Montgomery High's two-sport bruiser

09-21-2007

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

Montgomery High’s Brandon Meredith said yes already to San Diego State baseball coach Tony Gwynn’s scholarship offer.

Next he might receive an offer from SDSU football coach Chuck Long, not to mention USC’s Pete Carroll, UCLA’s Karl Dorrell and other college coaches starting to learn he can pound a football as well as baseball.

Meredith has that kind of quickness for a 6-foot-2, 245-pounder. In football last week, he ran for an 80-yard touchdown and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass in Montgomery’s 23-6 win over Orange Glen. In baseball last spring, he stole 10 bases as a center fielder that hit .413 with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs and a school-record 46 RBIs.

“Coach Long has talked to me about Brandon,” said Montgomery football coach Julio Alcala. “USC has been on him real hard, too. Right now he’s receiving a lot of interest, but I expect him to get some (football scholarship) offers.”

Added Montgomery baseball coach Manny Hermosillo, “He’s a guy who could be drafted in the first five rounds. If he has a good year, he could go in the first round. He hits for average and power and he has speed. He can beat out the grounder in the hole and he has power to the gaps.”

Meredith said his decision to commit to SDSU and baseball was an easy one.

“I’ve hit at San Diego State since I was 10 years old,” he said. “I’m confident and comfortable with Tony Gwynn and his staff.”

Meredith's commitment to SDSU is only an oral one until baseball players can sign a letter-of-intent in November. Until then, football coaches, who sign their athletes to letters-of-intent in February, can consider him a free agent.

Meredith carries a 3.68 grade-point average, so he says it’s not a forgone conclusion he’ll sign a pro contract when he’s drafted. If he sees college as his best option, he’ll play for the Aztecs.

But that’s not the only tough future decision he may be confronting.

“I like the contact in football, but I wasn’t expecting the interest I’m getting,” he said. “I would consider playing football and baseball in college, but I wouldn’t play just football. Baseball is my first sport.”

Meredith is one of the top baseball prospects in the CIF San Diego Section, and that alone makes him an elite athlete. What makes him even rarer is few top baseball prospects in these days of year-round sports play a second high school sport.

They don’t want to risk an injury or sacrifice offseason time working on techniques and skills. Their minds are dreaming ahead to a scholarship or hitting the lottery with a bonus contract.

“You can’t worry about injuries,” Meredith said. “You only go through high school once, and I don’t want to look back and say I wish I had played football.”

Meredith was an All-CIF catcher as a sophomore for Montgomery, but he was an All-CIF outfielder as a junior when Hermosillo shifted him to center field. He made the move because pro scouts project him as a corner outfielder. Hermosillo played him in center as his best outfielder last year but will move him to right field this year.

In football, Alcala, a Montgomery alumnus that played at Colorado State and Cal State Northridge, uses Meredith as a blocker, runner and receiver.

“He’s a guy that can turn the momentum of a game around,” Alcala said. “He’s a hard runner that not afraid to run anybody over, and he’s not afraid to go across the middle on a drag or slant (pass plays). I’m really surprised that a guy with his size has his speed and quickness. He can move.”

In the direction of which sport he moves is the big question for the big guy.

Tom Shanahan can be contacted at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.