MitchMash: Kayden Porter and Spanish Fork are a big hit

PLACENTIA, Calif. - When Kayden Porter was 4-years-old, his dad Troy brought him into the garage to teach him to drive golf balls into a net.

"After about an hour I told him I had to go back inside," Troy said. "But he didn't want to go back in. I told him to come in when he'd hit enough."

Four hours later, Kayden returned inside.

"That's Kayden," Troy said. "He's always had a real big drive. When he does something, he does it 110 percent."

By age 7, Kayden had turned his attention to hitting and throwing a baseball and 10 years later he does it as well as any high school player in the country.

The mammoth 6-foot-5, 235-pound senior at Spanish Fork (Spanish Fork, Utah) in Utah showed off his mammoth hitting skills with a pair of long, towering home runs over the trees in left field Monday at El Dorado High, lifting the Dons (12-1) to an 8-0 opening-round win over Ocean View in the Hard 9 National Classic.

Kayden Porter is ranked the 41st top senior in the country by MaxPreps.com baseball editor Kevin Askeland and he has a full baseball scholarship secured to North Carolina.

He'll very likely be one of the top 50 picks in the June amateur draft and if he is, he'll have a tough decision to make.

Whichever directions he goes, someone is going to likely turn him into a pitcher or hitter. Spanish Fork manager Jim Nelson prefers to watch him swing the bat.

"Look, he's been our cleanup hitter for three years," Nelson said. "Yes, he had 11 or 12 wins for us on the mound last year but he also hit close to .500 with 50 RBI. He's about to break the state record in home runs.

"He's been a stud for us. He's got just awesome power. Scouts like him as a pitcher. What do I know? But I think he's a better hitter. Then again, when you throw 94 or 95, scouts like that too."

And well they should. 

One million fans
But the chicks, and most paying customers, love to watch the long ball. Ocean View didn't pay admission Monday and they didn't care to watch Porter launch almost identical 400-foot shots to straightaway left field in the first and fourth innings.

It reminded Utah folks of last July when Porter was invited to the Triple-A Home Run Derby in Salt Lake City against Triple-A All-Stars.

Using a metal bat, Porter launched 13 dingers, a couple registering more than 470 feet, to reach the finals where he lost to Stefan Gatrell, then of the Gwinnett Braves, 7-5.

Porter had the longest home run of the competition and he received the loudest ovations from more than 9,000 fans who filled Spring Mobile Ballpark.

"That was by far the loudest baseball experience I've had in my entire life," Porter told the Salt Lake Tribune that night. "In my head it felt like there were a million people in the crowd screaming for me the entire time."

Said Gatrell: "I've heard stories about stuff he's done and can see it. He's got a lot of pop and he's going to be a great college player and probably a great professional player."

So where does he want to play? On the mound or in the field?

"Honestly, any where they want me to play," he said Monday. "I just want to play the game."

Porter, considered a real jokester by his life-long partner in sport, shortstop and pitcher Hayden Nielsen, couldn't have been more polite and modest after the game.

He said "sir" a lot and wanted to talk about Nielsen, winning pitcher Brady Corless and the young Spanish Fork squad, which returned just three starters from last year's 30-3 team that won a second straight state 4A title. The Dons finished No. 6 in the Xcellent 25 national rankings. Today they are No. 11.

The draft and a possible college and pro career are all scribes want to bring up around Porter, who clearly wishes to enjoy his final prep days.

That's why instead of refining his baseball skills in the offseason, he played on the Spanish Fork football and basketball teams. So did Nielsen, the football team's starting quarterback and basketball squad's starting point guard.

"I just didn't want to have any regrets," Porter said. "I'm just having so much fun playing with these young guys, getting better, not taking a moment for granted."

Nielsen, who Nelson said is the best defensive player he's seen in 31 years of coaching, is making sure Porter sees the big picture and that the two go out in a blaze of glory.

While scouts no doubt gawked over Porter's two towering homers, they were equally awed by Nielsen's nifty and flawless glove work at shortstop. He went deep into the hole to take away a hit from one Ocean View batter.

His throw however was well wide of first, but Porter, with a big stretch (think of Mark McGuire) made the catch without much problem.

"I love it when you do that (throw it wide)," Porter told Nielsen after the half-inning. "It makes me have to do something."
 
Said Nielsen to reporter: "I can basically put it anywhere and he'll go get it."

As far as his longtime friendship with Porter, Nielsen said: "We've been through everything together. He's always been hilarious, a regular jokester once you get to know him. But once he crosses the line he's all business. ... We have just have this final push in front of us (the rest of their senior season). We want to make it memorable."

Great people
When they are on the mound, however, there are few balls to get to. Nielsen actually has more impressive stats in three season – 21-1 record, 1.45 ERA, 193 strikeouts, 33 walks. Porter is 11-2 with 132 strikeouts, 43 walks and a 2.04 ERA in the same stretch.

With Corless, a 6-1, 195-pound junior, coming into his own, the Dons appear destined for a third straight 4A title. Corless fired a 4-hitter on Monday with four strikeouts and is now 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA on the year with 38 strikeouts and three walks. He's already got three college offers and many more are coming, according to Nelson.

"He doesn't take a backseat (pitching) to anyone on this team," Nelson said.

Corless said having Porter and Nielsen setting examples helps.

"We push each other a lot," Corless said. "Just fun stuff. Who has the most strikeouts, comparing stats, that kind of push. It's just great to be around those two guys. They're just great people."

Porter and Nielsen, competitors and mostly teammates since the second grade, have had to face each other a few times over the years. At first, Nielsen said Porter never hit a home run against him. But Porter gave him a "c'mon" look.

"OK, he took me out a couple times," Nielsen said. "But I had his number too. Let's just put it this way: It was a battle."
 
Porter knows it will be a battle to actually win the National Classic. There are some very good Southern California teams in the mix. It will take three more wins to get the job done.

But these Dons have the arms to do it.

"We can do this," Nielsen said. "We know we can pitch and field. If we hit like today and Kayden launches ‘em out of here like that, sky is the limit."

E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.