re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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Class of 2014 right-handed pitcher commitment Clarke Schmidt (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) was one of 144 players nationally invited to play in the Tournament of the Stars last week, a five-day event used to select the U18 National Team scheduled to compete in the World Championships in Taiwan later this summer.

Schmidt was his team’s starting pitcher in the featured game of the tournament. He threw opening night at the showcase stadium in front of dozens of scouts and coaches. It was an event with all of the host families invited out and fireworks planned following the game.

“It wasn’t my best stuff,” Schmidt said. “I felt good in the bullpen. My stuff was working but I was missing low and pulling away to the outside. I had to work myself back into the zone. I found it a little bit in the second inning but I couldn’t find it throughout it. I have to bounce back and be resilient.”

When on, Schmidt hovers in the upper 80s with some pitches in the low 90s but his real strength is hitting his spots. He can put his fastball where he wants to and locate his breaking pitches. In short, he’s a strike thrower and his pitch counts are typically low.

“Hopefully I can bounce back and show them what I have,” Schmidt said. “You have to put a night like this behind you. Baseball is kind of crazy; you’re going to always have failure. I have to bounce back and show I’m resilient.”

“All of the talent around here is crazy,” Schmidt said. “Everyone is a stud and there’s no lack of talent here. Being invited here makes you feel special. Just to be a candidate on the team is a real honor.”

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