Finding "The Stuff"
It’s always a good thing when promising expectations are exceeded, especially when it comes to your kids. My son, Nathaniel Bryce Stallard (Nate), will be playing college baseball.
Nate’s first-ever baseball practice—actually Tee Ball—was on a warm May afternoon 12 years ago. He didn’t know a thing about the game; Nate knew how to swing a bat and throw a ball, sort of. I wasn’t sure if he’d take to baseball the way his older brother had, but I wasn’t worried about that; I just wanted him to have fun. And the craziness of the Tee Ball games was a pure joy to watch. Nate liked the game and kept playing every summer.
As he moved through the different ranks of Little League, me and my wife quickly picked up on the fact that Nate was slightly behind the growth curve compared to most of the other kids—he’s a June birthday boy, and while we thought about holding him back when he started school (he wouldn’t turn 18 until after graduating high school), we decided that wasn’t in his best interest, at least concerning his smarts.
Nate dallied around as a catcher for a couple of years but never really took to it; surprisingly, it made him a better pitcher. He also struggled to find any sort of consistency hitting the ball. When Nate played SS or 3B, he was good. Ahh, but
when he pitched…
“The kid was born with an arm,” his best little league coach said. “He can pitch.” This coach also saw something in Nate that all his coaches would miss over the next 5-6 years—my son had the “stuff: the baseball makeup and attitude.”
The walks used to outnumber the strikeouts, but that didn’t matter. Nate got the Ks when they were needed. He still played in the infield and still struggled to hit, but the pitching was always good—until it wasn’t. His speed (here’s where the age thing came into play) hadn’t kept up with other good pitchers. And that’s when I realized the coaching (and training techniques) he was getting didn’t keep up with his needs. I ran him through three different clubs, and they all failed him—I quickly learned that was the standard pattern.
If Nate was going to play high school ball, he would have to push himself, find things within his talent he didn’t know were there—and practice! And boy oh boy, he found his drive to be better, setting his ultimate goal high.
“Dad, I want to pitch in college.” He became a PO—pitcher only.
This is where the expectations thing kicks in—with the help of his current coaches in high school and his club team, the Cavaliers, Nate made himself into a real presence on the mound. The pitching speed is there now—he strikes out a lot of hitters—the walks are infrequent, and his curveball is filthy. Nate also has a strong arm—he’s never had a problem. Over the last 2 years, he’s thrown 75, 80, 95 pitches in a game, throwing just as hard at the end as he did in the beginning. He conquered a lot of his problems.
He’s also now 6-foot-3, weighs 182.
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A few quotes about Nate from his coaches at the Cavaliers:
“Nate has the ability to contribute to a college pitching staff right away.”
“He knows the game and knows how to pitch. We believe Nate is a guy to look out for in 2025, and he has a chance to be really dominant at the next level.”
“Nate is a hard worker and a bulldog on the mound… he is definitely someone you want on your staff. He is a good teammate who always was one of the first out of the dugout to pick up his teammates when not pitching. He is already a very good pitcher who knows how to pitch and not just throw. In my opinion, Nate is an upside arm.”
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I won’t go into the details of all the college recruiting hoops and fun my wife and I jumped through. We visited schools, met coaches, looked at playing fields, decided on a major. We dutifully updated his info on recruiting apps. After the campus visits, Nate picked out his top 2-3 schools, and then we waited. At the end of the process, William Jewell College (NCAA DII) in Liberty, MO, was his top pick, and boom—they wanted him, calling him before Thanksgiving with an offer he quickly accepted. The excitement we all felt was overwhelming!
Nate’s going to be a Cardinal, pitching for an excellent school under great coaches. His mom and I are ecstatic.
I’m going to finish with one more thought on expectations. A lot of times when we hear that word, it is usually in the negative—“the kid didn’t meet his expectations.” Maybe goals is a better word, but Nate had expectations for himself and always believed. When specific coaches or teammates didn’t think he had the stuff, he worked harder and found it. He’s going to be a success, whether it’s in baseball or something else.
So, I’ll keep my chest puffed out and enjoy the ride he takes us on for the next four years, reveling in his dreams with him, marveling at every filthy pitch we see.
Go get ’em, Kid.