BALDWINSVILLE BEES BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT

Scott Blewett: Playing Up and Playing for Keeps

by Christopher Savacool

For most people, walking into a room with talented, professional baseball players, many of whom are older than you, would be

intimidating. But in 2014, as an 18-year-old recent high school graduate, Baldwinsville native Scott Thomas Blewett did just that.

He had been drafted by the Kansas City Royals with the 56th pick in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft in May and reported to the Royals’ spring training site in Arizona, surrounded by many players who had already attended or graduated college.

In some ways, however, Blewett was used to it. He had been “playing up” for many years and at every stop he had succeeded.

The secret to Blewett’s success may sound

cliché—being motivated, working hard, and learning from failure—but it doesn’t make the experience any less true.

In fact, it is the path to success forged by many professional athletes.

The difference, in this instance, is this athlete grew up in our own backyard and is proving to be an inspiration to scores of Baldwinsville baseball players, if not to many players in our region, each dreaming of Major League baseball careers.

Little League Legend

Blewett’s success started in his early years as a young player in the Seneca River North Little League. He credits his coach at the time, Brian Burke, who Blewett describes as “energetic... always up and ready to go,” as the one who

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encouraged him to pitch as an eight-year-old. Burke asked Blewett’s dad, Kevin, if Scott could

pitch. According to Blewett, his father responded, “I don’t know. He throws hard, but he might kill somebody.”

By the age of 10, Blewett was playing in the Majors division of Little League, which is normally for players 11 and 12. Throughout his Little League career, Blewett became a feared and effective pitcher.

Ironically, as a 12-year-old, Blewett faced a Baldwinsville team of players, many of whom would later become his teammates, in a District 8 all-star game. The Baldwinsville team was a favorite in the district all-star tournament, because they had won the District 8 AAA championship as 9 and 10 year olds.

Blewett shut down his future teammates and SRN won the game, although, at the time, he didn’t think much about the fact they would be kids he would play with for many years afterward.

“It never even crossed my mind. Honestly, at that age, I never really paid attention to it. I never thought that far ahead,” said Blewett.

Varsity assistant coach Mark Bader remembers Blewett as a youngster in his elementary gym classes and as a player who came to baseball clinics then. “He was opening eyes then too,” said Bader.

Kevin Blewett remembers the joy of Scott’s younger years. “The early days were a blast for me. We would throw almost every day in the summer. Watching him progress was a treat for Caroline and me,” said Kevin.

Throughout his youth, Blewett often “played up” on teams with older players. As an 8-year-old, he played AA in Little League. At 9, he played AAA, and at 10, he played Majors. During fall ball when he was 12, Blewett played on a team that had 15 and 16 year olds on it.

Blewett believes being challenged like that helped him. “It pushed me. I just always wanted to play up,” he said.

He remembers pitching one game on the fall ball team. “I thought it was pretty cool just playing with those guys, just because they were four years older than me,” said Blewett.

Because he was more physically mature than most of his peers, Blewett played up in multiple sports: baseball, soccer, and hockey.

Multi-Sport Athlete . . . and a Good Student

Although he was an all-star in baseball, Blewett played multiple sports. He played soccer since he was five or six years old, and he played hockey at an early age, as well.

Blewett stopped playing soccer and hockey at relatively young ages; he finished playing hockey when he was 12.

But, Blewett always wanted to be involved in a sport, so after that, he began running cross country and playing basketball, all of which he did until the early years of high school.

By the time his sophomore year was over, Blewett became a single-sport athlete: baseball dominated his attention.

However, Blewett said he values the time he spent doing other sports.

“I always thought it was [a] good [thing to do],” he said. “Playing other sports keeps you active and takes your mind off of being a one-sport athlete

Young Blewett as a player in the Seneca River Little League.

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your entire life. [It] gives you some variety.”For youngsters, Blewett has some advice: “Just

play. Just enjoy it. Enjoy the time, because it goes fast.”

Early in his life, Blewett also learned the importance of education. His mother, Caroline, was studying to be a teacher and she was a substitute teacher for a while. As such, she instilled in him the importance of his education.

“She always really stressed academics. I was really focused in school. I always did my homework; in fact, I don’t think I ever had a late homework assignment,” said Blewett.

An Important Lesson

For as much success as Blewett has had in sports and in school, he clearly remembers a lesson he learned from failure at the beginning of his high school career.

After successfully participating on modified baseball teams in seventh and eighth grade, Blewett made junior varsity as a freshman.

Blewett remembers that year as a struggle, starting with his physique. “I was growing a lot and really going through a lot of changes. Physically and emotionally, I was kind of a wreck. I got lit up a lot of games and my emotions were out of whack,” he said.

Despite these problems, junior varsity coach John Pallotta recalls the potential that he noticed in Blewett immediately.

“He had a rather unique blend, especially in young players his age, of size and a smooth delivery. It was clear that Scott would be a hard thrower, but it was the ease with which he threw that was the most exciting to see as a coach,” said Pallotta.

During the season, after a number of successful outings, many coaches would approach Pallotta at the end of the game asking, “What’s this kid doing pitching for you?” They obviously saw the same

talent that Pallotta had seen.However, it was a game against Cicero-North

Syracuse, a conference rival, where Blewett learned a most valuable lesson.

Pallotta recalls it was a rainy day in which “honestly, if we had any dirt in the infield [at Durgee Field], we wouldn’t have been able to play.”

Blewett was starting on the mound and, according to Pallotta, “the conditions were getting in his head. C-NS had one big inning that consisted of half his walks for the entire season and two bloop singles.”

“As his frustration built, he began to wear his emotions on his sleeves, and it wasn’t a good look for him. After pulling him from the game, I didn’t say anything to him other than to see me in my office up at Baker,” said Pallotta.

After the loss, Blewett recalls going into the office with Pallotta and varsity coach Dave Penafeather,

and Pallotta “laid into me pretty good.”

“I can vividly remember both of us just soaking wet, dripping rain and sweat on the floor,” said Pallotta. “In a rather aggressive tone, I told Scott that at no point was I upset with his physical struggle during the game, but what got to me was his body language.”

“I told him that even though he was only a freshman, everyone was watching him—players in the program, parents, opposing teams, and coaches—and that he owed it to himself to never make it look like he was making excuses for his shortcomings,” said Pallotta.

Blewett recalls that “it was a big turning point in my baseball career, because I remember thinking at that point that I was on top of the

world, that I was better than everyone. It was a humbling moment . . . it was C-NS and I wanted to win so bad and I blamed it on other people. I didn’t take it on myself.”

Penafeather also remembers the meeting and said, “it was one of the moments [where he was] listening to us and asking questions. He was frustrated because he had been beaten and was disappointed that he let his team and coaches

Blewett as a modified player for the Bees.

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down,” said Penafeather.“He didn’t have the confidence to throw an off-

speed pitch. He knew what we were talking about, and I believe the words Coach Pallotta spoke to him gave him confidence to throw different pitches. From that point on, I knew we had a player that could be special,” said Penafeather.

After that meeting, Pallotta said Blewett changed and was “a bulldog.” He had a showdown with then-seventh-grader, Jeff Belge from Henninger, in which Blewett took a perfect game into the seventh inning. He had learned from his experience.

Blewett finished the season with a 5-2 record and a 2.10 ERA, but more importantly, he learned a valuable lesson from the season.

“I appreciated it a lot. Just because I threw hard, I needed to realize that I needed something more. I was a completely different person,” said Blewett.

He dedicated himself to becoming better and having a better attitude. He started working out before his sophomore year and started focusing on just baseball. “That was the last year I played three sports,” he said.

Penafeather sums up the experience this way: “He learned to fail, which is huge in athletics. He got back up and worked hard to get to where he is today.”

Getting on the Radar

Blewett’s freshman year had opened some eyes, and he was invited to a high school all-star game at Alliance Bank Stadium (now NBT Bank Stadium) at the end of the season, even though he wasn’t even on varsity yet.

“I remember throwing to Gabe [Levanti] and I knew he was on varsity. I thought that was the coolest thing. I remember thinking, I’m throwing to Gabe and I’m on a big stage,” said Blewett.

And on that stage, Blewett continued to impress.He threw three scoreless innings in the game and

struck out Shawn Peake, who was the CNY Player of

the Year that year.Not only did Blewett impress his peers, coaches,

and scouts, but, for the first time, his father, Kevin began to understand where his son’s talents could lead.

“[That was when] I realized Scott had something special, when he was fifteen and threw 83 miles per hour at Alliance Bank Stadium,” Kevin said.

Blewett’s main goals, however, were on making varsity. And he had extra motivation to make the team.

“Going into tryouts, I knew that was the first year we were going to go to Florida. I really wanted to go on that trip, because my family never really went on vacations. I really wanted to go somewhere south and

play baseball, especially with all my friends,” said Blewett.

So, every throw, every drill was done with maximum effort. Even with his impressive all-star performance, he wasn’t sure a spot on varsity was a certainty. “I gave it 120% all out. Every throw I tried to make perfect,” he said.

Blewett made the team and began a string of pitching success that is unparalleled in Baldwinsville baseball history. He went undefeated that year and Baldwinsville won its first sectional crown since 2004, as Blewett pitched the sectional final game against Fayetteville-Manlius, a complete game, 10-3 win, in front of 2,500 fans at Alliance Bank Stadium.

That sectional game marked a turning point for Blewett, according to his father.

“The passion to win that I saw in him at Alliance Bank against Fayetteville-Manlius was a Scott Blewett I had never seen before,” said Kevin.

After the Bees won its regional game against Section II Columbia, the team advanced to the state final four tournament. Blewett pitched against an excellent Victor team but earned a no-decision before Baldwinsville lost in the bottom of the seventh inning, 5-4, ending the Bees’ season. The team finished with a record of 20-4.

“As I look back upon it today, this started his

“He learned to fail, which is huge in athletics. He got back up and worked hard to get where he is today.”- Varsity coach Dave Penafeather on Blewett’s

learning a lesson on junior varsity

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sophomore year,” said Penafeather, “when he took command of the #1 spot in the rotation and proved every game that he belonged there. That year, Scott won big game after big game, and I believe, in the end, helped our team reach where no other Baldwinsville team had been before.”

Blewett looks fondly on that team, especially since it was his first experience with varsity. Because he had known him from his SRN Little League days, CNY Player of the Year Connor Martin “kind of took me under his wing,” said Blewett. “Nobody was ever mean or anything, just because I was the young kid. Our team chemistry that year was really good.”

During the season, people took notice. He was encouraged to play for SportsZone, a local travel team organization. Blewett sat down with Dickie Woodridge, who runs the SportsZone program, who told him that he would come to see him play and let him know about trying out for the team.

After Woodridge saw him play, the two met again. “How far do you want to take this?” Blewett recalled Woodridge asking him. “[I told him] I’d love to get a scholarship out of it.”

That summer, after the high school season,

he went to Diamond Nation in Flemington, New Jersey and pitched before several college scouts in a tournament with SportsZone. “That’s when I realized that I could take this to the next level, the college level,” said Blewett.

Blewett “Blows Up”

Blewett’s junior year would become a whirlwind of activity and success. Going into the season, he was excited about the possibility of returning to the state semifinals. “I was very annoyed from the season before because we lost and we were so close to winning,” he said.

His motivation to win states went beyond individual or even team success: “A lot of it was, for me, Coach Bader,” referring to varsity assistant coach Mark Bader, who was once the varsity head coach for many years.

“The big thing was to win it for him. He was my elementary gym teacher, so I knew him from Kindergarten all the way up. So, winning for him was a huge thing,” said Blewett.

During his junior season, the team performed well, winning a number of games on the arms of

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Blewett and senior Pat Merryweather, the team’s aces.

Blewett also accepted a scholarship offer from St. John’s University during the season.

Once again, Blewett finished the season undefeated, while the team won its second straight sectional title, this time over Oswego at DeLutis Field in Rome. In the regional game against Shenendehowa, Baldwinsville prevailed 4-0, as Blewett and Merryweather split the pitching duties for the game.

Then came the state semifinal game—the game that ended the Bees’ season the year before. Blewett was given the ball to face Section XI’s Ward-Melville, to try to pitch the team into the finals, and he delivered, in more ways than one.

“He pitched a complete game shutout against one of the top teams in the state. Again, the composure that Scott showed allowed him to settle down and pitch one of the best games that I witnessed throughout [his] career,” said Penafeather, referring to the 2-0 win, in which Blewett struck out nine batters and yielded only three hits. “He actually hit a homerun that day to cap a wonderful outing and put us a step closer to winning the state championship.”

That state championship occurred the following game against Section VI’s Clarence, when Baldwinsville pulled out a 4-1 win to capture the AA NYS State Championship, as the team finished with a school record 22 wins against only 4 losses.

In the midst of the season, things were happening behind the scenes that were setting the stage for Blewett to set his aspirations higher than college.

He had gone to a Perfect Game tournament with

SportsZone and got onto the radar of a number of professional scouts. In May, an agent contacted Blewett and wanted to meet.

In addition, Tampa Bay Rays’ scout, Tim Alexander came to a few games, including the regional game. After the game, Alexander informed Blewett that the game was actually his tryout for the Area Code team and the East Coast Pro teams, two of the biggest scouting showcases in the United States, and that he made the teams.

After the state championship and later in the summer, Blewett went to the East Coast Pro Showcase in Florida and had a good showing there. Blewett estimated there were 75-100 Major League scouts in attendance and suggested that his performance there “really got him on the map.”

The next week, Blewett attended the Area Code Games in California and then played in Yankee Stadium for the Rivalry Classic. In October, he went to Jupiter, Florida for another tournament, where 75-100 golf carts were lined up behind the backstop. He hit his highest velocity that game, sitting at 94-96 mph and

touching 97 a few times.Immediately following that performance and as a

result of all of the showcase performances, Blewett was fielding phone calls from every Major League team, who wanted in-home visits. Over the late fall and winter season, Blewett sat down with 20-21 teams for in-home visits, where they got to know him and gave him psych tests.

During his senior year, in the preseason in Florida, it was obvious that things had officially blown up—in a good way—for Blewett. Against a powerful St. Joseph’s team, Blewett pitched before dozens of scouts who showed up at Disney’s

Blewett performed well in the Area Code Games in California, earning many looks from professional scouts intrigued by his size and potential.

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ESPN Wide World of Sports baseball fields with radars and notebooks in tow. It would be this way throughout the season.

While the season wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped, as the Bees lost in their first sectional game, Blewett enjoyed the season because he got to play with all of his peers, the kids he grew up with. The team finished a respectable 15-6 and were co-league champions.

The season was fairly successful for Blewett, however. He was undefeated once again during the season, he had a scholarship to St. John’s, and he was looking forward to the MLB Draft, which was only days away at the close of the season.

For his high school career, Blewett’s statistics and accolades were impressive. He finished undefeated at 18-0, which set a school record for wins. He had a 1.01 ERA in 137 innings, yielding only 20 total runs in three years. He had a total of 214 strikeouts against only 39 walks—the equivalent of 5½ strikeouts for every walk.

Offensively, Blewett finished with a respectable .290 batting average, mostly during his junior and senior years, with 26 RBIs and 2 homeruns.

The awards were numerous: All-CNY from 2012 to 2014, CNY Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and 2014, Gatorade NYS Player of the Year in 2014, 1st team All-State in 2013 and 2014, and Louisville Slugger National High School, 1st team in 2014.

A Little Scare

Although it was clearly successful, Blewett’s senior season had some trying moments, none more difficult than an injury he sustained in the middle of the season.

In the second Fayetteville-Manlius game of the season on May 2, which was at home, in the third or fourth inning, Blewett began to notice some tightness in his shoulder.

The following inning, the fifth, it began to bother him more. He got the first two outs and “the third batter, I just felt like something’s not right. I finished the batter and after that I told Coach Penafeather, I’m done [for the day],” said Blewett.

He wound up visiting the Cincinnati Reds’ medical director, Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who did an MRI and an examination. Kremchek told Blewett he was fine. He just had a weak scapula

and some inflammation. He prescribed rest and a workout program to improve the strength in the scalpular region of Blewett’s back.

Blewett skipped three starts and didn’t pitch again until the first sectional game.

But, concerns about his health had gotten to Major League teams and going into the draft, Blewett was concerned that some of the early projections for where he might go, might not hold.

“At the time, I had an advisor and I was being advised on what to say, what not to say, who do I talk to, who do I not talk to,” said Blewett.

When he sat down with his family and advisors before the draft, they all agreed that his focus would be on attending St. John’s University, unless a team was willing to meet an offer amount they had agreed upon.

And then they waited for the draft . . .

Draft Day and the Next Several Weeks

On June 5, 2014, the 1st and 2nd rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft were to take place.

Baldwinsville baseball’s annual team banquet was the same night. In a move that showed his commitment to his friends and to his high school program, Blewett attended the team banquet, collecting awards from the program’s booster club; then, he went home and gathered with family and a few friends for the draft.

The media called and wanted to come over, but Blewett declined, saying that he wanted the event to be private.

At 11:30 p.m., the call came: the Royals were

Blewett hugs his mom, Caroline, after finding out he was picked #56 overall in the 2014 MLB Draft.

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taking him with the 56th pick in the draft; they agreed to Blewett’s bottom number. Despite the 56th pick being worth a little over a million dollars, according to the assigned pick values given under MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, the Royals agreed to a signing bonus of $1.8 million.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Blewett. “I remember my dad was pretty pumped up so I gave him a big hug, [then] I gave my mom a big hug. It was a good time.”

The next day, which was a Friday, Blewett was understandably a little late for class. “A lot of people were talking about it, so it was kind of cool. [I tried] to stay humble and not really act like a big shot,” said Blewett.

On Monday, Blewett reported to the Royal’s Arizona mini-camp for a week. He went through physicals, threw a bullpen, and played some catch. Still, the experience was bizarre: “[many] of these guys had graduated already and some of them were college guys, and I was like, I still have to finish school and graduate,” he said.

Blewett reported back to school after a week

and finished up school the next two weeks and graduated. The day after graduation he drove down to Burlington, North Carolina for his first season of minor league baseball.

When Blewett arrived, the Burlington Royals had already been through three weeks of its season. The team was on the road, so he went to the hotel and checked in. The team didn’t get back until 2:00 in the morning.

“I was like a small fish in a big pond . . . the first couple of days I was kind of shy, just trying to get a read on people,” said Blewett.

He rehabbed for the next three weeks, trying to strengthen the scapular region of his back and finally got the opportunity to start on July 11, against the Princeton Rays.

“Dorothy, You’re Not in Kansas Anymore”

“It was always a bumpy ride in Burlington,” said Blewett.

The Burlington Royals is a short season minor league team in the Royals organization, where

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most rookies, at the time that Blewett was drafted, started their Major League careers.

Against the Princeton Rays, his first start, he threw 1 2/3 innings, had four strikeouts and gave up one hit and one walk, while yielding no runs.

Over the next three starts, Blewett performed well, increasing his innings each outing, giving up only two earned runs and seven hits, while striking out eight batters during that stretch.

However, the success didn’t last forever. On August 8, 2014, Blewett faced the Johnson City Cardinals.

Despite pitching 4 2/3 innings and striking out an impressive seven batters, he also gave up two homeruns, seven hits, two walks, and three earned runs.

A week later, against the Danville Braves, Blewett struggled, giving up six earned runs in only 2 2/3 innings.

Two more games produced better results, but he wasn’t happy with where he was.

“I was just mentally all over the place. I would just throw so hard and people would catch up to my fastball. At the big-league level, you can’t get away with that anymore,” said Blewett.

Blewett realized he needed to re-evaluate what he was doing. He said he asked himself, “Are you going to be an overpowering pitcher with mediocre stuff or are you going to be a guy who has four solid pitchers and can get batters out when you want to get them out?”

He began working with the Royals’ mental skills coach, Freddy Sandoval. He learned mental and physical relaxation drills and breathing exercises. He learned how to slow down his heart rate and think positive thoughts.

Blewett feels these skills were beneficial to his development.

In the off-season, Blewett continued to work out and train for the following spring training, which would be his first

full spring training in Arizona with the team.This would be eye-opening for Blewett.“I tried to play it cool, like it was no big deal,

but the first time you see someone like Eric Hosmer and he’s like, ‘what’s up man?’, I’m like, wow, Eric Hosmer just talked to me,” said Blewett. “Awesome” was how Blewett described seeing people like Lorenzo Cain and Salvadore Perez walking around during spring training.

“These were guys you looked up to, and now, we’re almost on the same platform . . . almost, but not quite,” said Blewett.

Blewett completed spring training and extended spring training in Arizona; the team didn’t want him to report to single A until the weather warmed up.

He thought he might go back to Burlington but the team informed him after his last start on May 10, 2015 in extended spring training that they were sending him to Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Legends are a class A affiliate of the Royals in the South Atlantic League.

According to Blewett, the first two months at Lexington went great. He won pitcher of the month for June, for the organization. He had five starts, was 2-0, and had an ERA of 1.16 by the end of the month.

As the year progressed, however, Blewett began to lose velocity on his fastball. He had never pitched so many innings before. At 19 years of age, his body wasn’t quite used to it.

“I could definitely feel my body being fatigued. It was the result of going so hard all out, all the time. That caught up to me,” said Blewett.

The next several outings were up and down. He had to start relying on more secondary pitches with the decrease in velocity.

The end of the season was a microcosm of the entire season. In his next to the last start, on

Blewett pitching for the Lexington Legends in 2015. At the beginning of the 2016 spring season, Blewett is again pitching for the Legends, a Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

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August 31, against the West Virginia Power, the Pirates A affiliate, Blewett had, what he called, the best game of his professional career.

“I dominated that game,” he said. He had his longest career start of seven innings and gave up only one run, while striking out four and giving up five hits. He was incredibly efficient in the game, throwing only 54 pitches through six innings.

However, in the last game of the season, on September 5, against Washington’s A affiliate, the Hagerstown Suns, Blewett had what he describes as “the worst outing of my professional career. I think I threw 1 2/3 [innings] and gave up five runs and they pulled me.”

Dealing With Failure and the Future

For a player who has known success so much over his relatively short career—from Little League legend to NYS high school Gatorade Player of the Year to 56th pick in the 2014 MLB Draft—failure is not something Blewett is tremendously familiar with.

But like his incident on junior varsity in his high school years, Blewett seems determined to learn from it.

“The biggest challenge [of the professional experience] would definitely be dealing with failure. When you’re up, you’re up. When you’re down, you’re down. I really experienced that last year. Once I hit that wall, I knew I had to figure it out,” said Blewett.

Sandoval, his mental skills coach, reminds him that after bad outings or failure, he needs to “leave it where it needs to be left.”

“So, if it takes three hours after the game, staying up until 1:00 in the morning, then do it. Don’t take it back to the apartment with you. Don’t bring it back at all,” said Blewett, repeating Sandoval’s advice. “And leaving it at the field is probably something I need to do more.”

Blewett’s goals for this season are lofty. He figured that realistically he would start the season in Lexington. In fact, he was named the opening day starter for their April 7 game and pitched four

innings, not long enough to earn a decision, but the Legends won the game.

“I’ve always set my goals high and if I don’t accomplish them, I just work harder the next year,” said Blewett.

He expects to continue in Lexington and would love to be called up to the Wilmington Blue Rocks, an advanced A affiliate of the Royals, halfway through the season.

“My goal is to win Pitcher of the Year for the organization and hopefully get a call up to double A

[at the end of the season],” he said. “Then be on the 40-man [roster] next spring training. [I] kind of just have to take it day by day.”

The Path to Success

If someone were going to try to emulate Blewett’s path to success, it wouldn’t hurt to be 6’6” tall and 210 pounds and athletic. However, beyond the physical attributes and the ability to learn from failure, Blewett’s success has largely been paved by work ethic and motivation.

“Growing up, my dad always pushed me to my limits. He always wanted me to succeed. So,

mentally, from that, it put that drive in my head. If you really want something, you have to go after it. You can’t slack off. Every little thing matters,” Blewett said.

Blewett credits his parents with instilling in him the will power to succeed.

“My mom, she’s always working, always doing something. She’s a machine. She’s always wanted to have what’s best for us. She worked three jobs,” said Blewett.

“My dad, at the age of 45, did a half triathlon. Seeing that was pretty inspiring,” he added.

Blewett also discovered over time that a little maxim that people would often tell him was true. “Everyone always told me, ‘you never know who’s watching, so always be doing what you’re supposed to be doing,’” he said.

Several times Blewett found himself surprised at who was watching him, like when he was doing a workout in Poughkeepsie and found out later that

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Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was there.Early on, Blewett learned that while people can

motivate you, ultimately, it’s up to you to bring yourself to the next level of motivation.

Blewett remembers SportZone owner Dickie Woodridge telling him, “This is in your hands. However hard you want to work is going to determine how far you go with this.”

That work ethic has served him well.Baldwinsville varsity coach Dave Penafeather

recalls Blewett as being self-motivated.“From what I understand, Scott was a player

who did a lot on his own. He didn’t have, per se, a pitching coach or instructor. Early in his career, he was following a program that Justin Verlander used. I just kind of let him go and do his thing,” said Penafeather.

Junior varsity coach John Pallotta agreed. “Throughout my four years working with him, it wasn’t his physical gifts that were most impressive, but rather his work ethic and determination to be a great teammate that accompanied his physical attributes,” said Pallotta.

“He made himself,” said varsity assistant coach Mark Bader. “He’s deserved everything he got. He’s a product of what hard work can do. His work ethic really got him where he is.”

In such a self-absorbed world of selfies and celebrating one’s own success, you wouldn’t blame a 20-year-old like Blewett to be focused on himself. Yet, to a T, those who have worked closely with him paint a different picture.

“The other attribute that comes to mind when I think of Scott is how nice and mature of a person he is,” said Penafeather. “Even with his fame and fortune, he has always respected his coaches and other adults. I am more proud of him for that than anything.”

His father, Kevin, agreed and added, “Scott never got crazy about the attention. If he did, he didn’t show it. He knew what he had to do, I think, and just stayed focused on school and baseball.”

Bader, who has known Blewett since his youth, describes him as the “type of kid you’d have as a friend.”

Humility is something that Blewett said he

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learned from Derek Jeter. “Seeing what he did throughout his career, the way he interacted with the media, the way he interacted with fans—the way he acted was the way I always wanted to be,” he said.

Blewett recognizes the impact that others have had on him and he would love to “pay it forward.”

At the end of his professional career, Blewett talks about going to college and perhaps becoming a teacher, perhaps a physical education teacher or a coach.

He is reminded of a movie called Friday Night Lights, in which Coach Taylor inspires his players.

“He lives a pretty simple life, nothing crazy. He doesn’t have a mansion,” Blewett said of the character. “But he has a nice family and he changes kids’ lives. It would be good to follow something like that.”

He has gotten off to a good start. Blewett regularly comes back to work out with the varsity baseball team and offers advice when players want

it. He’s been approached by travel coaches and others to have him come to speak to their teams or other groups, and if he can accommodate, he does.

“It’s always fun to come back and see people who are where you were a few years ago. They’re all trying to accomplish the same goal you were, at that point. I mean, you’re never bigger than anyone else,” said Blewett.

And for those who haven’t gotten the chance to hear him speak . . .

“For kids that are just starting to play at modified or Little League, I’d tell them to just play. Just enjoy it, enjoy the time, because it goes fast,” he said.

“For high schoolers, for guys who want to take the game to the next level, the time is now. Now is the time to push yourself. Now is the time to get mentally prepared, because this is the foundation. This is when it starts,” said Blewett.

“If you really want to take it to the next level, it’s in your own hands, not anyone else’s. Nobody’s going to do the work for you. It just depends upon

how you’re willing to work,” he said.Sounds like the prescription that Blewett

followed in his own journey . . . a journey that, in many ways, has only just begun.

So, where does it end?What are his baseball goals in twenty or

thirty years or more? It should come as no surprise that

Blewett’s goals know no bounds: “Hopefully, to be in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “That’s what my dad and I always said. The goal isn’t going to be to get drafted. The goal is going to be: be the best player you can possibly be. That’s to be a Hall of Famer.”

Ambitious plans, certainly, given his age, but Blewett is used to “playing up.”

Little League legend to high school legend to . . . professional legend?

Will Blewett be the next Jason Grilli, another Baldwinsville alumnus who has been successful in the pros?

We can hope so. Certainly, if motivation and work ethic and learning from failure were the only determinants, the odds would be good.

And perhaps we’ll be asking in the next several years:

Who will be the next Scott Blewett?