Westlake’s Howard Plays Way Into Good Company at Miami

Jim Morris, coach of Miami’s baseball team, is building a reputation for developing great shortstops.

There’s Nomar Garciaparra, the perennial all-star with the Boston Red Sox who played for Morris at Georgia Tech.

There’s Bobby Hill, who was selected as a supplemental first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox in the 1999 amateur baseball draft and was the starting shortstop for last season’s Hurricane squad that won the national championship.

And there’s Dodger prospect Alex Cora, Miami’s shortstop before Hill.

Now, there’s Kevin Howard of Westlake High.

A strong performance during fall practice has put Howard, the 1999 Times Ventura County player of the year, in position to be Morris’ latest hot prospect.

“If I were to make out my lineup card today, [Kevin] would be my starting shortstop,” Morris said. “He’s been consistent on defense, has hit the ball hard and works hard every day.”

Howard’s numbers in fall practice won’t remind anybody of Garciaparra, Cora or Hill, but they were better than those posted by sophomore Javy Rodriguez, who was Hill’s backup last year.

“[Howard’s] a different type of player than Nomar,” Morris said. “He might be bigger and stronger than those guys, but I’m not going to say he’s going to hit more home runs than Nomar.”

Howard batted .296 with eight hits in 27 at-bats, including three doubles and two stolen bases in fall play, which concluded Nov. 20. The eight hits tied Howard for the team lead, while Rodriguez hit .211 with four hits in 19 at-bats and a team-high six stolen bases.

“[Howard] knows how to play the game,” Morris said. “He has good instincts. Nomar, Alex and Bobby all had good instincts. You’d tell them something, and they understood. Kevin has the same mentality and the same instincts.”

Gary Grayson, Westlake basketball coach, said Howard reminds him of another major league shortstop.

“I compare him to Royce Clayton,” said Grayson, who was the freshman basketball coach at Playa Del Rey St. Bernard during Clayton’s freshman and sophomore years. “Royce was another three-sport athlete who didn’t play football and basketball his senior year, because he knew where his meal ticket was.

“I think [Kevin’s] talented enough that he’s going to be driving around in a Mercedes in a couple of years.”

Morris, who also coached Dodger pitcher Kevin Brown in college, is pleased with Howard.

“I think you see a very solid player right now, and I think you can see that he’s going to be even better,” Morris said.

One of the reasons Morris recruited Howard was that he believed Southern California players have an easier time adjusting to Division I pitching.

“[Kevin] is used to good pitching, so [Division I pitching] is not as big an adjustment to him as it is for some of these other guys,” Morris said.

Howard also had to make adjustments off the field, something his teammates have helped him with.

“We started going to team functions from day one,” Howard said. “We go out a lot as a team. There’s a lot to do in this town. It’s easy to get distracted, kind of like California.”

Another transition for Howard was adapting to South Florida’s weather. He discovered Miami’s humidity his first night in town when he wore a sweater on a late-night outing.

“The humidity is actually good for my body. It keeps my muscles loose and relaxed,” said Howard, who acknowledged that the thick air makes a difference on the field. “When I hit the ball, it doesn’t seem to go anywhere.”

Morris was somewhat surprised that Howard, who was chosen in the 22nd round of the 1999 amateur baseball draft by the San Diego Padres, chose to attend school instead of beginning his professional career.

“To be honest, we didn’t think we could get him,” Morris said. “We thought he would go much higher in the draft. Everybody we sign is good enough to play professional baseball.”

Howard has no regrets about choosing school, and has made the transition to college academics.

“It’s a lot more difficult, but I’m not going to have any problems with failing classes,” Howard said. “It was kind of a relief when I realized in the first couple of weeks that I wouldn’t have any problems. The key is to do what the teacher says and keep up.

“I think it was important for me to go to school. I have to develop more to play professional baseball, mentally and physically.”