The accolades are piling up for Steinbrenner High School’s right-handed pitcher CJ Van Eyk.
He’s led Steinbrenner to its first state baseball title.
He’s been crowned the Florida Dairy Farmers’ Class 8A Player of the Year.
And now, the rising senior has achieved another prestigious accomplishment: pitcher on the USA Baseball 18U National Trial team.
(Courtesy of Steve Fiorindo)
Van Eyk, a Florida State commit, was one of 40 players nationwide selected to the roster on June 26 following a scouting and evaluation period in Cary, North Carolina.
“It was definitely surprising, but I thought I had good shot,” Van Eyk said about his selection.
It wasn’t much of a shock for Van Eyk’s high school baseball coach, John Crumbley.
“He’s right up there with some of the top pitchers that I’ve coached in my career,” said Crumbley, who’s amassed four state titles and over 700 wins in his 25-plus year coaching career at Jesuit and Steinbrenner high schools.
“If he stays healthy, his upside is so high.
“Now, this is just going to put him in the national spotlight,” Crumbley said.
The trial games run from Sept. 11 to Sept. 15 in Houston, Texas, when the 20-man 18U National Team roster will be finalized. If Van Eyk makes the 20-man roster, he will participate in the COPABE Pan Am “AAA” Championships in Monterrey, Mexico, from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2.
Last season, Van Eyk proved to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the entire state. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound flamethrower ranked first in Class 8A in strikeouts (130) and wins (12), and fifth in earned run average (0.77).
With a four-pitch repertoire that includes a 92 mph fastball, high school opponents often left the batter’s box bewildered by Van Eyk’s pitching dexterity.
“When you’re throwing in the 90s, that usually gets attention,” Crumbley said. “His fastball has gotten more velocity as his career at Steinbrenner has gone along — I think the first thing that people see is his velocity that he has.”
Moreover, his other three pitches were just as demoralizing to opposing hitters, his high school coach said.
“They are all plus pitches that he’ll throw at any time,” Crumbley said. “Sometimes, he’ll get out more (batters) with his splitter or changeup. And, his curveball is devastating.”
Crumbley added Van Eyk’s competitiveness, too, is a key reason for his massive successes on the mound.
“He’s just goes at it and gets it done.”
With a goal of one day playing high-level professional baseball, Van Eyk is constantly honing his craft — he’s currently striving to throw his fastball in the mid-90s by the 2017 season.
“I’ve been working to get my velocity up, and keep commanding my pitches better,” Steinbrenner’s ace pitcher said. “There’s always room for improvement, no matter who you are or what you want to do.”
According to Crumbley, Van Eyk always showed flashes of potential, but said he really emerged toward the end of his sophomore year, when he finished 7-0 with a 0.16 ERA in 44.1 innings.
“As a ninth-grader he had a good arm, but I think he just needed to understand how to harness what he had because he was a little more inconsistent,” Crumbley said. “As a sophomore, we brought him along where he was pretty much the guy at the end after we used him more in relief (at the start of the season). We didn’t have to hurry him along — he was able to play infield and develop as a pitcher without being thrown to the wolves early on, so I think all that helped.”
Though the start of the 2017 high school baseball season is more than seven months away, Crumbley said his team is already eager to defend its state title, especially with its best player returning.
“This is the most returning pitching that got us to a high level, and more returning starters than we’ve ever had, so we’re excited,” Crumbley said. “We know the target will be on us.”
Van Eyk is also bullish on the Warrior’s 2017 prospects, and believes the team can repeat as state champs.
“I’m pretty confident in (the team), and I think we can do it again,” he said.
CJ Van Eyk
Pitching stats
Junior year: 12-1, 0.77 ERA, 130 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched
Sophomore year: 7-0, 0.16 ERA, 64 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched
–Stats compiled from Maxpreps.com
Published July 13, 2016
