Padres to host tryout in Freeman

The San Diego Padres major league baseball team will be holding a tryout camp next Wednesday, June 23, at the City Park in Freeman.

The tryout, which will begin at 9 a.m. and run through the afternoon depending on the number of participants, will be under the direction of Padres scout Hank Krause.

Krause has been a scout for 37 years and has worked with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations prior to joining the Padres four years ago. He said he has coordinated several camps throughout the years in South Dakota, including tryouts in Mitchell, Huron, Yankton, Dell Rapids, Watertown and other communities around the state.

“I’ve been all over, including throughout the state of South Dakota, in all my years,” Krause said in a phone interview earlier this week.

Krause said players interested in participating should be between the ages of 15-20 years old, though there is no strict age limit. He hopes to have 35-40 players present to run through hitting, pitching and fielding drills.

All players should provide their own glove, shoes and uniform. All other equipment will be provided.

“At most of our tryouts that we have, we just want to see the kids run and throw,” Krause said. “We’ll run them through the drills and, you never know, maybe there’ll be a kid or two to pop up out of South Dakota and put on a show. We’ve seen kids from this area do it before.”

Krause said the goal of the tryout is to give the players another avenue to look at with regards to playing collegiately. He estimated that over his 37 years of running tryout camps, he has helped “about 350 kids” move on to play baseball after high school at universities from coast to coast.

Some of the most notable players Krause has had a connection with through his camps include current Cleveland Indians’ designated hitter Travis Hafner, who was born in Jamestown, N.D. Hafner starred at Sykeston High School in North Dakota and Cowley County Community College in Kansas before being drafted in the 31st round of the 1996 Amateur Player Draft by the Texas Rangers.

Krause also mentioned former big-leaguers Rick Helling and Darin Erstad as players that he saw coming up the ranks. Helling, a right-handed pitcher, graduated from Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., before playing at Stanford University. He was a first-round selection by the Rangers in the 1992 MLB Draft. Helling tied with Roger Clemens and David Cone for the league lead in wins with 20 in 1998 while playing for the Rangers. He also was a World Series champion in 2003 as a member of the Florida Marlins.

Erstad, also a Jamestown, N.D., native, attended the University of Nebraska before being drafted by the California Angels in the first round of the 1995 amateur draft. He was a two-time all-star and three-time gold-glove award winner while playing for the Angels, Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox.

“I’ve seen a lot of good ones,” Krause said. “You just never know what you’re going to get at tryouts like this, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of talent comes out.”

For more information regarding the tryout camp, call Krause at 712-568-2600 or contact him via e-mail at hkrause@hickorytech.net.

Tags: high school baseball, sports, baseball, tryout, freeman