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“He’s amazing.”
That’s the heartfelt answer you get from Cartersville (Ga.) High School baseball coach Stuart Chester when you ask him to describe Donavan Tate, his star player and star human being.
"Amazing is probably the word than can describe everything about Donavan," said Chester. "Football, baseball, school, anything in life: He's amazing. He could probably pick up a golf club and be amazing."
Golf will probably have to wait. Maybe football, too. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound center fielder is ranked as the No.3 prospect for the 2009 draft by Perfect Game USA, so he could be modeling a professional baseball uniform sometime this summer.
Tate, 18, signed a national letter-of-intent in February to play football at the University of North Carolina after excelling as a tailback, quarterback and defensive back in high school. He also could play baseball for the Tar Heels, if he goes to college. But that's a big 'if." It's not clear what he plans to do.
"I'm set on going to college and getting an education, so I don't see myself doing anything but that," he said last October. |
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Chester, however, told Perfect Game last week that he thinks football is only a "safe haven" for his young star if baseball does not work out.
"He wants to play baseball, there's no doubt about it," Chester maintained. "You'd have to ask him to get the 100 percent answer for sure."
Unfortunately, that does not seem possible at this point. Traci Tate, Donavan's mother, said the family has "no comment" at this time.
"We had some things come out that were not true, so we've been advised not to do any interviews until after the draft," Mrs. Tate politely told Perfect Game.
Tate was hitting .493 for Cartersville High School at last report with 10 homers, 36 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts. "He got caught in a rundown," said Chester, explaining why Tate wasn't 22-for-22 in stolen bases. "He didn't actually get thrown out, but he chewed out."
Chester stayed mad at Tate for about 10 seconds. The kid is too likeable for anything more than that.
"I have a daughter," said Chester. "He's the type of guy that you'd want to hand your daughter over to for the rest of her life."
The scouting report on Tate goes as follows: Strong arm, athletic, fast, good power. He's been clocked at 95 mph on the mound, but hasn't pitched much this year. Despite the 10 home runs, he's the leadoff batter for Cartersville, which was listed No.2 in the Class 3A rankings last week with a 20-4 record.
"Our philosophy is we should score in the first inning of every game," said Chester. "Your No.1 hitter is going to get the most at-bats. It would be crazy to put him No.3 or No.4."
Lars Tate, Donavan's father, was a running back at the University of Georgia and played in the NFL with Tampa Bay. Donavan was heavily recruited as a football player before signing with North Carolina, an outstanding athlete with speed, power and great timing.
Tate originally gave up football prior to his senior campaign last fall, then chaged his mind and joined the team after its first game. Naturally, he made all-state. Chester said Tate has been "head and shoulders" better than everyone else since he was 9 or 10 years old.
Chester, a high school coach for 20 years, predicted Tate will play baseball in the major leagues. "Without a doubt," he said, adding it might take him only two or three years to get there.
Chester said Tate has handled his acclaim extremely well, treating everyone with respect and obliging anyone who asks for an autograph. "You'd never know anything is going on," said Chester. "We'd have 20 or 30 scouts at our games. He's not one to have attention on himself."
Chester said he'll miss having Tate on the team after this season, but not merely because of his baseball skills. "The thing I'm going to miss about Donavan is Donavan the person," he said. "He just lights up the room when he comes in."
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