Pitchers dominate Best in the West baseball

The Prep Rally: Best in the West series will highlight the all-time best players in western Arkansas as selected by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Blake Parker heads the list of six of the Best in the West baseball nine, who are known for what they've done on the mound.

The Fayetteville native has carved out a career in the Major Leagues as a reliever despite playing his entire college baseball career at Arkansas as a position player and being drafted as a catcher.

Parker caught, played right field and also some at third base for the Razorbacks. But he's now pitched in 289 games (only 2 starts) in the Major Leagues for six different teams. He resigned with the Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason and is part of their 60-man roster as spring training begins.

Former Fayetteville High baseball coach Vance Arnold wasn't surprised he made the transition easily in the minor leagues. Parker pitched some for the Purple Bulldogs, mostly in relief, Arnold said.

"He's so athletic," Arnold said. "He was a tight end in football and could run. I know when coach (Dave) Van Horn got him his athletic ability is something he was excited about.

"I enjoyed watching him play right field at Arkansas. He controlled his body so well and he had a great arm. No, not surprised at all though when he didn't hit well enough in the minor leagues they tried him on the mound. Look at his arm, his size and velocity."

But it wasn't Parker's pitching that helped the Purple'Dogs to their first state title, Arnold recalled.

"Benton has a kid on second with one out in the ninth and they're going to bunt him," Arnold said. "The kid missed the bunt. Blake caught it, pump-faked and the kid stopped and broke back to second. Blake made a perfect throw to the corner of the bag to throw him out. We come in and score the winning run and win our first championship.

"Lotta kids would have popped up and thrown that ball into left field, but he was under control. But threw the kid out and turned the whole tide of the game. Blake took all the pressure off everyone else with that play. Everyone was relaxed, came in and scored. It was pretty cool."

Prairie Grove's Jalen Beeks is another who reached the big leagues on the strength of his left arm as he will likely begin his third season soon with the Tampa Bay Rays. His name is still in the Arkansas High School record books for his 21-strikeout game against Pea Ridge, which is tied for the most in a single game.

Mitch Cameron, Beeks' high school coach, said his work ethic was a reason he's in the big leagues now. He saw it even as a sophomore.

"I'd drive by the field over Christmas break and I'd see Jalen and his dad throwing," Cameron said. "He's hitting the backstop from right field.

"A lotta kids want to be big leaguers, but he said it and worked at it and here he is."

Greenwood's Trey Holloway, Cedarville's Aaron Ledbetter and Fort Smith Southside's Barry Lunney Jr. also all excelled on the mound. Kasey Ford was a standout at Bentonville and the 6-foot-6 right-hander will head back to Kansas State in the fall for his senior season. He led the Tigers to a state title in baseball as a senior and two more in football.

Charles "Bubba" Carpenter was an outstanding two-way player in high school at West Fork, but decided to concentrate on hitting at Arkansas and his name remains in the Razorbacks record books today. Carpenter toiled in the minor leagues for nine years before reaching the Major Leagues with Colorado. He's one of three on this list to make the bigs.

Craig Gentry, a multi-sport star at tiny Fort Smith Christian, went on to play baseball at Arkansas. He spent 10 years in the Major Leagues as an outfielder with four different teams before retiring in 2019.

Daniel Stegall, a two-sport standout from Greenwood, rounds out the group. He signed to play quarterback at Miami initially but opted for baseball when the New York Mets drafted him as an outfielder in the seventh round.

Craig Jones, who coached Stegall in high school, could see his talent early on.

"I didn't start a lot of freshmen over the years," Jones said. "Matter of fact, he was the one. He was a pretty established little hitter."

Stegall ended his high school career with a bang. He hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the seventh to give his team the lead, then shut the door to help the Bulldogs claim a state title.

"He was like 0-for-3 that day and has been casting on stuff," Jones said. "I went down the line and told him 'One time today stay inside the baseball.' He did and it was awesome."