David Norris got the chance to play baseball for a high school that he wasn't quite yet a part.
Norris was an eighth grader at Westminster Christian Academy this past spring when he was brought up to the varsity baseball team by coach Juan Ranero as an infielder and pitcher. He was one of four eighth graders to work with the already young high school roster during the 2024 season.
"Coach walked up to me at lunch one day and told me that he wanted me to play for the varsity team," Norris said. "For the first few weeks, I practiced with the middle school team. Middle school and varsity practices were combined. Eventually, he just asked me to start practicing with the high schoolers. My favorite part about it all was the pressure of being an eighth grader. All eyes are on you in a way, because it's special to be one of the younger guys who are performing well."
This isn't an uncommon tactic among the state's private schools. Where numbers are low and demand is high, things just work out that way. In a perfect world, the school would be bigger, offering a wider selection, Ranero said.
But maybe this was also a perfect world in its own way; Norris turned out to be one of Ranero's top three players.
"Regardless of him being an eighth grader, he was legitimately one of our top players," Ranero said. "He was significant from the standpoint of, basically it was him and [sophomore] George [Chisholm] were the top two players on the team."
Chisholm and Norris were both named to the GIAA All-Region team, as well as junior Will Greene, who rounded out the trio.
To have the chance to play on high school varsity as a middle schooler is one thing, but to then be a significant part of the successes during the season, that's a whole other ballpark.
"I know how much work he has put into baseball over all these years," Allison Norris, David's mom, said. "To kind of have this unexpected, full varsity play every game, every minute, it was just fun to watch. I saw his confidence just explode, and he didn't change all season. It was a blessing that coach recognized his talent and, of course, we are proud watching him."
Norris had a .349 batting average, .453 on base percentage and .349 slugging percentage this season. He said he felt it was one of the best seasons he's ever played. Well, at least this far into his career. There're still many more exciting seasons to come as he dives into the real world of high school this fall, and of course, with his summer travel ball program out of Atlanta, Team Elite.
"You can just tell he has the baseball skills, that he has a little bit better baseball knowledge and that he's comfortable with the game," Ranero said. "You could see he was going to be an asset to the baseball program. Going forward, it's the same thing. He's only going to get better, having been able to contribute like this as an eighth grader."
After decades of coaching the college level, usually, Ranero said, he would see resentment from the older guys when they're forced to yield their spots to younger players. But none of that occurred with the Lions this season.
"It's always a tricky thing," Ranero said. "I think they did a really good job. I think those kids are such great kids and they're wanting to be a great program, so the fact that they could have somebody that was going to help and contribute to make them a better team, I think put them at ease and made the transition smooth. I didn't hear, throughout the season, 'oh he's a young guy' or 'he's not even a freshman' or whatever. I never heard any of that. He was such a good player that it was just, 'hey welcome, we need you.'"
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