Shields and Harrington Have Made a Pitch for Greatness

In a matter of months, pitchers Jamie Shields of Hart High and Matt Harrington of Palmdale could become teenage millionaires without having won the lottery.

Each is a projected first-round choice in the June baseball draft because of their powerful right arms.

They are the best local pitching tandem since Jon Garland of Kennedy was taken in the first round and Sean Douglass of Antelope Valley was selected in the second round in the 1997 draft.

Garland was the 10th pick overall by the Chicago Cubs and signed for $1.325 million.

Shields and Harrington have been clocked throwing as fast as 94 mph. Shields has signed with LSU, Harrington with Arizona State. Each knows the year ahead could change their lives.

“I’m real excited,” Shields said. “I can’t wait. A lot of things are going to happen to me in the next half year. I’m just going to have fun and do my best.”

Said Harrington: “It’s exciting to know the possibilities. When you’re 17, 18 years old and have all these things happening to you, it’s something most people don’t get to experience.”

Harrington was so impressive last summer during the Area Code Games in Long Beach that he is expected to be rated among the top 10 prospects in the nation when Baseball America magazine releases its rankings later this month, with Shields not far behind.

“It’s unbelievable the amount of calls I get [from professional scouts],” Coach Lance Pierson of Palmdale said. “They told me I need to put on an answering machine whenever [Harrington] pitches.”

Each has been dreaming about the chance to play professional baseball since they were in T-ball.

Neither hides their ultimate aspiration.

“Every day, it’s on my mind,” Shields said. “If it’s all good for me, then I’m gone. If I don’t think it’s right, I’m going to college.”

Added Harrington: “I’m hoping to have a great season but I only can do so much. If you go out there and put pressure on yourself, you’re not going to perform to your best level.”

The 6-foot-3 Shields, Times Valley player of the year as a junior, is coming off a season in which he went 11-0 and hit 11 home runs as Hart won the Southern Section Division II championship.

Shields has improved his change-up, abandoned his cut fastball and hopes to have better overall control for his senior year.

Harrington, like Shields, is a 6-3 right-hander. A pinched nerve forced him to the sideline late last season, but he finished with a 7-2 record and 2.36 earned-run average.

His velocity during the off-season has been slightly better than Shields, putting him ahead in scout rankings.

But both have the chance to be high draft choices and embark on professional careers as 18-year-olds. The six months ahead will reveal the outcome.