Following the Baseball Journey of Kid Prodigy Blaise Grove
I’ve been following this kid’s journey since grade school. I was already a baseball mom myself, but after becoming good friends with his mother and father, I knew Blaise was a standout and had a feeling he might be the one kid out of the thousands I’ve met across the years who would make it to the MLB. I wrote a newspaper article about him when he was 10, then included him in Panhandle Portraits, but continue to follow his journey with great enthusiasm.
His accomplishments during his high school years racked up, including playing for the highly selective USA Team, slaying national showcases and appearances, and logging impressive stats wherever he played. He is currently 6'7" and 235 lbs. and described as a "big and loose southpaw with great extension and lots of projection remaining, up to 92 mph with a nice low 80’s slider." If I was a betting woman, he’s probably even faster now.
Blaise was in talks with several MLB teams after high school, but elected to attend college. He also switched to a JUCO (Northwest Florida State College) to be eligible for the MLB draft prior to his junior year; 2023 will be his first college season.
Stay tuned! And follow him on Instagram @splashgrove.
His accomplishments during his high school years racked up, including playing for the highly selective USA Team, slaying national showcases and appearances, and logging impressive stats wherever he played. He is currently 6'7" and 235 lbs. and described as a "big and loose southpaw with great extension and lots of projection remaining, up to 92 mph with a nice low 80’s slider." If I was a betting woman, he’s probably even faster now.
Blaise was in talks with several MLB teams after high school, but elected to attend college. He also switched to a JUCO (Northwest Florida State College) to be eligible for the MLB draft prior to his junior year; 2023 will be his first college season.
Stay tuned! And follow him on Instagram @splashgrove.
I wrote the following article, published in The Spirit of Jefferson, in 2014:
A Blaise of Glory
Blaise Grove may only be 10 years old, but he’s racking up statistics and experience on the baseball field like a seasoned pro.
The kid set a personal goal of hitting 15 home runs during his recent season and surpassed it by three, including two grand slams. The second of those came during his travel team’s state tournament and was estimated to have sailed 290 feet.
He also was selected to play for the prestigious USSSA All American Games. After trying out for the Northeast team last April, evaluated on his 60-yard dash time, fielding, throwing velocity, hitting and pitching, Blaise was chosen as one of three top performers for his age group. The organization selected 15 players for each of its eight region teams, who then played against each other in the All-American Games held earlier this month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
Blaise represented the Northeast well, finishing up with a batting average of .714 in four games.
During his regular season, Grove played for the Blue Jays in Summit Point’s Cal Ripken League as well as on its travel team, the Summit Point Pride. His father, Corey Grove, said Blaise also played with other teams whenever he was available.
“Teams are always calling to see if he can play,” said Grove. “He actually played up for an 11-year-old team in the WV Wild, helping them win a championship in Virginia, and he also played in a few tournaments for the WV A’s organization. He most recently had his very first walk-off home run in the championship game with the A’s. It was a two-run homer which ended the game and sealed the championship.”
Grove said his son hit his first home run at the age of eight and he’s been power hitting ever since. “I have seen days in batting practice where he’s hit 20 out of 30 pitches over the fence,” said Grove. “He is definitely a powerful hitter, and he has put in serious work to get where he is today. One of his homeruns this year was over the 243-foot “Green Monster” replica at the Ripken Experience in Maryland. He notably also hit three homers in six at bats in one day in a tournament in Berryville earlier this year.”
Besides being a strong batter, Blaise also pitches, catches and plays first base, his favorite position.
“He’s a left-handed thrower but bats right-handed,” said his father. “When he was two, he used to carry one of my right-handed golf clubs around in the yard and hit golf balls. Ever since, he has been swinging right-handed.”
Grove said Blaise is a good pitcher who throws consistently around 60 mph, but he keeps his pitching to a minimum and monitors it closely as any parent should. It helps that Grove is not just Blaise’s father, but his coach most of the time.
This fall, Grove is coaching Blaise on the Summit Point Shockers. The team will play 30 to 40 games of tournament ball.
“Baseball starts in January for us when we do offseason training on weekends. That continues until the start of the season and our year will carry all the way through the first weekend of November,” said Grove.
“We really only have two months out of the year with no baseball, but it’s what Blaise loves, and it seems he can never get enough of it,” he added.
During his time off, Blaise doesn’t rest on his laurels. He is busy playing basketball with the Charles Town Ranson Youth Basketball League. “He’s had huge success with that as well,” said Grove. “Last season, he helped his team win back-to-back championships at the JV and varsity level for the Blue Devils.”
Blaise has certainly put in the time and work to help him achieve success as an athlete — but some strong genetics are on his side as well. He stands 5’7”, weighs 135 pounds, wears a size 12 men’s shoe and is typically the biggest kid on any team. Grove is 6’4” and both his family and his wife’s are taller than average. There’s no telling how high Blaise will go, in size or glory.
A Blaise of Glory
Blaise Grove may only be 10 years old, but he’s racking up statistics and experience on the baseball field like a seasoned pro.
The kid set a personal goal of hitting 15 home runs during his recent season and surpassed it by three, including two grand slams. The second of those came during his travel team’s state tournament and was estimated to have sailed 290 feet.
He also was selected to play for the prestigious USSSA All American Games. After trying out for the Northeast team last April, evaluated on his 60-yard dash time, fielding, throwing velocity, hitting and pitching, Blaise was chosen as one of three top performers for his age group. The organization selected 15 players for each of its eight region teams, who then played against each other in the All-American Games held earlier this month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
Blaise represented the Northeast well, finishing up with a batting average of .714 in four games.
During his regular season, Grove played for the Blue Jays in Summit Point’s Cal Ripken League as well as on its travel team, the Summit Point Pride. His father, Corey Grove, said Blaise also played with other teams whenever he was available.
“Teams are always calling to see if he can play,” said Grove. “He actually played up for an 11-year-old team in the WV Wild, helping them win a championship in Virginia, and he also played in a few tournaments for the WV A’s organization. He most recently had his very first walk-off home run in the championship game with the A’s. It was a two-run homer which ended the game and sealed the championship.”
Grove said his son hit his first home run at the age of eight and he’s been power hitting ever since. “I have seen days in batting practice where he’s hit 20 out of 30 pitches over the fence,” said Grove. “He is definitely a powerful hitter, and he has put in serious work to get where he is today. One of his homeruns this year was over the 243-foot “Green Monster” replica at the Ripken Experience in Maryland. He notably also hit three homers in six at bats in one day in a tournament in Berryville earlier this year.”
Besides being a strong batter, Blaise also pitches, catches and plays first base, his favorite position.
“He’s a left-handed thrower but bats right-handed,” said his father. “When he was two, he used to carry one of my right-handed golf clubs around in the yard and hit golf balls. Ever since, he has been swinging right-handed.”
Grove said Blaise is a good pitcher who throws consistently around 60 mph, but he keeps his pitching to a minimum and monitors it closely as any parent should. It helps that Grove is not just Blaise’s father, but his coach most of the time.
This fall, Grove is coaching Blaise on the Summit Point Shockers. The team will play 30 to 40 games of tournament ball.
“Baseball starts in January for us when we do offseason training on weekends. That continues until the start of the season and our year will carry all the way through the first weekend of November,” said Grove.
“We really only have two months out of the year with no baseball, but it’s what Blaise loves, and it seems he can never get enough of it,” he added.
During his time off, Blaise doesn’t rest on his laurels. He is busy playing basketball with the Charles Town Ranson Youth Basketball League. “He’s had huge success with that as well,” said Grove. “Last season, he helped his team win back-to-back championships at the JV and varsity level for the Blue Devils.”
Blaise has certainly put in the time and work to help him achieve success as an athlete — but some strong genetics are on his side as well. He stands 5’7”, weighs 135 pounds, wears a size 12 men’s shoe and is typically the biggest kid on any team. Grove is 6’4” and both his family and his wife’s are taller than average. There’s no telling how high Blaise will go, in size or glory.
I released Panhandle Portraits in November 2016, and Volume One featured Blaise under the title of prodigy:
On September 18, 2018, I did the following update on my blog:
Here’s another young man to watch out for that I profiled in Panhandle Portraits. His name is Blaise Grove. In the two years since my books came out, Blaise has shot up to nearly 6'6" and 230 lbs. and has just begun his freshman year of high school! He was the second baseball commit in the country of the 2022 class, committing to the University of South Carolina, where fans are already following him on social media. The kid is still 14 years old (15 in November) and the accolades just keep rolling in. A left-handed pitcher (very desirable by coaches for those who don’t know), his highest recorded fastball to date is 92 mph, which is astounding. The Perfect Game rankings for his class just came out and Blaise was ranked the #1 LHP in the country! Stay tuned, because Blaise Grove is likely going to become a household name. Go Blaise!
Here’s another young man to watch out for that I profiled in Panhandle Portraits. His name is Blaise Grove. In the two years since my books came out, Blaise has shot up to nearly 6'6" and 230 lbs. and has just begun his freshman year of high school! He was the second baseball commit in the country of the 2022 class, committing to the University of South Carolina, where fans are already following him on social media. The kid is still 14 years old (15 in November) and the accolades just keep rolling in. A left-handed pitcher (very desirable by coaches for those who don’t know), his highest recorded fastball to date is 92 mph, which is astounding. The Perfect Game rankings for his class just came out and Blaise was ranked the #1 LHP in the country! Stay tuned, because Blaise Grove is likely going to become a household name. Go Blaise!
