FAYETTEVILLE — Carson Shaddy has already been honored as the top high school baseball player in the state for the past season.
2013 Rawlings High School Gold Glove Team
Player, Position, Class, School
Carson Shaddy, C, Sr., Fayetteville, Ark.
Kendrick Gutierrez, 1B, Sr., American High School (Miami), Fla.
Justin Yurchak, INF, Jr., Shenendehowa, N.Y.
Gosuke Katoh, INF, Sr., Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), Calif.
Connor Kaiser, INF, So., Blue Valley West, Kan.
Josh Hart, OF, Sr., Parkview (Lilburn), Ga.
Clint Fraizer, OF, Sr., Loganville, Ga.
Kenny Meimerstorf, OF, Sr., Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), Nev.
Michael Strem, P, Sr., St. Francis (Mountain View), Calif.
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He can now add a selection as one of the best players in the country to his resume.
Shaddy, a senior at Fayetteville this season, had wrapped up the Gatorade Arkansas Baseball Player of the Year honors when another distinguished award recently came his way, earning the catcher a spot on the 2013 Rawlings High School Gold Glove Team.
“I learned about the award back earlier in the summer,” Shaddy said. “Coach (Vance) Arnold told me about it and it was pretty great.”
Shaddy hit .391 with four home runs and 21 RBIs, while also leading the Class 7A state champion Purple Bulldogs in hits (34) and runs scored (28). But the Rawlings Gold Glove Award comes not for offense, but instead to recognize Shaddy as the top defensive catcher in the nation.
“Coming into the year I knew I needed to be a really strong defensive catcher,” said Shaddy, who will play his college baseball at Arkansas. “I knew we had a really good pitching staff and I had to do my best to help them out back there.”
Arnold credits Shaddy with hard work in the offseason and during the season to improve on his already stellar defensive skills.
“We had a couple of scouts see him in the spring, and they had only seen him at shortstop or in the outfield,” Arnold said. “They were surprised at how good he was defensively at catcher. And so was coach (Dave) Van Horn when he saw Carson against Bentonville.”
Shaddy spent the summer playing for the Midwest Nationals, helping the team win Premier National Tournament in Springfield, Mo. Along with his Gatorade Player of the Year and Rawlings Gold Glove honors, he was also named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region Team.
“He’s only the second player we’ve ever had named All-Region,” Arnold said. “And the other was his brother, Taylor Shaddy.”
Previous Rawlings High School Gold Glove winners include current Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer and Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado.