HALF HOLLOW HILLS
From T-Bird To Ray: Tampa Picks Hills Pitcher
Hills East senior selected in sixth round of MLB draft
By Jacqueline Birzon/ jbirzon@longislandernews.com

Three days shy of his 18th birthday, Half Hollow Hills High School East senior Stephen Woods got a call that made his heart drop to the floor. A representative from Major League Baseball was on the line to inform him that’d he’d just been drafted to play for Tampa Bay Rays.
Woods, the starting pitcher this year for the Hills East baseball team, was the first high-school level player selected from Long Island in the sixth of the 30-plus round draft, and was chosen 188th overall.
Watching the June 7 draft from his computer, Woods didn’t know which team would pick him.

“I was honored to accept… My heart was just going nuts when they called my name,” he said. “My heart just dropped and sunk into the seat.”

Woods, who was offered an athletic scholarship from the State University of New York at Albany, must decide in the next week if he will commit to the Florida organization. The soon-to-be high school graduate verbally accepted the Rays’ offer on Friday, and said on Monday that an official commitment will likely come by the end of the week.

“I’m just really happy that I can start my dream quicker than I expected to,” he said. “It’s nuts. There are kids [in college] with so much more experience under their belt, but I got picked [before them],” he said.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Woods throws a 94 mph pitch. He was 5-1 on the mound, had over 100 strikeouts in over 50 innings, and had an earned run average of 0.63, Hills East head varsity baseball coach Tim Belz said. This year, Woods pitched two no-hitters and three one-hitters, was an All-County player, was awarded Pitcher of the Year in League III, and is nominated for Pitcher of the Year in the county, which has not yet been awarded.

Belz, who has coached at Half Hollow Hills for eight years, said dozens of scouts attended games this season to see Woods, whom he described as one of the hardest workers he’s ever seen.

“I knew he had that potential; every year he’s gotten better. He got really strong and really refined his skills,” Belz said. “He really worked on his command of his pitching and he’s probably one of the hardest workers I’ve had in my coaching career.”

Belz said that every year, from sophomore to senior year, Woods increased the speed on his pitches by several miles per hour. The coach noted his player’s natural ability to throw a fastball and a curveball..
However, Woods said he wasn’t always a pitching prodigy. He started playing baseball with his father, Stephen Sr., at the age of 5. Woods said that his father, who played baseball in college and turned down a draft offer from the Yankees, has been his biggest supporter when it comes to playing America’s favorite pastime.

“Having a father who’s also done very well in the sport, he’s just always been there for me, so it’s always kept me going to achieve more and more,” Woods said. “When I wasn’t the best player at all in Little League, my dad always told me I’ll have my moment one day.”
Should he accept the MLB offer, Woods will begin training with the Rays in Florida at the end of the month.

“God gave me a chance and I took it. I refined my skills and just helped build myself and my body to work with it,” Woods said. “It’s kind of cheesy, but I play for the love of the game. You have your ups and downs, but it’s one of the most humble games out there, and it’s not the easiest…They had faith in me, and I know what I have to do to live up to that dream.”