MENTONE – When Justin Henry transferred from Cajon-San Bernardino to Redlands East Valley High School between his freshman and sophomore years in 2013, he took over a year to decide on making the jump.
“My mom,” he said, “wanted me to go to REV in my freshman year.”
It may have paid off in a college athletic scholarship – not bad for a kid that’s never played a high school varsity game. Nor will he play in one.
While dozens of athletes from all corners of prep sports were committing to hundreds of colleges across the country in recent days, Henry, who is a REV senior, quietly committed to Northwest Missouri State, an NCAA Division 2 school.
Henry’s transfer had nothing to do with Cajon’s coaching staff, headed by Robert Grande.
“My friends – all my friends – were at Cajon,” said Henry. “I hated to leave.”
But he rated REV’s academic opportunities beyond that which Cajon could provide, not to mention REV’s baseball program might have been considered slightly ahead that of the Cowboys.
Therein lies the rub. Prior to Henry’s junior season, the hard-hitting first baseman was cut by Wildcats’ coach James Cordes after spending one season on the school’s JV squad.
“When he called me in before the season started,” said Henry, “not once did I think I’d get cut. He told me that he was sorry, he didn’t have enough room in the program.”
REV, which has produced some major league-caliber talent, has a growing legion of MLB draftees, notably Colorado’s Tyler Chatwood, Matt Andriese and Tommy Hanson, who recently died at age 29.
“I met both Chatwood and Hanson,” Henry said, “when REV had a baseball clinic … when I was 12. It was great meeting two guys that made it to the majors.”
It might have had an influence on his decision to leave Cajon for REV. As expected, he’s probably not all that high on the red-and-black.
“I didn’t take (getting cut) too well.”
He took baseball off last winter. “It was a rough Christmas. I’d never gotten cut from a team.”
Henry avoided conversation with his family, especially those who thought he’d be the first to get an athletic scholarship. Henry said his mother “was livid. I think she emailed (Cordes) every day. She was probably more mad than I was.”
It would be hard for anyone to keep a good feeling about his current high school program.
Said Henry: “I wouldn’t say it’s the best team. They’ve had better teams there. They finished third (in the Citrus Belt League).” Ironically, Cajon (23-4, 12-2) won last year’s CBL championship ahead of Yucaipa (18-11, 10-4) and REV (15-13, 9-5).
Cordes, meanwhile, has never missed the post-season since taking over at REV in 2009 – four league titles, 142-55 between 2009-2015.
Sorry, he says, “but we won’t comment on our cuts, cut process, and all that goes into it. We consider ourselves fortunate to have a pool of talent to select from.”
Cordes called it a “great thing any time a young man like Justin is able to extend his career to the collegiate level.”
Henry continued insisting his jump to REV was academically motivated. Evidence of that may well be his string of A’s, plus a B in trigonometry. Claiming the academic atmosphere was better at REV, he made the jump.
“I fought my mom on it,” he said, “at first.”
It’s not unheard of for a barrage of transferring athletes. REV has attracted plenty of out-of-district baseball players, namely Chatwood and Hanson, for openers.
Upon getting cut from baseball, REV’s football coach Kurt Bruich extended an invitation to join the Wildcats’ 2014 state Division 2 championship team. At 6-feet-4, 240 pounds, Henry took the chance, though he’d never played football.
Bruich’s intense weightlifting program paid off, though.
While Henry saw precious little time – he made a tackle in his lone appearance in the school’s homecoming against against A.B. Miller-Fontana – his weight room work gave him extra zip on his baseball swing.
“The ball sizzles through the infield when I hit it,” said Henry, a right-handed hitter who added 20 pounds of muscle in Bruich’s weight room. “I always had pop, but I was hitting balls further with a wood bat than I ever did with a metal bat.”
So when he was playing for ABD, his travel ball team –Amateur Baseball Development spring league – during last regular high school season, he popped a couple home runs, nine doubles, hitting .375 (30-for-80) over 28 games.
He was spotted by Southwest Missouri State at the USA Firecracker Classic last summer in Irvine, Henry went 3-for-3, including a game-winning home run.
“That was really lucky,” he said, “to do that while they were watching.”
SWS wanted more evidence. Like most college recruits, plenty of video was sent along to coaches at the Springfield-based campus. “Colleges,” he said, “are so picky.”
Especially when almost every would-be student-athlete is applying on-line. Coaches are, literally, sifting through hundreds of would-be applicants.
“They were really my only offer,” said Henry.
It was a nerve-racking process, he said. Finding a college program to play at is one thing; finding a college program that wants you, he said, is another.
Said Henry: “I call it Match.com … for baseball.”
