KARBOWKSI AND MEREDITH ARE WORTHY OF ACCOLADES, DESPITE TEAMS' STRUGGLES

 

Sometimes some really good players can play on some not-so-really good teams. As a result, sometimes those players are overlooked. It looks like that was the case this past Monday in Burney's own "Prep Notebook" column when I wrote about all of the area's great catchers and didn't give nearly-enough props to Austin Karbowski of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes and Austin Meredith of Waterford Mott.

Neither, the Lakers nor the Corsairs are having very successful campaigns on the baseball diamond this season, but both Karbowski and Meredith are scorching prospects - with equally dangerous arms and bats - who each have the talent to eventually play in college.

Karbowski is a junior and a three-sport star at WOLL. A starter since his freshman season, Karbowksi's career batting average is over the .325 mark and he is currently hitting .398, with six home runs, and a slugging percentage over .500. This kid's eye at the plate is top-rate as well – he's only gone down swinging three times so far this year.  

Meredith is only a sophomore, yet like Karbowski, has been starting on the diamond since the ninth grade. Last season, he hit .330 and even though he hasn't found much team success on the high school level thus far, the summer barnstorming circuit is well-aware of his high-profile offensive antics and ability to lead teams far in tournament play. On Wednesday afternoon in a split of a double-header with Walled Lake Western, Meredith showed his merit by going a combined 5-for-8 with a double, and three RBI over the two games.

Look for Karbowski and Meredith to keep plugging away in the shadows and like true gentlemen of the game, not complaining about it. Don't forget about these two "buried treasures" though, because Burney thinks you just might be seeing them in a college box score or two in a few years down the road.