By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Sometimes you have to look carefully at a high school baseball game, but they are there. There might be a notebook in their hands or a stopwatch in their pocket, but otherwise you’d never notice. They aren’t there to cheer for either team and usually keep a very low profile.
They are professional baseball scouts, sent by an MLB organization to check out a potential prospect. Some are “bird dogs” – sent out to report back if the player truly is draftable – but when the higher-level scouts show up at a game, you know they aren’t there just for the fun of it.
These days, the scouts are finding their way to wherever the Haughton Bucs are playing. And they are all there for one reason, and it’s not because they have good nachos at the concession stand.
They are there to see center fielder Christian Turner and judge his draft worthiness. The interest has been so great that Haughton coach Glenn Maynor estimates that he’s had inquiries from more than half of the teams in MLB about his three-year starting center fielder.
And those that have – or will – can expect to get an earful from Maynor.
“He’s probably as good an athlete as I’ve ever coached,” says Maynor, who is in his 31st year. “He’s like between 6.2 and 6.3 in the 60 (yard run), which is insane. Defensively, he erases balls from gap to gap. I mean, he’s as good a centerfielder as I’ve ever had, if not the best. And then offensively, he’s just a weapon. He can hit the ball of the ballpark, he gets on base, he steals bases, he beats out infield hits. It’s just draftable talent.”
It’s also Division I signable talent as well, which is what Turner has already done, thanks to a trip he made about 18 months ago.
In the late summer before his junior year, Turner made the decision to attend a prospect camp at Arkansas, mainly because of Haughton native Peyton Stovall, who Turner has known for years and was one of the Razorbacks’ top players at the time. (Stovall was drafted by Cincinnati last summer.)
“Peyton is my brother’s best friend and I’m his little brother’s best friend,” Turner said. “I’ve known him my whole life and he talked to me about going up there. I went and it was like a camp/tour. I knew during the tour that if I got offered by this place, I’d love to go there.”
But what are the chances that out of 100 prospects that Turner would be the one to get an offer? After all, he’d never been contacted by Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn before that camp. But before he left, Turner got called into Van Horn’s office and was offered a scholarship.
“It was awesome,” Turner says. “It was it was a great experience and something that I think every kid should be able to experience, but not everybody can. That’s why it’s special.”
It didn’t take much convincing. “I knew I wanted to Arkansas right off the bat,” Turner says.
“Van Horn didn’t know who he was until that day,” Maynor says. “He texted me a thumbs up and said ‘You didn’t tell me this kid was this good.’ I told him, ‘I wouldn’t even have told you he was coming if he wasn’t good.’”
It is no surprise that Turner has been a big part of Haughton’s somewhat surprising success this year. The Bucs are 18-5 overall heading into a two-game District 1-5A series with Captain Shreve that begins tonight.
Turner is hitting .382 for the season (.429 in district) with four doubles, five triples, and three home runs. Batting either in the leadoff spot or second in the order, he has 13 RBI and 17 stolen bases.
Knowing he is the one every opposing team is trying to stop, Turner has focused on maintaining his plate discipline.
“I just go up there looking for my pitch and if anything’s close, I just try to put the ball in play and help the team out and do whatever I can,” he says. “I don’t mind where I hit; wherever my coach thinks is best is good for me.”
Turner says he is not surprised by the Bucs’ success.
“I knew we’d be good going into the year, but we’ve had some really big games and some really big wins,” he says. “I knew in the fall when every single day we came to practice and were going into the weight room, working our butts off. Everybody worked together, everybody worked hard and I just knew that we were going to be pretty good.
“His sophomore year he got off to a really good start and we just knew right there that this guy could play,” Maynor said. “He’s gotten stronger and his baseball IQ has gone up. It’s just taken off from there.”
This summer’s MLB Draft will likely determine where it takes off next for Christian Turner.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com