Orange County All-Star Baseball Game : Kaylor Measures Up in Terms of Ability, Desire : But Sonora’s Second Baseman Is Continually Battling His Diminutive Stature

It was always easy picking out Mitch Kaylor in a team photograph. He was the little guy sitting in the front row next to the team logo.

What was difficult was convincing everyone that Kaylor was the baseball team’s best player and not its batboy.

Kaylor was always the smallest player on his teams but he never came up short in ability. He was a mainstay in the East La Habra Little League, where he was selected to the all-star team five times.

He continued to excel at Sonora High School, where he was a four-year varsity starter. He also maintained a 3.95 grade-point average and recently won senior achievement awards in science and math.

But despite his accomplishments, Kaylor, 5-feet 7-inches, 150 pounds, is having problems measuring up to Division I standards.

Kaylor’s goal was to play in a major-college baseball program, but his only offers have come from Chapman and UC Riverside, Division II programs in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

So Kaylor, who batted .420 and stole 26 bases as a senior, will play second base for Cypress College in the fall. He will play in his final high school game tonight at 7:30 in the 21st Orange County All-Star game at Anaheim’s Glover Stadium.

“At first, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get an offer,” Kaylor said. “My parents were typical parents who wanted the best for their son, and they were disappointed that I wasn’t going to a major college.

“My parents met with Coach (Scott) Pickler and one of the academic counselors and then we toured the (Cypress) campus. Afterward, they were both very positive about the school. I’m looking forward to playing there.”

Kaylor thinks his size and an abundance of quality second baseman in the collegiate ranks hurt his scholarship chances. He noticed, while watching the College World Series on television, that a lot of second baseman were listed on the NCAA’s statistical leader board.

Nonetheless, Kaylor insists his size helped him become a better player and competitor as a youngster.

“I used to play with my older brother and his friends, and you had to be good if you wanted to be picked to play,” he said. “My brother (Mike) and I used to play Wiffle Ball against each other, and you had to be good to survive.”

Mike Kaylor was an outfielder at Sonora who used to bring his little brother to practices. John Link, Sonora coach, remembered Kaylor as a pestering youngster who couldn’t sit still for five minutes.

“He was always hanging around and he always wanted to play,” Link said. “Mitch was the type of kid who was sprinting for foul balls or swinging a bat. When he was a freshman, he played football here and would sneak down to the baseball field to take some swings.

“I think he quit football so he could play baseball all year. He never missed practice and did anything we asked of him. There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll end up at a major university. Whoever gets him will get a gold mine.”

Kaylor, 18, will play for the Mary Star team in the Connie Mack League based in Long Beach this summer and has completed his second season of winter ball for a New York Mets scout team. He also plays golf and surfs early mornings at Huntington Beach or Newport Beach.

This week, Kaylor will graduate 25th in his class. He received only three Bs in four years at Sonora and plans to study law after graduating from college.

“My toughest class was Algebra II,” he said. “I got two Bs in that class, but I’m getting an A in calculus. Both my mother and father always stressed that school work came first.

“I honestly think one of the big reasons I got good grades was because I played sports. I learned to discipline myself in the classroom and budget my time playing sports. Sports had a definite impact on my studies.”

NORTH STARTING LINEUP

POS NAME SCHOOL AVG. CF Mike Kelly Los Alamitos .467 3B Jason Moler Esperanza .361 2B Doug Saunders Esperanza .495 1B Mike Edwards Valencia .570 RF Marty Neff Magnolia .517 DH Kyle Schaetzl Sonora .466 C Brian Criss Servite .430 LF Craig Clayton Loara .485 SS Joe Furukawa Canyon .440 P John Cummings Canyon 8-3

SOUTH STARTING LINEUP

POS NAME SCHOOL AVG. 2B George Koutures Irvine .386 DH Mark Dion La Quinta .434 RF Jim Austin Mater Dei .437 1B Joe Ciccarella Mater Dei .411 LF Brian Mena Huntington Beach .333 3B Adam Brass El Toro .364 SS Bill Bardens Capistrano Valley .341 CF Frank Herman Estancia .444 C Kevin Maas Corona del Mar .422 P Mike Wilson La Quinta 10-2