John Patterson should be in this discussion.The game between them at LCM their senior year was one of the greatest high school games i  have ever seen. there had to be at least 50 scouts there to watch both guys were in the mid 90's with awesome junk.

I most certainly agree BUT I have found out if you mention anyone thats been out of school a cpl of yrs>>> your to old to post, not to mention that the new kids mentioned here could have held Pete Rose hittless, and the position players mentioned could have taken Nolan Ryan deep anytime they faced him.

[Guest ballfan]

Josh Girdley-jasper

[westend1]

This discussion needs to stop. Clay and Jay are both GREAT players,and very very good friends. It doesnt matter who runs the fastest, who can throw the hardest, or who can hit the best, they are both very close to a dream. Without injury both will be in the Majors very shortly. So just let it go, but if you need to know and you want to know Clay ran a 4.25 forty and a 6.2 sixty and Jay is right ther with him. If you want praise them great, if you want to cheer for them great, if you want to compare them ok but please do it in the correct manor. After Clay and Jay played each other last sunday night they went out and ate and talked about the furture not about the past, so lets do the same for them and wish them the best.

4.25 forty.  He is faster than all the NFL receivers and DB's in this last draft?   That's a laugh  :

[Baseball101]

Laugh, its good for u, cry if u don't like it. Just because he's not a football player doesn't mean he can't run. Just because your a football player don't mean your faster than everyone.

[westend1]

I've seen the guy and he just doesn't have that kind of speed.  Be lucky to run 4.5

[LoveoftheGame]

4.25 speed is world class. His speed alone would have made him a 1-5 rounder out of high school. Plus there's alot of difference between a stopwatch 4.25 and a laser 4.25

[westend1]

I agree.  Someone could have punched him in once at 4.25, but every watch has a different time.  No disrespect meant: a 4.5 is plenty fast.

[MIF04]

First, and since I was the one who made the off-handed comment that Clay 'found' another 5 mph while at Angelina...that was not meant to imply or insinuate anything untoward on his part.  Whether it be better mechanics, a better off-season progam, etc....my comment was that he went from one level of velocity to another, and nothing more.  To those who took it any other way, I apologize.

Second...at some point in this rambling thread, someone started the 'whose the best HS player period?" and that quickly became the Clay vs. Jay debate.  I believe (and its just my humble opinion) that Bruce was better when each of them came out of HS.  I may have a different opinion had the question been who is the best SE Texas player TODAY (then again I might not have a different opinion).  The point is, from my perspective, that Jay was the better player by the time he graduated from HS compared to Clay (at the time he graduated). 

BTW...OL Gabe makes a great point.  Another Clay (Clayton Ehlert from LCM) was a great pitcher all 4 years @ LCM.  Not only was he physically talented, he was just hard as nails mentally.  A gamer in every sense.

Again, my apologies to anyone who misconstrued my comments about Clay.  He is having a great year and looks to have a great career.  Ditto for Jay Bruce. 

[STiger85]

Joey Alexander from Silsbee in the late 80s. Went to Lamar and set several pitching records as a freshman. Don't know if he was THE best at Silsbee or not but man he was lights out at Lamar.

[WTB]

Clay was probably closer to a 4.5 but thats pretty legit. Hand timed 40s are never accurate but Clay did run a 10.8 hundred meter dash at a track meet which is pretty fast.

[643]

When rating pitchers they dont care if you dont finish the 60 or do it in 1 minute, the only thing they want you to lite up is the gun. Its not hard to get 5+MPH with a change of mechanics if theres a problem>>if not and mechanics are solid the only way is thru age and strength development which the better scouts are good at projecting.

[East TX]

Oh, out at Bridge City--Luther Sanders, Jerry Gibson, Willie Hayes, Kevin Angelle..At Orangefield, that's easy, Jeff Granger

[ALLABOUTSTATE4BC09]

Oh, out at Bridge City--Luther, Jerry Gibson, Willie Hayes, Kevin Angelle..At Orangefield, that's easy, Jeff Granger

BLACKSHEAR? KNIGHT?

[Guest Orangeboy]

BLACKSHEAR? KNIGHT?

Martin, Fletcher?