HOOVER, Ala. – While sitting in a cramped, small work area on the back quad at the Hoover Met Sports Complex Sunday morning, Calvary Christian Academy (Fla.) head coach and top Perfect Game showcase coach Alan Kunkel noticed that a certain intrepid PG typist was jotting down notes about Irving Carter, a top prospect who plays for Kunkel at CCA.
Unprompted, Kunkel told the old note-taker to be sure to ask Carter about Instagram. If you ever want to know what Irv Carter is up to, he said, just check Instagram.
When told of that comment, Carter didn’t flinch:
“Snapchat, Instagram – I’m on there every day,” he told PG with a laugh. “I just want to communicate with everyone and have fun.”
Truth be told, Carter communicates the best when he’s out on the pitcher’s mound. He was here this weekend at the PG Junior National Showcase – the second time he’s been at the event – and he was eager to let a solid pitching performance do all the talking. Once he was done talking to PG, of course.
Irving Carter is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander from Boynton Beach, Fla., who PG ranks as the No. 9 overall prospect in the national class of 2021, and the class’s No. 3 right-hander (he’s 1-1 in the Florida state rankings).
The 2021 class is deep with elite right-handed pitchers, and guys like Christian Little (2021 No. 1 righty), Kelly Crumpton, Keegan Allen, Andrew Painter and even Brady House (No. 3-ranked overall, No. 2 shortstop) all threw here this weekend. It proved to be good company for Carter to keep.
“When you see all these guys pitching, they keep you on your toes a lot,” he said. “It’s great to have those guys out here for sure. Since we live in different states it’s hard to talk (frequently) but when we’re all here we get the most effort from each other, so it’s really good from that standpoint.”
Carter earned Top Prospect List recognition at last year’s PG Jr. National in Emerson, Ga., in June and again at the PG Underclass All-American Games in San Diego in August. Both of those events followed his appearance at the 2017 PG 14u Select Baseball Festival, held annually in Fort Myers, Fla., over the Labor Day Weekend.
“The environment (at PG showcases) is crazy, with the scouts at every field,” he said. “During summer ball, some teams are good, some teams are bad, but here everyone is good. Every pitch, you have to be on your game and if you make a mistake you’ll pay for it.”
Carter started playing with Richie Palmer’s Elite Squad organization when he was 11 or 12 years old and has never looked back. It’s one of the top travel ball programs in the country and has laid claim to numerous PG national championship trophies through the year.
“From the first game on, I’ve always love the atmosphere (around the program), I love the vibe there and I’ve loved every coach I’ve had from 12 to 16u; it’s been great. Richie is an unbelievable guy, he’s super kind and a great guy, and he knows a lot about the mental side of the game.”
The Elite Squad 16u coach Carter will play for this summer is Jorge Miranda, who is also an assistant coach at Calvary Christian Academy.
PG tournaments have provided another important platform on which Carter has performed and he’s been exceptional, getting named to nine all-tournament teams including eight with the Elite Squad since the summer of 2017.
But by Carter’s own account, his participation at the 2017 PG 14u Select Baseball Festival, with the nationally televised game itself played at jetBlue Park, the Red Sox spring training complex in Fort Myers, has been the highlight of his career, so far.
“The Select Festival was by far the most fun times I’ve had ever,” he said. “Going into it I probably knew maybe 10 of the kids and after that we’re all friends to this day. We do a group chat and we talk almost every day.”
Carter also called the visit to the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida – the beneficiary of the event – both “incredible” and “amazing”.
Carter said his fastball reached 94 mph during at least one of his outings this spring for CCA, and it sat 88-91 mph during his outing here Sunday. CCA finished 25-5 after reaching the semifinals of the Florida Class 4A state tournament and he was 7-1 with a 1.72 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 50 innings of work.
Painter is a teammate of his at CCA, and it’s easy to imagine how formidable that one-two punch is; Painter was 7-2 with a 1.43 ERA and 77f K’s in 53 2/3 innings.
“Me and Andy, going back-and-forth with him, it was a lot of fun,” Carter said. “Having him on my team was a great thing and I just can’t wait for what we can do in the future.”
That promising future must have Coach Kunkel smiling from ear-to-ear. One thing is certain: he’s going to have Irv Carter on his side through thick and thin.
“Kunkel is the funniest person I’ve ever been around; he’s cracking jokes every practice, every game,” Carter said. “But besides the baseball side of it, he really wants us to be good young men. He’ll say things like, ‘Guys, I know you’re great baseball players but one day I really want to be at your wedding.’ He’s much more than just a baseball coach, he’s more like a second dad.”
While Carter was in San Diego for the Underclass All-American Games he was also given the opportunity to attend the PG All-American Classic at the Padres’ Petco Park. Although he won’t be eligible for selection to that game until the summer of 2020, it certainly got him thinking about it.
“Somehow, we got front-row seats and the entire experience was amazing,” he said. “From the first pitch the juices were flowing and I was like, Wow!, maybe I could be here one day. And at the Underclass, and those games were a lot of fun. I can’t wait to go back this year again.”
As a veteran of so many PG events – even as a 16½-year-old – Carter finds it pretty easy to block-out all the eyes and radar guns pointed his direction behind home plate when he’s out on the mound. He may be young and exuberant but he can also be steely when the moment calls for it.
He told PG he’s been that way ever since he committed to Miami as an eighth-grader. He’s now able to peer towards home plate and see nothing but his catcher and the catcher’s mitt. And as for that Miami commitment he made at such a young age? Was he simply eager to put the whole recruiting process behind him as quickly as possible? No, not at all, really.
“Miami has been my dream school ever since I can remember, and once the offer came about it was a no-brainer,” Carter said. “The coaching staff is amazing, the facilities are great, and education is No. 1 so that was (part of) the decision, too.”
The No. 9 national ranking is something that Carter takes pride in, but he obviously feels like there’s room for improvement. In his mind, anyway, he could be at least eight spots higher.
“I use that for motivation, for sure,” Carter said. “I have a lot of friends in those rankings, and my friend Braylon Bishop, he was No. 9 and he jumped to No. 4 and he said, ‘Irv, what’s up man?’ So it’s a good competition like that.”
Carter told PG that when he comes to Perfect Game events, having fun is his No. 1 priority. But like most top-notch competitors he’s able to flip a switch and become all-business when he has to, like on Sunday when it was time for him to pitch.
After spending a week each of the last two Junes at the PG Jr. National, Carter can now set his sites on being at the 2020 PG National Showcase. That would be a big first step towards receiving that coveted PG All-American Classic invite.
And when that happens, just check Instagram. It will be right there for all the world to see.