A little digging is needed to discover why Richland Gull Lake catcher Drew Blakely is regarded as the best baseball player in the state.
Gull Lake’s Drew Blakely
Although hitting .417 is nothing to sneeze at, there are players with higher batting averages, and certainly there are catchers who have thrown out more than one runner trying to steal a base.
But pitchers would rather walk Blakely than give him anything to hit, and only two runners have tried to steal on him.
Perhaps players don’t run because they aren’t on the bases long enough to attempt a steal.
This spring, Blakely, 6 feet 2, 195 pounds, has picked off 12 baserunners.
He has turned the “back-pick” into an art form and isn’t limited to picking someone off first base. No runner is exempt no matter which base he is on.
“When you’re looking for a guy to back-pick, you’re looking for a guy who’s not necessarily super alert on the basepaths, and they’re not used to having an aggressive catcher on the opposing team,” he said. “I watch their mannerisms on the bases, and if they’re getting a little too lazy, we have a little signal I give, and once we’re both on the same page, we give it a go.”
The back-pick is so effective because Blakely has amazing arm strength, something he and his father, Bill, have worked on since middle school.
After warming up, Blakely plays catch with his dad, who is the coach at Gull Lake and on his summer travel team, the Midwest Athletics, which had all 14 players sign with Division I schools.
They begin at 70 feet apart, and Blakely throws as hard as he can seven times. Then they move back another 10 feet, and he makes seven more throws as hard as he can. That continues until they are 130 to 140 feet apart, or as soon as Blakely makes a throw with any hump in it. Then they begin working their way back to 70 feet apart.
Combine Blakely’s arm strength with his quick hands, and you have a player who began visiting colleges after his freshman year.
A year later, he visited Virginia, and it didn’t take long for him to commit to the Cavaliers before his junior year.
“All along I was looking for a place to play that was not only just focused on the baseball, but was well-rounded into everything I would like to see from a school,” he said. “From my eyes, they had the most all-encompassing program that met exactly what I was looking for as far as academics, weather, the conference they get to play in. The grounds out there are beautiful.”
Almost every athlete who signs with a school talks about the importance of academics and then spends four years doing anything to stay eligible, even at the cost of getting a meaningful education.
Blakely is different. He has a 4.15 grade-point average and scored 28 on the ACT. Better yet, he will enter Virginia with 30 college credits, because for the past two years he has left Gull Lake at 10 a.m. to take college courses.
“I asked Virginia’s academic coordinators if there was anything I could do to get ahead of schedule,” he said. “They sent me a list of all of the prerequisite classes, and I was able to sign up for some of them at local community colleges.”
Those 30 college credits highlight his desire to attend Virginia, which means Blakely likely won’t be the first Michigan high school player chosen in the upcoming major league draft. Teams don’t want to waste high picks on players they can’t sign.
“When the scouts talk about signability, or how likely I am to sign a professional contract, I’m honest,” Blakely said. “I say I’m incredibly interested in playing professional baseball, but if it were up to me, I’d like to play after my collegiate career at UVA.”
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.
Prep spring finals
Baseball and softball
Districts: May 31, June 3-4
Regionals: June 11
Quarterfinals: June 14
Semifinals and finals: June 16-18, Michigan State
Boys golf
Districts: May 25-28
Regionals: June 1-4
Finals: June 10-11. Division 1 — Grand Valley’s The Meadows; Div. 2 — Battle Creek’s Bedford Vallery; Div. 3 — MSU’s Forest Akers East; Div. 4 — MSU’s Forest Akers West.
Lacrosse
Regionals: May 16-June 4
Semifinals: June 8
Finals: June 11. Boys, Divisions 1, 2 — Howell’s Parker Middle School; Girls, Div. 1, 2 — Brighton.
Girls soccer
Districts: May 31-June 4
Regionals: June 7-11
Semifinals: June 14-15
Finals: June 17-18, Michigan State.
Girls tennis
Regionals: May 19-21
Finals: June 3-4. Division 1 — Midland Tennis Center; Div. 2 — Holly; Div. 3 — Holland; Div. 4 — Kalamazoo College.
Track and field
Regionals: May 20-21
Finals: June 4. Boys and girls, Div. 1 — Hudsonville; Div. 2 — Zeeland; Div. 3 — Comstock Park; Div. 4 — Grand Rapids’ Houseman Field.