The Boys of Next Summer

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

8-13-2007

CROWN POINT (8-13-2007) - Not everybody understands that the high school baseball season doesn't end until August when the summer teams stop playing. You learn a lot in the spring, but you learn just as much in the summer when players are on their own and you see how much they really want to play.

Leaving out boys who are in 12-and-under Little League because they do not play baseball at the real distances yet, there are those who show promise. Let's also leave out boys who will be seniors in 2008. There are many. Like Andrew DeYoung at Hanover Central and Kevin Donavan at Lowell, who are almost certain to excel. but those boys aren't really new to the game. Next year, while its a long way off, is always a bright and shining time when anything is possible, especially for new comers. Don't be offended if you aren't on this list.

The names I mention here are South Lake County boys I think will eventually be stars. There are certainly others. Everyone has promise. Just some more so than others.

Danny Kozlowski (5-11, 210), P/SS (Junior) Class of 2009 - Crown Point

Kozlowski is not actually a newcomer. He played part time on the CPHS varsity in 2007. Danny is probably as talented as anyone in the Crown Point baseball program and that's a good thing because he'll be asked to fill the shoes of undefeated Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) MVP Chris Saroff as the shortstop and No. 1 pitcher at the high school.

Kozlowski, who starts for the Ohio Valley Regional champion Hammond Seminoles, was 4-0 and batted .320 for CPHS as a sophomore this season. A big right handed hitter with power, Danny also has base-stealing speed and a very strong arm. Griffith coach Brian Jennings called him the top player in his class in all of NW Indiana. Kozlowski is mature, and again, he'll have to be. Crown Point will start the 2008 season ranked in the top-5 state wide.

Josh Negele (5-11, 170), P/CF (Sophomore) Class of 2010 - Crown Point

Negele, who was said to be 7-0 on the CPHS freshman team in 2007, has yet to make his varsity debut. But even though CPHS has many junior and senior players returning, that debut figures to come in 2008. If you can produce a top lefty every two years, your high school baseball program will never go hungry. Negele (class of 2010) is next in the line of left-handed pitchers at CP which has seen Matt Jansen (2006) and Blake Mascarello (2008). Negele is not the physical specimen that Kozlowski is, but he is just as skilled.

Josh has good control and excellent composure. He's been a 'No.1' pitcher throughout CP's Babe Ruth league. Part of Negele's promise is the hoped-for future. His dad is almost 6-foot-4. If Negele gets to be as tall as his father, Babe Ruth state champ coach Rich Negele, Josh will be a dominating pitcher. Even if he doesn't, he will probably start for two years at the high school.

Since CPHS has four returning starting pitchers in Kozlowski, Eric Clayton, Blake Mascarello and Mike Hernandez, and a half dozen 2007 JV hurlers, I hope Negele isn't discouraged if he does not pitch for the CPHS varsity in 2008. But Josh is also an excellent center fielder and he could easily see the Crown Point outfield before he ever sees the mound.

Scott Donley (5-11, 165), P/2B (Sophomore) Class of 2010 - Crown Point

Scott Donley, whose senior brother Jim Donley (6-2, 175) could start in the CPHS outfield in 2008, is another gifted player. A good pitcher and second baseman for his age, Donley is an eye-opening left-handed hitter with a very smooth swing. He hit line drives all over LaPorte in the Babe Ruth League state finals and was named the MVP of the 12-team tournament. His bat is a little reminiscent of Nick Ullman, who played second base for CPHS in 2006. Donley opens your eyes because the ball jumps off his bat more than his thin frame would suggest. I don't know what Donley's best position is. He was a middle infielder in Babe Ruth all-star ball.

As is the case with Negele, Donley will probably have to wait his turn. He will only be 15 until next March and he needs to get much stronger. But Scott has a natural quick, strong left-handed swing that will eventually put him at the top end of the CPHS batting order.

Justin Juarez (6-4, 220), C (Junior) Class of 2009 - Lowell

Lowell's starting linebacker in football, Juarez, whose brother Jordan is a 14-year-old right-handed pitcher with promise, has a chance to win the starting catching job for Lowell high school next season. Juarez is an excellent receiver with a good arm and a huge target behind the plate. So far, I've only seen him roll up a lot of hits on the football field, but Justin has excellent speed for a catcher, and when he does make contact, he'll hurt the ball.

Juarez worked well with right-hander Kevin Donovan on Lowell's Senior Little League team and Donovan, who was injured last spring and is now a senior, figures to be throwing to Juarez again next spring. Justin's drawback as a baseball player is something he wouldn't change if he could. Juraez is a college prospect at linebacker and he is one of the main men on the highly rated Lowell defense. He doesn't play baseball 12 months a year and he won't. If I was 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds and someone suggested I play baseball 12 months a year, I'd laugh at them. But with Josh Kuiper graduating, Lowell needs a young catcher and here he is as good an athlete as they've had at catcher in all the years I've watched them.

Jordan Rizo (6-1, 210), 1B (Junior) Class of 2009 - Hanover Central

Rizo plays for the Hammond Seminoles, who are in the Babe Ruth World Series this month and his focus may be changing. The younger brother of former Hanover basketball forward Steve Rizo, Jordan has always reportedly concentrated on basketball. But as a 6-foot-1 forward, Jordan's last two years on the high school varsity may be his last two years in organized basketball. Baseball is another story. Everyone talks about his home run power from the right side of the plate. His basketball footwork helps make him a natural first baseman. With new Hanover baseball coach Jim Nohos hooking Jordan up with the Hammond Chiefs baseball organization, Rizo will get the exposure he needs to show off his potential.

He reportedly has been just OK for the Seminoles, but he has the natural talent to be a force the next two years in the Porter County Conference (PCC) and if he plays sports in college, it almost certainly will be with a bat in his hand.

Kyle Kaluza (5-10, 155), CF (Junior) Class of 2009 - Lake Central

I had not really heard of him until the American Legion Regional in Plymouth where he ran down flyballs and line drives alike in center field. He is not big and not strong, but I have seen few at his age (16) chase down balls in the gap like Kaluza does recently.

Kyle batted leadoff for Hammond Post 168 and he was on LC's varsity, but more than one person said Kaluza caught every ball hit his way and some things that weren't during the summer. Left-handed hitting leadoff men who can cover the 'big garden' are not easy to come by. Maybe I should have heard of him. Kyle batted .366 (30-82) with 29 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in 29 games for Lake Central (16-13) in 2007. But he may be better defensively than those numbers say he is on offense. All the pieces are in place for Lake Central to have a monster high school season in 2008 and Kaluza will be a big factor.

Morgan Drazer (6-5, 200), P (Junior) Class of 2009 - Kouts

Here's another player who improved as the summer went on. He did not win the regional championship game for Crown Point Post 20 but he pitched well against a Mishawaka team, which had high school graduates from schools a lot larger than Kouts. Facing 19-year-old batters in the American Legion post season had to be invaluable experience for him.

Drazer, like Rizo, is a raw prospect who needs time and work. He is very athletic, has good balance on the mound and a good arm. Morgan does not throw as hard as I believe he will eventually. I can see him adding 5-10 MPH to his velocity and that would make him a dominating hurler, especially at the Porter County Conference (PCC) level. I think his delivery is sound and velocity will come with teaching and time. Drazer is the center on the Kouts varsity basketball team and they need him there, too. Like Jordan Rizo, Morgan Drazer may come to the conclusion that, a 6-foot-5 pitcher is a very big pitcher... while a 6-foot-5 basketball forward is a very small forward.