Can anything athletically great come out of Malad?
Well, Ladell Andersen did. Folks in Malad can tell you they once produced an Idaho governor, if that counts.
But generally speaking, recruits out of Malad have been slim over the years from this small Idaho farming community close to the Utah border. If someone knows any superstars, please share.
Then comes this news.
Skyler Thorpe is a left-handed pitcher who threw a no-hitter last Saturday to deliver Malad High its first-ever state baseball championship, a 3-0 win over Plymouth in Nampa. He played football at Century High last fall and has been a center on the basketball team.
Thorpe, 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, has pitched against some of the best teams in the country every summer since he was 12 while on a traveling team comprised of all-stars. He's held his own. His fastball has been clocked at 89 miles per hour, and his curveball is a mover.
So, how many college recruiters have been knocking down his door this season?
None. Zilch. Zero.
Then some 30 hours after the state title game, a recruiter from the College of Eastern Utah in Price did call last Monday. You'd have thought Utah or BYU, or even Utah Valley, SLCC, Boise State or some other college would have taken note. At a tournament in Boise, a scout from the Chicago Cubs gave Thorpe his business card.
"To pitch for a Division I team would be a dream for me," said Thorpe, who plans on going on an LDS mission a year from this summer.
The problem for baseball pitchers in Idaho, says the coach of his summer travel team, the Cyclones, is coaching for pitchers in the state is almost nonexistent.
Mark Terry, a former high school and junior college player, moved to Idaho from California and is Thorpe's year-round coach. When his own son turned 8, he got him started in baseball in the Gem State. It was evident from the start that Idaho lagged significantly behind California in terms of developing baseball players, said Terry.
"Unfortunately in Idaho, most of the coaches don't know how to develop pitchers, so they don't have a pitching program," Terry said. "We actually had a pitching program where they threw every day, and that's why they could compete on a national level. But in high schools, they don't have bullpen sessions, they don't have run-pitch coaches, they don't have pitching programs, and that is why the kids always suffer when they come out of high school."
Thorpe benefited from Terry's expertise.
"He knows his stuff," said Thorpe.
"Oh boy, what a fantastic kid," said Terry. "We had a team, and we played the summer circuit around the country and were ranked in the Top 10 for three years. We won the fall nationals in Arizona, won the Triple Crown World Series and beat the national team out of Utah.
"Skyler was phenomenal. He's a great kid. We taught him how to throw. When I first met him, all he had was a tailing fastball, so we taught him out to throw a curve, slider and change-up, and he just became a dominant pitcher. Every time we got into championships, he was always my No. 1 or No. 2, which, when you are playing on a national level, it's incredible."
Skyler "definitely" should be a Division I player, Terry added.
Why?
"He's got a naturally tailing fastball, and his slider is nastier than most college curveballs. He's really got some talent, and if he can just get with the right college program, I think he's a pro prospect."
Can anything great come out of Malad?
Terry has had Thorpe in a year-round program since he was 12.
"We competed against the best players in the country and were ranked 4th, 6th and 9th in the country," Terry said. "We were the first Idaho team to win the world series, we played international competition from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Florida. He's played against the best in North America."
Last Saturday's no-hitter was Thorpe's second in two years. He had a no-hitter against Soda Springs last season. At the conclusion of the game, Thorpe, the MVP, was tackled to the ground by his catcher, Bracken Gibbs.
The emotional Malad Dragons' coach, Dennis Evans, told the Idaho State Journal, "I hate to single out Skyler. It's just been a team effort, not just this game but the entire season. Skyler is a workhorse, and he got it done in a big way for us."
Thorpe pitched an entire game, 123 pitches, on Thursday, May 19, and with one day of rest got the nod in the title game on Saturday, May 21. In the final four innings of the championship game, he threw only six pitches that were called balls as his fastball and change-ups overpowered and kept Plymouth hitters controlled.
"He was in a zone for sure," said Gibbs, who said Thorpe continually shook off his signals because he knew what he wanted to get done. Only two Plymouth players made it on base in the game.
Skyler Thorpe.
Is he a Division I player?
"I think I am," he told me on Thursday. "I'd like to play college ball and try and get drafted after my mission."
Question is, will he get a chance to prove it?
email: dharmon@desnews.com
twitter: Harmonwrites