Shortstop finds the sweet spot

• Senior Jason Ogata weighs scholarship, pro options

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Apr 8, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jason Ogata hits baseballs for fun. Some day, he will probably hit them for a living.

Westview High’s senior shortstop is headed for Louisiana State on a scholarship, unless major league scouts convince him to sign a contract.

That probably would take a signing bonus approaching $1 million, though Jason and his parents, Dale and Sharon, haven’t gotten that far in appraising the June draft.

“If Jason were a first-round pick, that would be one thing,” Dale Ogata says. “But I don’t think there’s going to be enough money on the table for him.”

Major league teams gauge how likely a prospect is to sign before making a draft pick. If the player is likely to pass on an offer to play college ball, the player’s draft stock falls. Two years ago, for instance, Newberg pitcher Dallas Buck decided to eschew pro offers to play at Oregon State. Buck likely would have gone in the first five rounds; instead, he fell to the 19th.

“If everything is good, Jason has a chance to go from the third to fifth round,” Pittsburgh Pirates scout Greg Hopkins says. “If not, he might not get drafted.”

That’s OK with Ogata, who is enthralled with the idea of playing at Louisiana State for at least the next three years.

“I have a really nice scholarship,” Ogata says. “It would take a lot for me to sign (a pro contract).”

Ogata probably was headed for Oregon State or Washington State until he was chosen for the Area Code Games Ñ an annual major league-sponsored event featuring the top high school players in the country Ñ last August in Long Beach, Calif. Ogata played well enough to make the all-star team, and suddenly, he was on the national radar screen.

“Before, Jason was known in the Northwest only,” Dale Ogata says. “After the Area Code Games, he got calls from everywhere.”

One of the suitors was LSU, a perennial power that won five national championships from 1991 to 2001 and made the College World Series in each of the last two seasons. The Tigers’ 7,760-seat Alex Box Stadium has led the nation in attendance for eight straight seasons.

“I visited Baton Rouge and fell in love with it,” says Ogata, who also considered Georgia Tech and UCLA. “Great facilities, great coaches. I never thought I would get to play at a place like LSU. One of my goals is to make it to the College World Series. I have a good chance to get there at LSU.”

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