Arbor View’s Austin Pfeifer unstoppable in April
The names of the greatest athletes in school history are embroidered on banners that hang near the rafters in Arbor View’s gymnasium.
Aggies baseball coach Gary White wouldn’t be suprised to see senior Austin Pfeifer’s name there one day.
“He’ll be being talked about in this program for many years to come,” White said.
Pfeifer is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound UNLV signee, and has spent the April unleashing unprecedented two-way dominance on baseball teams around the Las Vegas Valley.
In his last nine games, he’s 20-for-30 with 11 home runs, four doubles, a triple and 30 RBIs. He has homered in eight consecutive games, and is also 3-1 as a pitcher — allowing five earned runs and 17 hits in 22 innings while striking out 26.
Not bad, huh?
“It feels amazing right now” Pfeifer said. “I’ve never experienced this kind of thing … I’m trying to keep it on a roll.”
Pfeifer’s dad, Larry, is proud of his son, but unsuprised by his accomplishments. He recalled Austin’s towering Little League home runs, the rigorous practices and the subsuquent attention from collegiate programs as he traveled across the country playing baseball.
“Once he realized his talent was good for it, he really had the drive for it,” Larry Pfeifer said. “As we progressed in to high school, you had more serious connections with colleges than you did in the earlier stage.”
Pfeifer was contacted by several schools on the West Coast, including San Diego State and the University of San Diego and the College of Southern Nevada.
Rebels coach Stan Stotle offered him an opportunity to pitch and hit in college, though, and Pfeifer couldn’t pass it up.
“It feels like a blessing,” Pfeifer said. “Not a lot of people do that. They usually go with a strong pitcher or a strong hitter, and I get to do both.”
Just like in high school.
High school federation to add esports
The National Federation of State High School Associations is partnering with Play VS to administer video game competitions in high schools across the country, the organization announced last week.
At least 15 states will add esports to high school and state associations starting in the fall.
National baseball rankings
Basic’s baseball team (22-4) checked in at No. 22 in this week’s national rankings, per Perfect Game. Bishop Gorman (20-5) is No. 27 and Desert Oasis (24-3) is No. 44.
More preps: Follow all of our Nevada Preps coverage online at nevadapreps.com and @NevadaPreps on Twitter.
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
