Richard Clemens '16 Recruiting Profile

My name is Richard Clemens. I am a junior at the age of sixteen years old. I am 6'2 and weigh 175 lbs. All my life I have been playing baseball and living life on the diamond. Nothing compares to the feeling I get when I step onto the field and the exhilarating feeling I get when I make a nice play or shoot a late game double in the gap. I have always had success on the field with a smile on my face as I compete hard for the W. I have no problem with taking the leadership role of my team and bringing out the best of my teammates. I take every opponent seriously and play as if its the last game of my life. Every game counts and makes me better. I love to be a vocal leader on and off the field and support all of my teammates and take criticism with grace as it only betters me as a person and player.

I have always been a guaranteed middle of the lineup hitter each and every day. Just knowing that my team depends on me and trusts me to be a big RBI surplus is a great and honorable feeling. No matter who is on the mound I step up to the plate with confidence that I will deliver a run or two for my team or present my teammates behind me in the lineup with the chance to drive me in. When I am not in the box, you can find me on the mound. I am right handed pitcher who looks forward to toeing the rubber in each every time my coach calls my name. When I was young I always had success blowing my fastball by hitters. However, as I grew older and entered the Babe Ruth division and started playing on the big field I learned that as a pitcher I can not just throw a fastball each and every pitch. The past few years I have been developing a curveball and split change that I can use to give the hitter a little different idea of what is coming at him and leave them guessing. I have always had success with locating my pitches with the appropriate count from a young age so developing these other pitches has really been a gift and has aided me to more and more success and leaves the hitters baffled. My dad was a walk on pitcher for Fairfield University and he has been helping me become a better pitcher ever since day one. We go as many times as we can (weather permitting) down to my school where there is a bullpen in left field and we would work on locating my pitches and throw a 30 pitch bullpen,then go down to the batting cages and take 100 swings. and at the end take ground balls with all sorts of infield drills to soften my hands and increase my hand eye coordination. I am always working hard to better myself as a pitcher and batter and overall player.

As a leader on the team I always take liberty and pride in rallying my team with a late and talk to them about what the pitcher or catcher may be tipping from their signs so we can learn as a team and cash in on their mistakes. I always tell every other kid on my team that they have the same chance as I do to go up to the plate and smash the cover off the baseball if they go up believing they can with confidence. Confidence has always been a key part to my success on and off the field. Whether it is for a big test or a big game, confidence is always important. 

In school, I am always striving to get the top grade and do any extra work that would help me attain my goal. My sophomore year was a wake up call to me because I thought it would be just as easy as freshman year. How idiotic. It was the first time in my life that I was not on the high honor roll. It was a disappointment to myself and my family but as a result I am now fully aware of what I need to do and where my head needs to be. My first quarter of my junior year I attained a 3.86 GPA out of 4.00. That is the highest mark I have ever gotten and i continue to strive as of now to beat that and in time attain the perfection of a 4.00. Although I do regret the mistakes I made my sophomore year I can take it as a learning experience. I am fully aware that I need to apply myself to the work and spend those free hours of mine studying on whichever subject if not all. As for colleges,  I am looking for a school with a medium to large population. I would like to attend a school with high regards for its education but at the same time I would also like its population to be in the range of 3,000-5,000. I've always imagined that it would be fun to attend a large school so that is personally what I would like. As for location I want to stay on the east coast and generally northeast but I am also open to traveling down south because I've always enjoyed visiting the southeastern parts of the United States. Although I am open to any school that is willing to give me the chance to play for them and help them become a better team.

 I hope that you will be willing to take a chance on me and help better your team. I am a natural born leader and I am willing to accept any role that you so desire to give me. If you have any other questions about me or my family or anything else you can email me at [email protected]