Victoria Heppner is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Shadow Ridge High School for AZPreps365.com. 

When most kids join their city’s little league, they dream of someday playing in the major leagues. As they become older, that thought becomes less and less of a reality and appears more as an improbable wish. But for the pitching staff at Shadow Ridge, players are taking their dream one step further than many are able to; they have committed to playing baseball in college. 

Shadow Ridge’s impressive pitching lineup consists of five players pledging to continue to develop their skills and play for a college team. 

Austin Humphres is committed to Arizona State University, Dillon Orr to the University of Tennessee, Trey Tarver to Arizona Christian University, Connor Dougal to Paradise Valley Community College and Colton Graham to Glendale Community College. 

On top of these five players, there are a few pitchers that are still uncommitted that coaches believe can receive an offer from somewhere during this upcoming season.  

This impressive lineup of players suggests that Shadow Ridge will be a contender this season but how did these players become such a successful group? 

The Success of the Players

When both head coach Rodney Friar and pitching coach and former MLB player Jordan Zimmerman started coaching at Shadow Ridge, the two co-created a velocity program for players.  

The program called “ZB Velocity” is geared toward pitchers at Shadow Ridge but is also offered throughout the Valley. The training program is centered around improving the velocity of the players’ pitches. 

“ZB Velocity” focuses its workouts on training with medicine balls to not only improve arm strength but also strengthen the core and legs, which are fundamentally important for a pitcher. 

“The biggest thing to physically stay in shape is working a ton of med ball stuff,” Zimmerman said. “We do lower half drills for the hips, the legs, the abs and more importantly we do 2-pound med weight balls to simulate the mechanics of pitching.”

Zimmerman utilizes medicine balls in workouts with his players in order to build strength. He has players throw the balls to the ground or to each other in order to imitate a player pitching and in doing so, improves their mechanics along with the strength in their arms. 

The program has been a home for many of the standout pitchers at Shadow Ridge even before they were in high school. “Some of these senior kids have been doing this program for the last five or six years,” Friar said, and he believes that this program will take the team to the next level. 

Humphres, an ASU commit, credits Zimmerman and his program for helping him improve and stay in shape as he goes through high school and eventually onto college.   

“Honestly, Coach Zimmerman,” Humphres said when asked why he thinks he has had so much success. “I have worked with him since I started and he has taught me a lot as far as the game and how that goes.” 

Although the program has proven to help the players on the team, the main reason that the players have performed so well is the dedication they have to their sport and to their team. 

“They just flat out work hard and they really want to compete on the mound,” Friar said. “It’s really driven by heart and desire they have towards the game.” 

Friar emphasized that his players have a desire to take their game to the next level and they have achieved that through the hard work they put in at every practice and game.

“We have a good program,” Zimmerman said, “but without these players coming out on a daily basis and doing their training properly, they would not have as much success as they do.”   

Emphasis on Mental Health and Academics 

“If you can’t learn to focus,” senior pitcher Connor Dougal said, “you are not going to be able to be successful at anything.” 

Mental health is a huge aspect of the players' success at Shadow Ridge and they believe that it is just as important to be mentally strong as it is to be physically strong. 

Focus is especially important during a game and senior Colton Graham emphasized that success only comes on the mound with a good mindset. 

“If your mindset isn’t right,” Graham said, “then you’re always going to be struggling and never going to improve.” 

Dougal said that he tries to keep his emotions inside and keep his cool on the mound by trusting his abilities and not putting too much pressure on himself to perform well. 

“I always just try to stay comfortable on the mound and trust myself,” Dougal said. “If you put yourself down, you are not going to have the confidence to be able to do anything.” 

Zimmerman also said that he has to talk with his players everyday about staying engaged and having a good mindset that allows them to continue to grow instead of having a mindset that brings them down. 

Along with having conversations about mental health, Zimmerman has to ensure that his players also focus on academics, especially those who have committed to play in college.

He said that college coaches are not only watching how players perform on the field, but also how they perform in the classroom and that scholarships can be taken away because of the grades they get. 

Mental health and focus on academics are just as important as their play on the field and Shadow Ridge’s pitchers have had success because they have learned to balance their mental and physical game. 

College Recruitment 

Many of Shadow Ridge’s pitchers have the opportunity to continue their baseball career beyond high school in college and possibly beyond. 

Despite the struggles that COVID-19 presented to the team, the current pitchers were not too affected in their college recruitment processes. Unfortunately for some of the seniors last year, that was not the case.

Some of the seniors last year were relying on their play in their last season to be recruited but missed out on the opportunity to play due to COVID-19. 

For many of those players, their baseball careers came to an end and they were unable to continue pursuing their dream of playing in the major leagues.  

“We had a ton of kids last year with a lot of talent that were uncommitted and they were hoping that year was going to be the year for them to go somewhere,” Zimmerman said. “Their playing career ended because of COVID-19.” 

Fortunately for seniors this year, and some juniors, they have already secured a scholarship that will carry them through this rest of the year even through a possible cancellation of their season. 

Many have been fortunate enough to commit either before COVID-19 or during the pandemic and are extremely excited to continue their journey playing the sport they love. 

Though the journey has been long and strenuous, “it has been super fun to be able to finally get there,” said Graham, who plans on playing at Glendale Community College on a two-way scholarship.  

For Humphres, the decision to play at ASU was not easy at first but after months of searching it just felt right. “At first I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go but I did some looking and I wanted to stay close to home and decided ASU was the place for me,” Humphres said. “I am so excited and two years honestly can’t come any faster.” 

The decision to play at Paradise Valley Community College was difficult for Dougal after receiving multiple offers from junior colleges. He felt it was the right thing to do to stay close to home and “is so happy but a little bit terrified” about his journey. 

Though the journey at Shadow Ridge is coming to an end for most of these players, as they leave, they take one step further in turning their dreams into a reality.