Patch junior Cavan Cohoes hopes to hear from college recruiters after a stint in a summer traveling league in Ohio. The shortstop had three home runs and two triples in his first five games. (Rusty Bryan/Stars and Stripes)
STUTTGART, Germany - Athletes who think a parent’s tour in Europe will impede their sports careers can look to Patch shortstop Cavan Cohoes for reassurance.
Cohoes, a junior who’s been in Europe since he was a freshman, is in line to play serious baseball when school’s out in June.
"I’m going to play in an Ohio traveling league this summer," Cohoes, 16, said Tuesday evening after his unbeaten Panthers defeated the Sindelfingen Squirrels 8-3 in an exhibition game. "It’s a big summer for me, what with recruiting. Lots of college and pro scouts go to those games."
Most of Cohoes’ teammates in Ohio will be scouted for college ball. But according to former Atlanta Braves scout Chris Davis, Cohoes might also interest career-track bird dogs.
"… Cohoes has the potential to play pro ball out of high school, if he so chooses," Davis, who now scours Europe for athletes able to play Division I college or professional ball, said in a recent e-mail. "With one more year of high school to develop, that could very well be an option for him."
Told of Davis’ assessment, Cohoes, who said he hasn’t been contacted by the scout he so impressed, reacted soberly. "It’s awesome," he said. "It’s humbling."
Patch coach Shawn Phelps didn’t need outside opinions to bolster his impression of Cohoes’ positives.
"He hustles, he plays the game right," Phelps said of his shortstop, a transfer from Lakenheath who was batting .575 with three home runs, two triples and a .722 on-base percentage in five games going into Tuesday’s contest.
"He’s just a super kid," Phelps added about the player unanimously elected captain by his teammates. "He has a great head on his shoulders."
Pro possibilities notwithstanding, Cohoes is eager for a chance to play college ball. At the highest level.
"I’ve talked to the people at (perennial College World Series participant) Cal State-Fullerton," Cohoes said. "They said I’d probably play shortstop or center field in college."
Contemplating Division I or even pro ball is a far cry from where Cohoes thought he would be when he left Omaha, Neb., three years ago.
"I was skeptical," he said about his baseball future then. "I was just about to go into a really good high school baseball program there. I didn’t really know about American schools in Europe."
The Cohoes family landed in Lakenheath, then transferred to Stuttgart last summer.
"I really like Germany," Cohoes said. "There are a lot more teams to play here, German teams. It’s hard to get games in England."
And far from dwelling on his missed opportunity in Nebraska, Cohoes, who began playing T-ball at the age of 3, stoutly defends his overseas experience.
"Lots of people say there’s a big drop-off over here," he said, "but that’s not the case."
Certainly not in the case of Patch’s Panthers, for whom southpaw Justin Phelps struck out 14 of the 22 Sindelfingen batters he faced during a six innings of one-hit pitching, or Division I champion Ramstein, which hasn’t lost a game since DODDS-Europe officially began playing baseball last spring.
Cohoes hopes to change Ramstein’s unbeaten situation in this year’s European Division I tournament in May.
"When we play well," he said, "we can play with anybody."
The same also might be said of Cohoes. Tune in after his summer of big-time baseball to find out.
