Drew Davis dazzles baseball scouts

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

The rising junior at East Rowan High couldn’t have been more wrong. Less than 24 hours later, Davis was in Wilmington catching for the Mets team in the Eastern United States Professional Baseball Showcase, a gathering of the top high school players in the eastern half of the country.

And not only was Davis catching, he was handling the pitches of fire-balling Alan Horne, a certain first-round pick in next June’s major league draft.

Here’s how it happened.

The pitching and catching coach for the Mets team in the Showcase is East Rowan assistant coach and South Rowan Legion head coach Allen Wilson.

Wilson’s Showcase squad, which annually consists of the top rising seniors and a handful of gifted rising juniors from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, suddenly found itself short a catcher when one of the two backstops assigned to the team couldn’t make it at the last minute.

Wilson told the Mets’ head coach that he knew of a catcher good enough to play in the Showcase who was within driving distance. The coach said, “Make the call.”

So Wilson phoned WSAT’s Charlie Welch, who was broadcasting the Legion game back to Rowan County from Granite Falls. Wilson told Welch to tell Drew’s father, Gary, that in the event Rowan lost that night that Drew needed to get to Wilmington as soon as possible.

Rowan’s game with Caldwell was in a rain delay when Gary Davis got the word. Rowan couldn’t rally once play resumed and its fine season ended, but the Davis’ made the best of a tough situation.

Drew and his catching equipment arrived in Wilmington on Thursday at noon. That night, he was in the Mets’ starting lineup.

The Showcase can be an overwhelming experience for two reasons.

First, there’s the talent level.

The only two area players deemed worthy of an invitation this year were Central Cabarrus pitching star Thomas Wilson and Davis’ high school teammate Cal Hayes Jr, who elected not to make the trip after a grueling Legion season and with football gearing up.

This is also the major event in which North Rowan superstar Daniel Moore enhanced his reputation last summer.

“It’s best of the best. You have to be invited by a scout to even be here,” said Wilson. “Everyone, almost without exception who’s here, will sign a pro contract or get a major college scholarship when they graduate high school.”

Second, there’s the mind-boggling pressure of being scrutinized and evaluated by approximately 300 college and pro scouts.

“Like everyone else here Drew was a little nervous at first, especially since he was one of the few juniors here and since he got here in the middle of things, said Wilson. “But after a few minutes, he fit right in.”

Davis played in two games for the Mets, and while he didn’t get any hits with the wooden bats Showcase hitters must use, he also didn’t strike out.

“Drew put it in play every time,” said Wilson. “That’s what I wanted to see. Could he make contact against kids throwing 95 and kids with wicked breaking stuff? He could.”

Davis was even more impressive behind the plate.

“He showed really soft hands, blocked balls and caught everything some big-time kids threw him. And he threw out two runners trying to steal,” said Wilson. “He’d have had three, but the shortstop dropped one.”

The presence of Wilson helped Davis feel at ease, as did the presence of East head coach Jeff Safrit, who came down to watch his prize catcher.

Davis turned enough coaching heads that scouts who couldn’t find the last-minute catching addition listed in the Showcase bios they had been given , pursued Wilson for information.

“ The coaches from Florida, Ole Miss and Clemson were all asking me, ‘Who’s your catcher,’” smiled Wilson. “They all liked Drew. When they found out he was only going to be a junior this year, well, then they really liked him. They asked about his grades, and I told them he’s got better than a 4.0. They just smiled.”

The proof of just how impressive Davis was over the weekend came when he was invited back for the Showcase in 2001. Next year, he’ll be full-fledged member of the Carolinas team (coached by the Arizona Diamondbacks), not a late substitute.

“It’s a great honor for Drew,” said Wilson. “He showed a lot of people here that he’s a Division I catcher, no doubt about it.”

And that means Davis’ life is about to change.

“One of the juniors we had last year was back with us and said he’d gotten 226 letters from colleges over the past year,” said Wilson. “It’s gonna happen with Drew, just like that. His mailbox is gonna start filling up.”