ESPN RISE

Blake Barber was 9 years old when he realized his friend, Luke Bailey, was going to be something special.

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ESPN RISE Magazine

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After breaking his left forearm on a ski trip, Bailey seemed certain to miss a game for the travel baseball team he played on with Barber and that their fathers coached. But Bailey wouldn't be kept out of the lineup. Despite having a hard cast on his arm, he dug into the batter's box -- hitting one-handed -- and promptly cracked a ball over the fence.

"Here I am, swinging with everything I've got and I can barely get it over the infield, and he hits a home run with one hand," Barber says.

Today, that powerful right arm has made Bailey the nation's top catcher. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Troup (LaGrange, Ga.) senior is the No. 7 overall prospect in the ESPNU player rankings thanks to his combination of defensive prowess and offensive production. Bailey, who has signed with Auburn, could also be an early-round selection in June's MLB Draft.

As much as Bailey's one-handed blast says about his ridiculous power at a young age, it says even more about his unmatched dedication. From the time he started hitting rocks over the lake behind his grandparents' house with a plastic bat, Bailey could be found playing ball.

"I've never seen anyone who loves the game so much," says Barber, a senior shortstop/pitcher at Troup.

To play at Troup, you have to love the game. Preseason practices typically run from 3:30 to 8:15 p.m., six days a week. But while other players might wear down toward the end of a grueling day, Bailey always looks as if he could go another five hours.

"There's nothing better than being on that field and playing this game," he says.

Maybe that's because when he's on the field, there are few better at playing the game. While he puts up Silver Slugger numbers at the plate, Bailey takes the most pride in his Gold Glove defense. He started catching at age 12 and was immediately hooked when he felt the rush of eliminating a potential base stealer.

"I realized I could throw people out really easy, and ever since then it's been fun," Bailey says.

When he made varsity as a freshman and became the starting catcher, teams throughout the region quickly learned it wasn't wise to attempt to steal on Bailey.

"If guys get on against him, they don't stay on very long," Barber says.

Even runners who don't plan on stealing need to be on their toes. One of Bailey's favorite moves is to pick off a runner with a quick throw to first without getting out of his crouch.

"It's really not fair," Barber says. "He'll throw guys out from his knees and it looks like he's not even trying." "He has a major league arm right now," Troup coach Craig Garner adds.

His bat isn't far behind. Bailey opened eyes from the very beginning of his varsity career. In the first at-bat of his freshman year -- using two hands this time -- he cranked a ball off the left-center field wall, 365 feet from home plate. In retrospect, that wasn't the best thing for the precocious freshman. After coming so close to hitting the ball out of the park, Bailey tried to hit everything over the fence. As a result, he finished the year with only one homer, although he still hit .321 with 24 RBIs.

When he shortened his stroke as a sophomore, Bailey's offense caught up with his defense. He hit .340 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs, helping Troup to a 24-11 record and a second consecutive spot in the state quarterfinals. His numbers continued to improve last year, as he hit an astounding .505 with 13 long balls and 61 RBIs for a 22-10 team that again lost in the quarterfinals.

"He has power to all fields and can hit any pitch in any situation hard in the gap somewhere," Garner says.

Bailey has also become an expert at handling a pitching staff. His laser throws to second and his long homers get the most attention, but he is equally adept at blocking balls in the dirt and managing his pitchers' psyches. He knows which pitcher needs to be yelled at and which one needs to be encouraged. He knows when to head out to the mound to give his battery mate a break. And he knows never to argue with an umpire over a called strike when batting because he wants his pitcher to get the same call.

"When I pitch, I know that everything's going to be OK with Luke back there," Barber says.

There's also no one better at calming his pitcher in a crucial situation.

"When the game is on the line, leaders emerge, and that's something we've seen with Luke," says Auburn coach John Pawlowski.

Pawlowski is hoping to get a chance to work with Bailey. But with another good season, his prize recruit could find himself with a pro contract too good to pass up. Bailey still can't believe the thing he loves to do more than anything else could turn into a lucrative career. It's always been his dream, though, so he dutifully fills out all the scouts' questionnaires, including the bizarre inquiries like, "If you were jogging and your shoe came untied, would you stop and tie it or wait until you were done?"

Bailey still isn't sure what that has to do with baseball, but he doesn't mind. He certainly notices the scouts, their stopwatches out to time his release on throws to second. But Bailey is focused on what's happening on the field, not in the stands. After seeing Troup fall in the Class AAA quarterfinals three years in a row, he's determined to lead the team to a state title in his final season.

"We're not talking about playoffs or the semifinals," Bailey says. "We're looking to win."

And if a broken arm couldn't stop him as a kid, what's going to get in his way this time?

Ryan Canner-O'Mealy covers high school sports for ESPN RISE Magazine.