Southeast Texas professional baseball players work out at alma maters

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Southeast Texas professional baseball players work out at alma maters

Three former West Brook baseball stars went back to school. So did one former Nederland standout.

And there were a few others, too.

Now is the time of year when hundreds of professional baseball players report to spring training. Some are in the major leagues. Most are in the minors.

Many kept in playing shape by working out at their old high school and colleges.

"There's a lot of guys who work out at their high schools," said former Nederland star Brian Sanches, who pitched in 18 games for the Philadelphia Phillies last season.

Like Sanches, former West Brook stars Chip Ambres, Jay Bruce and Jason Tyner worked out with and talked to players at their old school. Those three also play professionally.

"I think everything they do rubs off on the players," said West Brook coach Jacob Walton, whose team opens its season at home against Ozen at 4 p.m. today.

"I think what we as coaches say can get kind of stale, so they get some fresh words from the professional players."

Ambres had batting practice sessions at the high school before leaving Beaumont as a non-roster spring training invitee with the New York Mets.

Tyner talked with players about base running. Bruce, a 2005 graduate, is young enough to have been teammates with some current West Brook players.

"Chip hit (batting practice) at our field, and you could see the difference between a high school swing and a professional swing in the way the ball jumps off the bat," said West Brook senior Tim Ferguson, who will play next season at the University of Mississippi.

West Brook senior David Murphy said Tyner, an outfielder with the Minnesota Twins, talked with him about bunting.

"He told me he wants me to get 15 bunts for a hit," said Murphy, a University of Houston recruit who expects to bat leadoff and third this season.

Murphy estimated he had three or four bunt hits last season. He said Tyner told him to keep an eye on the third baseman this season.

"If the third baseman is playing in, and I get a double in my first at-bat, he might see that I have some power and be playing back the next time I'm up," Murphy said. "Then I can put down a drag bunt for a hit."

Ferguson and Murphy said they consider Bruce, in the Cincinnati Reds organization, to be a good friend. All three were West Brook teammates two years ago.

Murphy said University of Houston scouts first saw him play when they went to West Brook to watch Bruce, who the Reds drafted 12th overall in 2005.

"It's an advantage for us to have three guys who came from here because it brings a lot of hype to the school," Murphy said. "Those players brought a lot of scouts, so they know there are good players at West Brook."

Among other professional baseball players from Southeast Texas are former Port Neches-Groves standout Lew Ford, also a Minnesota outfielder; West Orange-Stark star John Patterson, a pitcher with the Washington Nationals; and Hardin-Jefferson product Ben Broussard, a Seattle Mariners first baseman.

Sanches said working out with the high school players reminds him of some of the game's fundamentals.

"I'll be explaining something to them, and it will kind of remind me of things I need to do," Sanches said.

Sanches said he told the Nederland pitchers to attack the strike zone and not nibble around the corners.

"He's been helping me with my pitching selection, with where to place the ball," said Nederland senior Beau Helmke, a Lamar University recruit.

Sanches said he had few chances to talk with professional players when he was in high school. He said he has returned to Nederland after each of his eight professional seasons.

"He's been a big asset to us," Nederland coach Cody Robbins said. "We pick his brain about a lot of different things."