Center Grove baseball coach Keith Hatfield probably could have played it safe two years ago and gone with a more experienced starting shortstop instead of a freshman. But he knew right away that he had something special in Bryce Eblin said there was no temptation on his part to take the patient approach.
“Bryce was with us the first day in the fall as a freshman. He proved himself pretty quickly,” Hatfield said. “We didn’t have any reluctance whatsoever. I had heard about Bryce, but I actually did not see him until the first day of the fall his freshman year.
“His hands were probably the first and foremost thing, and he definitely had enough arm strength to be at the varsity level,” Hatfield said. “It was just his actions in the field. The way he carried himself.”
Eblin, the top junior player in the state according to Prep Baseball Report, is one of many players to watch as the Johnson County tournament gets underway on Tuesday. The Trojans host reigning county champion Indian Creek in a rematch of last year’s county semifinal won by the Braves, 7-5.
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Eblin recalls being a bit nervous about jumping into the varsity lineup as a ninth-grader.
“We had conditioning, and there was something I said, and (Hatfield) said I was going to be the starting shortstop,” Eblin said. “As a freshman it was pretty scary coming in to play with these kids that are a lot taller, a lot bigger than me.
“I got the goosebumps a little bit, but I just went out there and played the game and found ways to help the team.”
Eblin has been the epitome of consistency ever since.
He batted .434 last season with nine doubles and five home runs. The fact Eblin had at least one hit in 25 of his team’s 28 games might be the most impressive of his many impressive statistics.
Eblin is hitting .401 for his career with 67 hits, including 15 doubles, and 63 runs scored.
Hatfield plans to use Eblin in the leadoff spot this spring.
In the field, he’ll be bookended by senior second baseman A.J. Poynter, another three-year starter, and junior third baseman Jimmy Wolff, who is Eblin’s cousin.
Eblin was also used as a relief pitcher as a sophomore, a role he’ll likely fill again after recording four saves last year.
His future is at short, though, and it’s a promising one.
Following his freshman season, Eblin verbally committed to play his collegiate baseball at Purdue. However, after visiting the campuses of Alabama and Mississippi State this past fall, he instead committed to play for Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon.
The baseball-rich Southeastern Conference, home to nine of the teams currently ranked in the nation’s top 25, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“Coach (Mark) Wasikowski is a great coach at Purdue, but I didn’t really go through the recruiting process at first. There were some things I liked about Alabama, and therefore I changed my mind,” Eblin said. “Right when I stepped on campus it felt like home.
“Playing in the SEC is obviously really hard. There’s a lot of talent pretty much everywhere. I felt like it would be really cool to play for Alabama.”
But Hatfield can take comfort knowing Eblin will still be scooping grounders and residing at the top of his batting order the next two seasons.
“It’s good. We like that,” Hatfield said. “We like having a kid like him where we know what to expect and we don’t have to move him anywhere. He’s going to be our shortstop unless he pitches, and we’ll go from there.”
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Johnson County tournament
Tuesday
Greenwood at Whiteland, 5:30 p.m.
Greenwood Christian at Franklin, 5:30 p.m.
Indian Creek at Center Grove, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
At Center Grove
Greenwood/Whiteland winner vs. GCA/Franklin winner, 1 p.m.
Indian Creek/Center Grove winner vs. Edinburgh, 1 p.m.
Championship, 3:30 p.m.
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