Boyhood Dream on the Verge of Reality : Baseball: Monroe High’s Nix should be selected in today’s amateur draft.

For those who have a dream but wonder if dreams come true, Wayne Nix has the answer:

They do.

From the time he was 6 years old, the Monroe High right-hander has envisioned a professional baseball career, a dream which today is expected to take a quantum step closer to becoming reality.

The opening rounds of the amateur baseball draft will be completed today, and the consensus of local scouts is that the 6-foot-6 senior will be selected somewhere between the second and fifth rounds.

The most-recent issue of Baseball America magazine has Nix No. 74 on its list of top prospects.

“He could make it to the big leagues in three years,” said an American League scout, one of several who requested anonymity before commenting about Nix.

“It’s kind of like a miracle happened,” Nix said. “When I pitched last year, no one would look at me. The scouts would walk away.”

Nix last year struck out 43 batters but walked 40 in 55 2/3 innings as the No. 2 pitcher on a staff that featured Joel Zamudio, a ninth-round draft selection by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Zamudio’s success inspired Nix to pursue his potential and work on fine-tuning his mechanics during the off-season.

The extra work has paid dividends.

“I don’t know what happened,” Nix said. “My curveball started breaking and I started hitting spots. It was weird. It’s kind of unexplainable. Everything’s happened so fast.”

Nix credits former North Hollywood High Coach Brian York with teaching him proper pitching mechanics. York worked with Nix last fall, while he was playing for a Cleveland Indian scout team.

This spring Nix had an 11-2 record, an 0.39 earned-run average, and 143 strikeouts with only 34 walks in 90 innings.

In his last five starts, Nix threw two no-hitters and three one-hitters.

“Every time I went out on the mound, it was like, ‘I know I’m going to win this game,’ ” he said.

The scouts took notice, showing up in waves and coming away with impressive readings on their radar guns.

The last pitch Nix threw in Monroe’s last victory of the season, a fastball that struck out Sean Lavery for the final out in a shutout against Granada Hills, was clocked by one scout at 92 miles per hour.

Nix, who plans to sign a professional contract rather than play in college, has a strong arm but very little pitching experience. That makes him more attractive to some evaluators, less to others.

“You look for body, arm strength and an easy delivery that there’s not much to fix,” a National League scout said. “If you’ve got all that, you figure the rest will come. [Nix] is a big, strong kid with a good arm, and he’s gotten better every time I saw him this year.”

Said an American League scout: “[His curveball] slips out of his hand; it’s like he doesn’t have a feel for the pitch. “You’ve got a one-pitch guy, and that better be a Goose Gossage pitch.”

One pitch is one more than Nix used to have. “They tried to pitch me in Little League,” Nix said, “but I’d walk everyone.”

Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell put Nix in the varsity rotation last season despite the recurring control problems.

“He just needed a shot to throw in some big games, get the feel of it and let it go,” Campbell said.

Campbell said Nix paid close attention to Zamudio, a right-hander who was 7-1 with a 1.64 ERA as a junior but slumped to 5-3 a year later and experienced arm trouble.

“I think Wayne saw how the scouts and the quote-unquote advisers might have gotten in the way of Joel’s focus toward pitching last year,” Campbell said.

With all the attention focused on Zamudio, Campbell said Nix was able to develop slowly and without extra pressure.

“As time went on, his poise and his confidence most definitely grew,” Campbell said. “That made him an almost-complete pitcher. He’s shown a nice, steady progression.”

Nix this season batted .407 with seven doubles, four triples and 30 runs batted in, but he is convinced that his best avenue to the big leagues is as a pitcher.

The scouts agree.

Nix averaged 1.58 strikeouts per inning and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 4-1.

All opposing coaches could do was grin and bear it.

“I remember when Rodney Beck was at Grant, he was just as big a powerhouse as this kid,” said Reseda Coach Mike Stone, whose team lost three games in which Nix pitched. “[Nix is] just a baby and the scouts like the fact he hasn’t pitched a lot. A lot of guys are 18 with arms that are going on 30.”

Stone said Nix conjures up memories not only of Beck, who pitches for the San Francisco Giants, but also of Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland High (New York Mets), Derek Wallace of Chatsworth (Kansas City Royal minor-leaguer) and Robert Wheatcroft (Baltimore Oriole minor-leaguer, now retired), who pitched for Reseda 10 years ago.

“Same personality on the mound, very focused,” Stone said. “It was almost like a flashback of Robert, watching Nix.”

Coach Jim Friery, whose Van Nuys team lost to Nix on a no-hitter, is convinced that Nix has as good a chance as any local player of reaching the big leagues.

Said Friery, “He’s got to be the No. 1 guy in the San Fernando Valley.”

And so he is. This year.

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Scouting the Draft

The major league amateur baseball draft begins today with about 15 rounds and concludes with about 30 rounds each on Friday and Saturday. Listed alphabetically are the local players most likely to be selected. Top Prospects: Name: Darrell Dent Position: OF School: Montclair Prep Name: Eric Flores Position: SS-3B School: Rio Mesa HS Name: Judd Granzow Position: OF School: Faith Baptist HS Name: Darrell Hussman Position: RHP School: Quartz Hill HS Name: Wayne Nix Position: RHP School: Monroe HS Name: Jon Tucker Position: 1B School: Chatsworth HS

They’ll Go Sometime: Name: Phil Derryman Position: RHP School: Moorpark College, Royal HS Name: Mike Eby Position: LHP School: Cal State Sacramento, Pierce Col., Westlake HS Name: Robert Fick Position: C School: Cal State Northridge, Ventura Col., Newbury Park HS Name: Gabe Kapler Position: 3B School: Moorpark College,Taft HS Name: Brandon Knight Position: RHP School: Ventura College, Buena HS Name: Rico Lagattuta Position: LHP School: Nevada, Westlake HS Name: Russ Ortiz Position: RHP School: Oklahoma, Montclair Prep Name: Jason Shanahan Position: 3B School: Cal State Northridge Name: Andy Shaw Position: DH School: Cal State Northridge, Col. of Canyons, Montclair Prep Name: Will Skett Position: OF School: Long Beach State, Valley College, Reseda HS

On the Bubble: Name: Richard Bell Position: LHP School: Moorpark College, Agoura HS Name: Eric Cole Position: 3B School: Antelope Valley College, Antelope Valley HS Name: Brandon Hernandez Position: RHP-1B School: Saugus HS Name: Mike Delano Position: RHP School: North Hollywood HS Name: Bob Kazmirski Position: RHP School: UCLA, Agoura HS Name: Ben Lemos Position: C School: Royal HS Name: Trevor Leppard Position: RHP School: Moorpark College, Simi Valley HS Name: Justin Marine Position: RHP School: Moorpark College Name: Brett Niles Position: 3B School: Calabasas HS Name: Kevin Nykoluk Position: C School: Seminole (Okla.) JC, Moorpark Col., Simi Valley HS Name: Chris Paxton Position: C School: Palmdale HS Name: John Romero Position: RHP School: Mission College, San Fernando HS Name: Kevin Serr Position: C School: Kennedy HS Name: Shane Slayton Position: OF School: Nevada, Royal HS Name: Lucas Solomon Position: RHP School: Cerro Coso College, Canyon HS Name: Jose Villafana Position: RHP School: Mission College, Sylmar HS

Compiled by Jeff Fletcher