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Low-Profile Carte Shines In Summer
Compiled by Will Kimmey
Daniel Carte didn't go to high school in Florida, Texas or California. He doesn't play in a major Division I conference. Still, scouts weren't oblivious to his talents. The talent chasers had labeled Carte an "interesting guy" even before his impressive performance this summer in the Cape Cod League. Yet it's a wonder what becoming the sixth Cape player ever to reach double-figures in home runs and stolen bases can do for a 6-foot, 190-pound outfielder from Winthrop. Long-term, it's may have moved Carte into the top two or three rounds of next June's draft. In the short term, it earned the Hurricane (W.Va.) High product Baseball America's Summer Player of the Year award. "He already had an interesting resume, but this summer kind of put an exclamation point on it," Falmouth coach Jeff Trundy said. Carte paced the Cape in home runs (11), RBIs (38) and slugging percentage (.560) while adding those 13 steals and batting .308 to earn league MVP honors. He also helped lead Falmouth to the league's championship series, where it eventually lost the title to Yarmouth-Dennis in an 11-inning clincher. "Going out facing the best competition everyday, you really can't expect to do as well as I did," Carte said. Carte edged out Virginia third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who led Team USA's college national team in average, homers and RBIs, for the award. Even without the same familiar roots as many Cape participants, Carte didn't feel the need to prove he belonged among them. After all, he had served as Winthrop's top hitter during his first two years there, netting first-team Freshman All-America honors in 2003 before ranking as the No. 4 prospect in the Great Lakes League that summer. He hit .339/.436/.548 for Winthrop as a sophomore. Plus, he was a former state player of the year and still ranks as West Virginia's all-time prep home run king with 51 long balls. As laudable as those numbers are, anyone who has coached Carte will point out that his makeup eclipses them. "He's a very tough kid mentally," Winthrop coach Joe Hudak said. "He's a good hitter, but (mental toughness) is his greatest strength." Carte put that trait on display after starting the season 0-for-19. "A lot of kids that would have come here and gone 0-for-19 might have lost their confidence and had a bad summer," Trundy said. "Even at 0-for-19, I felt he was having great at-bats, that he was almost there but not quite. "Maybe he was trying to do a little too much the first few weeks of the season." Carte's first hit was a game-winning home run, and his next two hits also left the park. That was really the last time any pitcher had an advantage against Carte. "Once I started hitting, it felt great," Carte said. "It was rough everyday coming to the ballpark, and they're passing out stat sheets and you're 0-for-19." Carte started showing the skills that lead scouts to predict his future success in the batter's box: quick hands and strong forearms. They allow him to load his swing quickly, reach point of contact in short order and put a marked charge into the ball upon impact. The bat rates as Carte's only above-average tool, but the high school shortstop displays enough athleticism to lead scouts to project him out as average in every other aspect as a right fielder. "I don't think there's a glaring weakness in his game," Trundy said. "He understands the game and is always trying to learn the game." Maybe he didn't have a lot to prove to himself. But Carte's summer should deliver the message to others that a player from a mid-major program can stack up quite nicely against the nation's best. "We've got a lot of young players coming in here next year, and he's a great example to hold up to them," Hudak said. And, for scouts, Carte just became an even more interesting guy. 2004 SUMMER LEAGUE ALL-AMERICA TEAM Selected by Baseball America FIRST TEAM
SECOND TEAM
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