Jon Stanley, a Raytown High School senior, shares how watching Ken Griffey, Jr glide effortlessly across the field inspired his love of the game. He also talks about how a challenging sophomore season helped his development, leading to an offer from Cowley College.
Ken Griffey, Jr. was definitely a player to watch and behold. What about his playing style caught your attention?
He made baseball look fun and everything he did on the field was so smooth and effortless. He also had great swag. Watching him is one of the reasons I fell in love with the game of baseball.
He definitely carried himself well. You had a really good 2020 season with Inside Edge, and the team finished with a great record. What do you think led to so much success for you and the team?
This last summer was definitely a memorable season. I thought it was one of the best seasons because everyone on 18u Sylvestri played together as a team, only losing a couple of games in the process. We just had fun and balled out…we had swag! For me, that made the season one of the greatest moments so far.
It was so refreshing for me, too, because my sophomore (16u) year I had a lot of struggles. That year, we played up against 17u & 18u teams, and finding ways to get kids out was a bit of a struggle. I was throwing pretty hard for my age but the older kids were used to seeing velocity, which meant that I got touched up a little bit more than I wanted. But, during that stretch, I continued to work and plug away and I kept the belief in myself. Noah Briley, Bob Zimmerman, and Coach Roder gave me constant support, and towards the end of the season, everything came together and I began to dial it in. I was able to get more outs and keep us in more games.
It was so exciting to watch your transformation over your sophomore season. And, now as a senior, the work has definitely paid off, culminating with your commitment to play baseball at Cowley College. Which, why did you pick Cowley?
I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play for Cowley! The Cowley baseball program has established a tradition of winning and I wanted to be in a highly competitive environment like that. It felt like a great next step I needed to take in order to continue growing as a player.
How was your recruiting experience with Cowley?
I sent an email to the coaching staff, then a couple of months later, I met a scout, Dirk Kinney, at Premier Baseball and he made a short video of me throwing and sent it to the Cowley coaches. Shortly after that, I was given the opportunity to take a campus visit, and that’s when I fell in love with the program.
Coach Burroughs and Coach Buck talked to me about the team’s culture and what they are all about. The competitive spirit and winning mentality of the staff really drew me in and it felt like a great fit to further my development.
Congratulations, again. What advice would you give to other IE players now that you’ve been through the recruiting process?
I would tell every baseball player to continue to work and don’t think about offers or rankings or anything else; just stay focused on bettering yourself and eventually that stuff will come. It’s also important to have fun with the process so you can be confident and be yourself.
That’s great advice. We continually tell kids to focus on fun and the results will come. In closing, you spent 5 seasons playing with Inside Edge. What did that time mean to you?
Inside Edge has been an essential part of my life. I’ve formed lifelong friendships and have further developed my playing abilities during the time I’ve been playing. Ultimately, I know that I have become a better person along the way.
