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Kurt Farmer, Columbus HS
Pre-Season All-American |
Kurt Farmer, a hard-hitting Columbus High School
senior shortstop, has been named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger
Pre-Season High School All-American First Team by Collegiate
Baseball Magazine. The Tucson, Arizona publication manages the
selection process for the Louisville Slugger Pre-Season All-American
teams which were announced in the January edition of the magazine.
Farmer, a University of Nebraska signee, was one of twenty-three
infielders from across the nation selected as First Teamers.
He was the only Nebraska player named to either the First Team or
the Second Team, however, eleven others were named to a list of
"players to watch" published in the same edition of Collegiate
Baseball (see below).
After a junior season in which he hit .466 with 15
doubles, six home runs and 33 RBI's, Farmer was named
to the Omaha World Herald's 2008 All-Nebraska Second Team and the
Lincoln Journal Star's Super State Second Team. Kurt spent last summer
playing on a Pro Scout team in Arizona's Connie Mack League for
respected coach John Gracio where he hit .440 with 14 doubles.
The two-sport athlete is a starter on the Discover's basketball team
and earned All-State Honorable Mention roundball honors after his
junior season.
When asked about the pre-season All-American honors,
Kurt remarked that he was unaware of his selection and quickly
added, "Pretty sweet!" He also commented that he was "pumped
to the extreme for baseball and can't wait for the spring season to
start."
Columbus High Head Coach Mark Mueller commented that
he was very excited upon learning of Kurt's selection. "I
don't know anyone who works as hard as Kurt to improve his game," he
observed. "He's a guy who works year 'round to try to make
himself into a better baseball player -- a real 24/7 kind of guy.
Sometimes talented ballplayers think they have it all figured out.
Not Kurt. Although he has played exceptionally well for us the
past couple of years, he continually pushes himself to get better
and to keep learning. That desire to get better and learn more
has driven him to the point where he really is an elite player who
is very deserving of this kind of recognition."
2009 marks the 13th year that Louisville Slugger has
sponsored the pre-season high school All-American teams
selected by Collegiate Baseball. The venerable baseball
publication has been in print since 1958, with editor Lou Pavlovich
at the helm for the past thirty years. "The selection process
takes about three months," observed Pavlovich in a recent telephone
interview. "We start in September by mailing a questionnaire
to every high school coach in the country and ask them to identify
outstanding players from their team or from other teams they've
played. Then we go to our college coaches and ask them to
identify the top five high school players in their state. We
also take a look at returning players from existing All-American and
All-State lists and gather names from a variety of other trusted
sources that we have established relationships with over the years.
We end up with a huge database of players, but there always seem to
be a few guys that keep showing up on everyone's list.
We then go back and contact high school coaches of those top players
on the list to confirm stats. The whole process is pretty
comprehensive." The publication also utilizes a similar
process to identify it's collegiate pre-season All-Americans.
In addition to generating a pre-season All-American
list, Collegiate Baseball's selection process also yields a state-by-state "Players to
Watch" list. Included in this year's listing
for Nebraska high school baseball in the January edition of
Collegiate Baseball, in addition to Farmer, are:
Bear Opitz, catcher, Westside, senior
Brandon Bass, shortstop, Millard West, senior
Brett Bass, second base, Millard West, junior
Chris Williams, outfield / right-handed pitcher,
Westside, senior
Jory Goldstrom, third base, Westside, senior
Josh Scheffert, utility player, Lincoln Southeast,
senior
Logan Ehlers, left-handed pitcher, Nebraska City,
junior
Nick Standish, left-handed pitcher, Millard West,
senior
Ryan Briggs, outfielder / pitcher, Creighton Prep,
senior
Ryan Tomlinson, outfielder / pitcher, Westside,
senior
Tyler Niederklein, right-handed pitcher / first base,
Millard West, senior
To this point, four players from this list have
committed to Division I programs. Niederklein and Scheffert,
like Farmer, have committed to the Huskers, and Briggs committed as
a junior to the University of Virginia. The list also reflects
the talent level on the two teams that are likely to be at the top of
most pre-season polls for Nebraska high school baseball -- Westside
and Millard West -- each with four players on the list.
In addition to Farmer, two others on the list have
previously received national recognition. Millard West's
Brandon Bass received the 2008
Louisville Slugger Award, presented annually to the American Legion
player compiling the highest batting average during national
competition. In the Central Plains
Regional Tournament and the American Legion World Series Bass
19 hits in 33 official at bats for a
.576 batting average, the highest of any player in national
tournament competition in eleven years and the sixth highest
all-time. |
Story
| Bass has committed to play for perennial power Iowa Western
Community College. Southeast's Josh Scheffert was selected to
represent Nebraska as one of sixty contestants from across the
nation to compete in the 2009 International
High School Power Showcase Home Run Derby on January 3rd.
| Story
| Josh also competed in the prestigious
Area Code Games last August. |
Story
|
Collegiate Baseball's pre-season high school Top 30
poll lists Millard West at number 28, the only Nebraska high school
team included on the list. At the top of the list is Las Vegas
Bishop Gorman High School, a team that returns fifteen of the
eighteen players from the roster of the Nevada Titans team that won
the American Legion World Series last summer. The Titans ended
the fifteen-game post-season win streak of the NP Dodge Wildcats
(Millard West) in the first round of the World Series by handing the
Wildcats a 7-5 loss.
| Collegiate
Baseball website |
Louisville Slugger Pre-Season High School All-Americans |
Collegiate Baseball Top 30 High School Poll |
