Fast facts
Mentor: Charles Goodman
Position: Center field, but can play anywhere.
Best offensive performance: Four for four, two triples, four stolen bases.
Best pitching performance: No hitter vs. Normandy. Only runner reached base on a walk.
Educational future: St. Louis University

With advantages such as speed, smarts and batting capabilities, Jeremy Phillips has been a valuable member of the Clayton High School baseball program and one of their best all around players.

“My best weapon is my speed,” Phillips said.

Craig Sucher, the varsity baseball coach, agrees, and said that Phillips has baseball intelligence that make his speed even more valuable.

“What makes it more effective is he is so smart as a base runner,” Sucher said. “He puts pressure on people.”

Phillips was also one of the most versatile players on the varsity squad. Along with being a top-notch center fielder, he has filled in at catcher and infield positions in his career, and is one of Clayton’s best pitchers.

Sucher compares Phillips to Chase Utley, the Philadelphia Phillies’ second baseman, despite the differences in their positions.

“If he is on your team you love him, and if he is on the other team he is just a thorn in your side,” Sucher said.

Phillips offers some advice to future students at CHS. Although he believes students should “be student athletes” and put effort into their studies, he warns those looking to play sports simply in order to gain attention from colleges.

“Do not be that guy that plays sports just so they can put it on their college transcript,” Phillips said. “It may look good, but you are wasting your time by not doing something you like, and you are wasting your teammate’s time by not caring for something they like to do.”

With a team consisting of three freshmen and two sophomores, Phillips has been supportive and helpful.

“He is a good leader, he is a good guy to watch, and he is always calm and level-headed,” freshman John Howard said.

Sucher agrees.

“We try to talk about…not being too high or too low,” Sucher said. “Jeremy, from the beginning…was a very mature player.”

Howard said that Phillips leads in many different ways.

“Jeremy definitely leads by example, but he also gives moral support and is there to help you out,” Howard said.

As well as giving moral support, he values the importance of individual players.

“If one person has a mental lapse and loses focus the entire team picks him up. That is what teamwork is,” Phillips said.

Both on and off the field, Phillips has been an asset for the CHS baseball team.

“We like guys where you cannot tell a difference if they are four for four on a given day or zero for four,” Sucher said. “That is what Jeremy does for us. He leads in ways that cannot easily be measured.”