In 2013, the Beavers reached the semifinals in Omaha before falling in an elimination game to Mississippi State. ![]() Rodriguez was drafted out of Elk Grove by the Diamondbacks in the 11th round of the 2010 draft, but elected to play at Oregon State University instead. Thirteen years after Jeff Carlson’s inaugural season, a former player named Jake Rodriguez made that happen. ![]() I was really just trying to get these guys to buy into our system of what we were trying to do, get these guys better so they can move on and play at the next level.” “My goal was to have a kid play in the College World Series one day,” Jeff Carlson said. When Jeff Carlson took over as the head coach, he had two primary goals: make sure his players got better, and to see his players advance to collegiate ball. It’s home to nine high schools, and prep athletics are almost always the talk of the town.īut no high school program has carried as much weight over the last decade as Elk Grove High School’s baseball team. Located just south of Sacramento, Elk Grove is a spread out suburban city with a population of about 170,000. The common denominator for all of this major-league success? Their coach, and the work ethic he instilled in each of them when they were teenagers, a mentality they still utilize in their routines in their respective professional clubhouses. Two of those players - Carlson and Madrigal - will reunite as respective NL and AL Rookie of the Year candidates at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago as the Cardinals begin a three-game series with the White Sox on Monday, although Carlson’s recent back tightness may limit his availability. Davis, Dom Nuñez, Nick Madrigal and Derek Hill - have formed a bond regardless of their differences in ages, careers and organizations. Those players - Dylan Carlson, Tellez, J.D. Six of them are currently playing or have seen major-league time already this season. Since 2009, eight Elk Grove High School products have reached the big leagues. Jeff recorded a video that played at Hernandez’s retirement party, thanking him for being one of the first guys to “set the stage” for a number of players to follow in his footsteps. There’s David Hernandez, a 2003 graduate of Elk Grove, who retired earlier in the year after a decade in the majors. “As a coach, to have a former player reach out like that, that was pretty cool.” “I did get a tear in my eye,” Jeff Carlson admitted. “Yo, your kid’s a big leaguer, coach,” Tellez told Jeff. But that didn’t change the emotion of the moment. The COVID-19 pandemic protocols restricted family from attending. ![]() There’s Tellez, currently in his fourth season with the Blue Jays, who reached Jeff Carlson as he sat in the living room of his California home with a few other family members watching his son’s debut. Just take a look around the major leagues. The impact of Coach Carlson, or “Carly,” as his former players often call him, stretches far beyond high school ball. It might seem strange that Tellez’s first instinct was to call his old coach, but for those who have played under Jeff Carlson - and there have been quite a few during his nearly two decade tenure as varsity head coach of the Elk Grove (Calif.) High School baseball team - it’s understood.
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