Post by FIUFanatic on May 26, 2008 0:48:47 GMT -5
...in high school. This time, Naples Barron Collier HS pitcher, Justin Leath, has been named Naples Daily News Area "Player of the Year" after making a great improvement this season. Leath was also offered scholarships from FAU and Miami, according to the article....Welcome to FIU, Justin!!
www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/may/25/baseball-player-year-barron-colliers-justin-leith/
www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/may/25/baseball-player-year-barron-colliers-justin-leith/
Baseball Player of the Year: Barron Collier's Justin Leith
By SCOTT HOTARD (Contact)
12:00 a.m., Sunday, May 25, 2008
GREG KAHN
2008 Baseball Player of the Year: Justin Leith, Barron Collier High School.
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Justin Leith wasn’t bitten by a super spider. He didn’t drink a magic pitching potion.
It only seemed that way.
“It’s one of the craziest baseball stories I’ve ever seen,” Barron Collier coach Ted Parsons said.
The way the story goes, Leith, a 6-foot-2 left-hander for the Cougars, was your typical high school pitcher, still looking to emerge as a bona fide ace.
He had a fastball in the low 80s. A couple of scholarship offers from junior colleges.
Seemingly overnight, everything changed.
With the help of Barron pitching coach Rick Raymer, the senior corrected a glitch or two in his mechanics; added 6-8 mph on his fastball; signed with Florida International University; and, ultimately, won enough games to earn Naples Daily News Player of the Year honors.
“I had a big role to fill,” Leith said. “I wanted to improve as much as I could.”
And Raymer wanted to help him.
Following an intrasquad game prior to Leith’s senior season, Raymer pulled the pitcher into the film room and showed him how a few adjustments in his delivery could increase his velocity.
“He was locking out his legs,” Raymer said. “He wasn’t effective using his lower body.”
It took only two weeks, Raymer said, to see the difference. Leith started blowing the eyeblack off hitters with a fastball in the high 80s — serious heat for a lefty.
“I owe it all to him,” Leith said of his pitching coach.
Leith, who missed most of his junior season with shoulder tendinitis, posted a 7-3 record with a 2.89 ERA, and he did it against the best teams Barron (20-7) played.
But that’s just the half of it.
As the numbers on the radar gun rose, so did the pitcher’s stock. By season’s end, FIU, as well as Florida Atlantic and Miami, had offered him scholarship money.
“It helped his marketability,” Parsons said of Leith’s transformation.
When he wasn’t wowing recruiters with his arm, Leith, who played center field when it wasn’t his turn to pitch, helped Barron at the plate, hitting .369 with two home runs and 29 RBIs.
But his future, clearly, is on the mound, where he used his newfound heat to lead the Cougars within a win of the Class 5A state playoffs.
The solution was simple enough — no magic required.
“I had a lot of mechanical flaws,” Leith said. “They were cutting back on my velocity.”
By SCOTT HOTARD (Contact)
12:00 a.m., Sunday, May 25, 2008
GREG KAHN
2008 Baseball Player of the Year: Justin Leith, Barron Collier High School.
STORY TOOLS
E-mail story
Comments
iPod friendly
Printer friendly
RELATED STORIES
Boys Track Athlete of the Year: Naples' Antwain Harvey
Girls Track Athlete of the Year: Golden Gate's Asha Tavernier
Girls Tennis Player of the Year: Seacrest Country Day's Chelsea Preeg
Boys Tennis Player of the Year: Naples High's Josh Dancu
Softball Player of the Year: Naples High's Jaclyn Traina
Spring Coach of the Year: Robert Iamurri, Naples High softball
Naples Daily News Spring All-Area Teams
More Barron Collier High School
Naples Daily News Spring All-Area Teams
Collier County Athletic Conference: Barron Collier wins all-sports title
Spring football: Barron Collier falls on last-second halfback pass
Share and Enjoy [?]
Justin Leith wasn’t bitten by a super spider. He didn’t drink a magic pitching potion.
It only seemed that way.
“It’s one of the craziest baseball stories I’ve ever seen,” Barron Collier coach Ted Parsons said.
The way the story goes, Leith, a 6-foot-2 left-hander for the Cougars, was your typical high school pitcher, still looking to emerge as a bona fide ace.
He had a fastball in the low 80s. A couple of scholarship offers from junior colleges.
Seemingly overnight, everything changed.
With the help of Barron pitching coach Rick Raymer, the senior corrected a glitch or two in his mechanics; added 6-8 mph on his fastball; signed with Florida International University; and, ultimately, won enough games to earn Naples Daily News Player of the Year honors.
“I had a big role to fill,” Leith said. “I wanted to improve as much as I could.”
And Raymer wanted to help him.
Following an intrasquad game prior to Leith’s senior season, Raymer pulled the pitcher into the film room and showed him how a few adjustments in his delivery could increase his velocity.
“He was locking out his legs,” Raymer said. “He wasn’t effective using his lower body.”
It took only two weeks, Raymer said, to see the difference. Leith started blowing the eyeblack off hitters with a fastball in the high 80s — serious heat for a lefty.
“I owe it all to him,” Leith said of his pitching coach.
Leith, who missed most of his junior season with shoulder tendinitis, posted a 7-3 record with a 2.89 ERA, and he did it against the best teams Barron (20-7) played.
But that’s just the half of it.
As the numbers on the radar gun rose, so did the pitcher’s stock. By season’s end, FIU, as well as Florida Atlantic and Miami, had offered him scholarship money.
“It helped his marketability,” Parsons said of Leith’s transformation.
When he wasn’t wowing recruiters with his arm, Leith, who played center field when it wasn’t his turn to pitch, helped Barron at the plate, hitting .369 with two home runs and 29 RBIs.
But his future, clearly, is on the mound, where he used his newfound heat to lead the Cougars within a win of the Class 5A state playoffs.
The solution was simple enough — no magic required.
“I had a lot of mechanical flaws,” Leith said. “They were cutting back on my velocity.”
