There was no doubt in Matt Kimmel’s mind that he would be one of the top 10 SPARQ athletes at the Northwest Championships. However, he didn’t quite expect to be #1. Kimmel and over 700 athletes competed in SPARQ Testing at the Northwest Championships, August 12 and 16.
Baseball Northwest created the Northwest Championships to help young high school baseball players showcase their baseball talents in front of college coaches and professional scouts. Most of these athletes were selected to participate after trying out at the individual State Prospect Games. These top high school baseball players from two countries (Canada & US) and 6 states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah) competed in the 5-day event. The first two days were dedicated to SPARQ Testing, batting practice, and infield/outfield drills. The next three days consisted of nothing put baseball games played through out the Portland/Vancouver area.
The weather was a bit muggy during SPARQ Testing, which seemed to affect some of the athletes’ performances. Obviously, it didn’t bother Kimmel in the least bit. Kimmel started off the day with a 34.5 inch vertical jump, which was the 3rd best jump of the two days. Oregon Metro ballplayer, Marc Gallegos, uncorked the best vertical jump of the championships with a 38 inch leap that shocked the crowd. Kimmel blazed across the outfield and recorded a 3.88 sec 30 yard dash (6.86 sec 60 yard dash). Kimmel’s 60 yard dash tied for the 2nd best time of the championships. He just missed the 60 ft mark with a 59 ft 6 inch powerball throw, which is still an incredible throw by all means. Kimmel finished the day with a 4.25 sec shuttle run. Once you combine these individual test results you get a SPARQ Rating of 81.81.
This SPARQ performance places Kimmel among the nation’s most athletic high school baseball players that have SPARQ Tested. Keep an eye on this incredibly young athlete. Unfortunately, Kimmel’s closest competitor (Zane Yanzick) suffered an injury and pulled out of SPARQ Testing earlier in the day. Yanzick from the 2010 Oregon Metro team posted an 82.91 SPARQ Rating during the State Prospect Games.
It’s a wrap!! We have finished our 2 1/2 month tour across the Northwest to SPARQ Test and Train the best baseball athletes in the Northwest. To all the baseball players…. thank you for participating in the State Games and the Northwest Championships. Congratulations to the top SPARQ baseball players that we showcased on triceathletics.com.
Thank you for following the Trice Athletic blog. Skyler Ashbaugh and myself, Eric Trice, wrote the articles. Please continue following this blog, I will be posting several statistical analyzes of the data collected during the State Prospect Games and the Northwest Championships.
–Written by Eric Trice
