U-M Baseball Signee Jackson Lamb Named Gatorade State POY

Submitted by Raoul on

The Gatorade State Baseball Players of the Year were announced today, with 2013 Michigan signee Jackson Lamb of Temperance Bedford tabbed as the pick for the state of Michigan. A reminder on the criteria for the Gatorade POY awards:

The winners were selected based on athletic production and impact in the 2013 season. Each winner also demonstrated high academic achievement and exemplary personal character, including volunteerism, sportsmanship and community leadership.

His "credentials" page gives his stats as: "batting .519 with four home runs, 34 RBI and an .802 slugging percentage. . . . he also posted a 5-0 record on the mound with a 1.48 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 33 innings." And it also notes his 3.61 GPA and his community activities. Here's the featured quote of praise:

“Jackson Lamb is one of the finest talents I have seen in many years,” said Scott Thiesen, president of the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association. “Offensively, he is a pure hitter with speed and great power. Defensively, he is an excellent centerfielder who can make a difficult play look easy.”

Previous winners of this award for the state of Michigan include Patrick Biondi, Zach Putnam, Drew Henson, J.J. Putz, and Derek Jeter.

Todd Plate's n…

May 28th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^

Saw him play a hoops game this year and he had a "quiet" 33, if that's possible.  Great athlete who is going to get drafted out of high school.  A friend of a friend is the girl's hoops coach at his high school and said his family has been diligent in doing their research in terms of what pick/how much $ would make it a smart decision to sign rather than attend Michigan.   Here's to hoping he gets to enjoy at least 3 years at UM before moving on to the pros.

 

 

Raoul

May 28th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^

Speaking of the draft, Baseball America released its top 500 prospects for the 2013 MLB draft today, and indeed Jackson Lamb is on the list at #306. I'm not a draft expert, so I'll let others speculate in more detail, but there's certainly a chance that Lamb doesn't end up in Ann Arbor.

No other Michigan signees are listed, but Michael O'Neill and Patrick Biondi are, at #79 and #247, respectively.

UMxWolverines

May 28th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^

Where you at Blazefire? (Both of us went to Temperance Bedford)

But seriously the guy is an amazing athlete. I graduated last year so I did get to see him play a lot. Arguably the best athlete to come out of the school ever, ahead of Chris Morris who plays for the Titans.

Trey'sTrey

May 28th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

No way, I am class of 08, I figured I was the only Bedford person to post on this board. The baseball team a few year ago with Lamb was absolutely amazing. I believe this brings the total to four D1 recruits from that team, I want to say 2011? God thing the baseball coach is better at coaching baseball than he was at coaching football.

uofmdds96

May 28th, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^

I live in Bedford as well and had a chance to see Jackson play hoops a couple of times.  He is big but flow through the lane.  No problem taking it to the hoop or popping a 3.  Never had the pleasure of seeing him play baseball.  He was honored at our Toledo Alumni club luncheon as the most outstanding student at Bedford.  The statement that was read at the luncheon quoted a teacher of his that said, "I saw Jackson taking the time to help out a classmate of his in the hallway and say a kind word.  This was a kid that he normally would not be with, and he did it without caring if anyone saw him do it." 

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. "Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking."

Interesting how the originator of the quote is also named Jackson.

MSHOT92

May 28th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^

When he was in middle school he was ahead of his peers even as tall as he was then, he was extremely coordinated. And probably one of the most humble kids around. Scary thing is, he still has that scrawny build and when he fills out he could be even more amazing physically. Definitely a great addition to the UM program. You seriously can't find kids as nice as Jackson. I'm very excited to see him in the maize and blue. Awesome work ethics shouldn't be a shocker...and go Mules!

GoBluePhil

May 28th, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^

Jackson and my son played AAU basketball together in 7th Grade. He was humble then and didn't change thru his years in high school. Very good basketball player who averaged around 24 points a game and close to 10 rebounds. He is one of the best athletes to come out of Monroe County ever. He may never wear the Maize & Blue however. He is likely a high round pick in the MLB Draft. I think he goes before the fourth round IMO and signs a contract. I hope I'm wrong.

Raoul

May 30th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^

Toledo Blade: Bedford senior Lamb may choose pro career

Lamb acknowledged that he would likely forgo his baseball scholarship at the University of Michigan if he is selected high enough in the draft.

With the help of his parents, Steve and Shawna Lamb, he will make a decision on whether to sign with a major league organization or play college baseball based on the amount of signing bonus money he is offered.

“I’m expecting to go in the first five rounds, so after that, I guess it’s just a matter of how much money and what round I go in,” Lamb said. “Depending on the money, and some other factors, I think I’m only going to go [professional] if I get picked in the first three rounds. I know you’re in the million-dollar range in the first two rounds. After that it decreases.”

FWIW, Chris Webb of the B1G Baseball blog told me on Twitter that he thinks Lamb is more of a 6-8 round selection. He could go higher, though, if a club deems him signable, and that depends on how much Lamb is looking for to forgo college. If he's looking for $1 million, chances are good he'll end up in Ann Arbor because he'll be unlikely to be offered that much. But if he's willing to go pro for around $450K to $600K, then Webb put the odds at his choosing college at 50-50.

gobobogo

June 3rd, 2013 at 1:11 PM ^

I was at Bedford's graduation ceremony  on June,2.   He had his Michigan Baseball cap with him and donned it right after they all threw thier graduation caps into the air.  A good omen for Michigan?  We'll see.  Some JL trivia - named after his grandfather  Jack Sizemore who ran UAW region 2B for many years.  I knew his mom and aunts and uncles when we all went to bedford and they went to the same parish as our family.  Nice family.