Adam Stone(Southeast Guilford HS) and Jake Ozment(Southern Guilford) did the research and they found a camp out in Arizona where they could go this winter and get a shot at playing professional baseball.
That’s all these guys were looking for was a shot and that is what they got at this tryout camp in Yuma, Arizona. If they make it, you could be hearing from them one day in the major leagues and if they don’t succeed, at least they will know they gave it their best shot, in what may be their final call, in their efforts to play big league ball.
Jake Ozment is a 6’7 pitcher and he has been clocked throwing at 90mph and with the scouts always looking for those tall/lanky pitchers, who knows?????
Adam Stone is a catcher and he was a good one back in his day at SEG and then he lost favor with the sport, before realizing that he might just have one final try, to do something that he has truly loved since back when he was a little kid.
Good luck to the guys and they will be in the camp until February 28 and at that time we will know if they will be on their way to Spring Training or if they will be headed back to the Greensboro Batting Center to turn in their gear….
The GBC is a very good place, but that Spring Training sounds a whole lot better to me…………………
What? Why didn’t these guys go anywhere after high school and play collegiately? That might be the reason they had to do research. They aren’t good enough! But apparently someone has given them a glimmer of hope and now when there hearts are broken because the fact that they cannot play smacks them right in the face.
Their parents, family and friends are proud of what they are trying to do and the kids have been given a chance and they will work to make it out in Arizona.
If that doesn’t meet your standards, then that’s the way it goes.
Give the guys a chance, at least they are trying to make something of themselves and we hope they succeed.
If college didn’t work for them, then at least they are getting another shot. What gives you the right to say they don’t deserve it??????
Good luck Jake and Adam and I guess we shouldn’t print news about kids that are trying to better themselves……
I know their parents and grandparents are proud of them and we are too here at the site…..
There is no way a lefty who throws it 90 mph has to go to arizona after he graduated to get looked @. Paint it however you want to paint, Andy, but he could have gone to GTCC, Rock Tech, or CCSA if this were viable. Don’t put these things up on the board if you don’t want people to shed a bit of realism to the items. That’s not fair to your readers. Unless, of course, that 90 mph was your number.
I just call ’em as I see them and as I hear them.
I watched Jake in some games last summer when he was with the Asheboro team and they had several well known college kids on that team and Jake looked as solid as they the others…
The word I got it that Jake and Adam had been training in the off-season at the Batting Center and I would assume the Greensboro Batting Center and maybe Jake’s arm has gotten stronger in the off season.
Why not wish them well give the kids the benefit of the doubt who knows maybe they can pull this thing off…..
I will be pulling for them and they giving it their best shot from what I hear. Good to hear of the kids trying to something these days….
90mph. Yeah right.
The kid you know about is a right handed pitcher.. He has worked hard, and has been given a chance to show his stuff to some excellent pro coachs and scouts. They start playing tomorrow, and if you are interested you can listen to games at http://www.arizonawinterleague.com. When all is said and done they have either made it or not. They will never wonder what could have been. Wish them well, and I hope they make it. While we sit here Saturday in the snow, they will be playing baseball in the mid 70’s.
If I had the kid as a lefty and he is a righty then that is my bad. I was just going by what my contact told me or at least what I thought they told me.
A lot of water goes underneath the bridge and there are a lot of names that come through over the course of day/week/etc.
We’ll keep pulling for them all and again good luck to all the kids and I wish you would be wrong about that snow. It is tough playing basketball out in the snow or even baseketball for that matter…..
Good luck to Adam and Jake……
both of these kids were at GTCC and couldn’t make it. From what I understand, Stone quit after 1 day of practice…1 day. If Ozment (a righty) was anywhere near 90, I am sure Coach Barrow would not have let him get away. Anyway, good luck to the two.
I think Stone found life outside of baseball very un-fullfilling and he found out how much baseball really means to him and he wants to re-claim his game.
Good luck to them both and it is great to see them get a second chance and to learn to respect the game that they are realizing they always loved in the first place.
Andy I don’t see where you wrote anything about Jake being a lefty – looks like to me
you wrote lanky and someone didn’t read it correctly. Where’s all this nastiness coming from? Sounds like sour smushed grapes to me.
I don’t think any of this is nastiness…just realism. Neither one of these kids could get it together long enough to play junior college baseball…now they are pro prospects? please. If they make it, then I am dusting off the ol’ bat and glove and heading to Yuma AZ myself! what a joke.
Everybody has their own road to follow. Both these boys have paid their dues to be where they are and I wish them all them the best. They are talented and deserve a chance at showing everyone. Get your game own guys!!! Let’s do this thing. Thank you Andy for the encouragement.
Goodness gracious—quit trying to use a language you do not know— C’est la vie!
This is just another example of someone taking advantage of someone’s farfetched dream. How can anyone with a conscience actually keep a straight face and sell these two young men on shelling out money for a chance to play professional baseball. Neither of these young men was anything more than an average HS baseball player—forget how much they may have improved with their workouts @ GBC. Good luck to both of them. I guess the economy forces people to come up with scams like this.
The information that I received said that all they had to pay for was their plane ticket and everything else is covered.
Hotel, meals etc, etc….
Sounds like a good deal to me and who knows, maybe some Japanese team will end up taking them over there???? Adam-son and Jakeyamaguchi would not be bad if the zeoros/000000’s all added up right……
Stone went 4-5 in his first game with 2 doubled, a home run and 7 rbi. He also threw 5 runners out stealing
ozment pitched 7 1/3 innings of hitless ball and faced the minimum number of batters. struck out 11 and walked none. he was clocked at 93 mph on his fast ball and his slider was clocked between 78 and 81 mph. the opponents only hit one fly ball and hit 2 balls out of the infield.
Wow!!!!
makes you wonder how good this league really is… watching Ozment all summer and then this fall at GTCC topping the gun at 83-84 and now he is 93? The guys at GBC are good, but you don’t bump 10 mph in a couple of months. I call BS.
Jake Ozment
http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/team_stats.html?teamid=3170&seasonid=181
Adam Stone
http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/team_stats.html?teamid=3171&seasonid=181
stat lines for both. Like I said, BS.
Jack you are full of IT! There is no way that Stone or Ozment put up those kind of numbers in their 1st game. Saw both young men play in high school and they were average but not great. From what I hear neither one of these young men have the work ethic to really make it very far. I am not pulling against them, I am just being real – unlike JACK!
I actually played with both of these guys last year and I can tell you they are outstanding baseball players. I was one of many that talked Adam into trying out for a pro team. He’s a very humble person and it took a lot of persuasion to get him to try out. He is one of the best catchers I’ve ever played with (I’m 30 years old and have been playing for many years from little league to Division I college to adult amateur).
For those that doubted the talent of these guys…both got signed. http://www.goldenbaseball.com/winter/ArDisplay.aspx?ID=5298&SecID=880