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Kansas' Engelken Next In Blue Valley's Pitching Lineage

August 30, 2013

Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

There’s no two ways about it. Kansas’ Blue Valley School District is home to some of the best baseball the state has to offer. Since 2007, the school district has claimed five 6-A state championships and produced five draft picks—three in the top five rounds. RHP Zack Engelken is hoping to keep the trend going.

Engelken helped lead Blue Valley West HS to the Kansas state championship in 2013 and is one of several juniors returning for 2014.

“It was amazing,” he said. “We're looking to do it again. We're going to be pretty good again next year.”

The Jaguars lose just one regular from the 2013 squad and will look to leaders like Engelken again as he looks to join a list of names that includes pitchers like Jason Adam, Collin Wiles and Ryne Stanek—all righthanders. Adam was a fifth-round pick of the Royals in 2010 out of Blue Valley Northwest HS while Ryne Stanek was an unsigned third-round pick in 2010 out of Blue Valley HS before getting drafted in the first round this year. Wiles was a supplement first-round pick in 2012 out of Blue Valley West, where he was teammates with Engelken.

A Nebraska recruit, Engelken is what scouts look for in a pitcher. He has a big, projectable frame at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, and pitches in the high 80s with more in the tank. His curveball is a sharp, 12-to-6 breaker, but he also shows feel for a changeup thanks to his work with Building Champions, an academy and travel team in Overland Park, KS.

“The thing about our organization is we like to stick around the 20 to 30 percent range for changeups, regardless if we're losing big,” said Jeremy Jones, the founder of Building Champions. ‘I know Zack will need a changeup despite whether he throws one in high school baseball or not.”

Using a changeup in high school is sometimes doing opposing hitters a favor, offering a pitch at hitting speed, but Jones knows its importance at the next level and makes sure the pitchers he works with. Players like Adam and the Cardinals’ Trevor Rosenthal came through the Building Champions program and Jones speaks highly of how Engelken stacks up with them.

“Obviously he has tremendous upside, as far as ceiling,” Jones said. “He reminds me a lot of Jason Adam. He may be a little more advanced that Jason was. Zack is further along at the same age.

“A lot of it is just natural time, to let it unfold. He's got the makeup. He's a low-maintenance kid that just loves baseball. He doesn't get sidetracked by anything and has a good head on his shoulders so I don't see any reason why he can't make big strides.”

Engelken first realized playing at the next level was a possibility heading into his freshman year, when he hit a growth spurt and added a few ticks to his fastball. He then verbally committed to Nebraska during the fall of his junior year after his strong showing at the Midwest Future Games last August. He will join a class that includes top 2014 prospects like OF Monte Harrison (Lee’s Summit West HS, MO) and C Jackson Reetz (Norris HS, NE) as well as OF Ryan Boldt, who was projected as an early-round pick in the 2013 draft, but a knee injury and difficult signability caused him to drop to the 22nd round and he went unsigned.

“I know I'm going to get better if I go up there,” Engelken said. “They gave me a pretty generous offer and I love it up there.”

Engelken comes from a family of athletes. Both his parents played a sport in college and are now physical therapists. He is the oldest and has two younger sisters, one of which is a rising sophomore and is gaining interest from colleges to play volleyball.

Engelken works with his parents to strengthen his shoulder and stay healthy. He’s gained an interest in their profession and would like to pursue it for a career eventually, but right now baseball is his first priority. Also a basketball player, Engelken is leaving the hardwood this year to concentrate on getting stronger. He hopes to weight 220 pounds by the time the spring season starts.

A few tournaments remain on Engelken’s schedule this summer and fall with just one being a high profile event, but fellow pitchers like Adam, Stanek and Wiles came onto the scene quietly—a path Engelken is sure to follow.

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