I spoke with Garrison Lassiter’s dad, Cliff, today and he said Garrison should be back in town(High Point) this coming Monday.
The young shortstop out of West Forsyth HS is part of a 20 man USA Baseball squad now down in Ixtapa, Mexico.
Garrison could well be the top upcoming high school senior baseball player for 2008 in the state of North Carolina. He got his start as five year-old player and moved up through the ranks of AAU and UAAA. Lassiter was on the American Legion senior team by the time he was 14 and then began playing for Andy Partin and Impact Baseball when he was in the 10th grade.
Lassiter is a leader and he is good friends with David Mailman who just recently signed with the Boston Red Sox. Garrison’s natural position is shortstop and his high school coach is Randy Pope. Cliff Lassiter still remembers the catch made by the Grimsley Whirlies’ CF Alan Craven to eliminate the Titans from the State 4-A playoffs. Cliff also spoke highly of Alan Ashkinazy and job he did this year coaching Grimsley.
The Atlanta Braves are already watching the progress of Garrison Lassiter and they better keep an eye on the Lassiter family because he has a younger brother Landon, 14, that is going to be very talented before it’s all over.
Lassiter likes it at shortstop but he can also play at second and third base. He has already committed to the University of North Carolina but the pros may get this kid before he sets foot in Chapel Hill.
Let’s go down to Mexico and find out how Lassiter the local baseball leader, and his team USA Baseball squad are doing.
*****Info courtesy of www.usabaseball.com, go there to follow the tournament………*****
IXTAPA, Mexico – Inclement weather has postponed the USA Baseball Junior National Team’s scheduled pool-play contest Aug. 27 against El Salvador at the COPABE “AAA” Pan American Junior Championships.
Team USA’s game with El Salvador (0-2) has been moved to Aug. 30, which was originally scheduled as a day off from competition for the tournament. The USA-El Salvador game time has yet to be announced. In addition, the scheduled Aug. 27 matchup between Canada (1-1) and the Bahamas (0-2) also has been postponed to Aug. 30.
The Americans (2-0), the event’s defending silver medalist, will now continue pool play with a 9:30 a.m. (Central time) contest Aug. 28 against Aruba at La Hacienda Stadium. Aruba was 1-1 in the tourney prior to a scheduled game Aug. 27 against Panama (0-1).
Team USA has outscored opponents 26-3 in two run-rule Pan Am wins. The Americans defeated Panama 13-1 before waltzing by Puerto Rico 13-2. JNT pitchers have yet to issue a walk in their first two contests.
Here’s the Garrison Lassiter Bio:
Garrison Lassiter, INF
Lassiter, an infielder, earned All-Conference honors at West Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem, N.C., hitting .413 with 5 home runs and 34 RBI. Named to the 2007 North Carolina Impact Dream Team, he also was recognized as his school’s top defensive player and played for the Chicago White Sox’s team in the 2006 Area Code Games. He’s already committed to the University of North Carolina.
$$$$$Here’s what Mason Linker had to say about Garrison Lassiter in this past Saturday’s Winston-Salem Journal. This is really an excellent article and we wanted to share it with you. Details on how to reach Mason Linker are at the bottom of the article and as you read it you’ll see why Garrison Lassiter is a LEADER.$$$$$
Garrison Lassiter has spent hardly any time at home this month, and one day earlier this week he was signing what he estimated to be 2,000 autographs in Joplin, Mo.
But Lassiter, a rising senior at West Forsyth High School, has no complaints. Hes enjoying every minute he spends with USA Baseballs Junior National Team.
Lassiter, a 6-2, 190-pound shortstop, was one of 20 players selected to the national team Sunday night, after a week of trial games in Missouri in which he batted .500 (8 for 16). They took all 34 of us into a room and called out the names of the players who made it, Lassiter said in a telephone interview. I was a little bit nervous, but I had a pretty good week here. Just to be able to represent my country is really great feeling. Lassiter and his 19 teammates are now in Ixtapa, Mexico, to compete in the Pan Am AAA Junior Championships, which will start today and run through Sept. 2. The top two teams at the Pan Am Championships will qualify for next years International Baseball Federation World Championships.
Lassiter was one of 38 players from around the country selected to play in the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Game in San Diego on Aug. 11. He spent the week after that game at trials for the Junior National Team. He said he spent a couple of hours at home Aug. 12 before heading back to the airport and flying to Missouri, but he said that the busy month hasn’t been tiring. I feel real comfortable, Lassiter said. Its just baseball. You go out there and play it every day. Its just the competitive level is really high and thats what makes it great. I am enjoying it. Coach Randy Pope of West Forsyth said that Lassiter called him Sunday to let him know he made the national team. He is so low key, he kind of acted like it wasnt that big a deal, Pope said. So I said, Arent you excited? And he said Yeah Coach, Im excited. Really, he is a low-key person, and he is very humble about all the awards he has gotten. When asked if he was surprised that Lassiter made the U.S. team, Pope said he wasnt sure. Only because I didnt know.& I have never had (a national player) and didnt know what to expect as far as talent wise, Pope said. I mean, he has shown me he has the talent, so the only reason I would be surprised is we have never had one. I am not surprised because of his talent. He is so athletic. He has a real large upside to him and he works hard. He has made some plays for us last year that were unbelievable, but he makes them look easy because he is so smooth. Lassiter is one of four infielders on the U.S. team, and he said that all four can play third base, shortstop or second base. How much I play just depends, Lassiter said. It just depends on who is hitting the ball. We have really good talent. We have hitters but to go along with it, but we have pitching, too. This year we have a really good balance. Last Saturday in Missouri, Lassiter went 3 for 4 against Chinese Taipei, then went 3 for 3 against Canada on Sunday to finish the trials with a flourish.
This week, he said he has been given his own baseball card and dealt with more media requests. He said he likes everything that has come with being part of one of USA Baseballs national teams. Forsyth County schools will start classes Monday, but Lassiter will miss the first week of his senior year. Hell also miss out on his last chance to play football. My friends wish I was back home to play football, he said. I thought about it, and if I hadn’t made some of this stuff, I possibly would have played football. Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.