Centennial High School’s Desmond Henry opened more than a few eyes at the just-completed Area Code Games.

They were important eyes, too — Those of Major League scouts and college recruiters.

Now, Gerald Pickens, his coach at Centennial and head of the Compton Baseball Academy Teams (CBATs) hopes the center fielder’s impressive performance during the week-long showcase at Blair Field in Long Beach is the springboard that leads to more opportunities at the higher levels of baseball for a lot of inner-city kids.

“Ninety-nine percent of the kids at the Area Code Games have personal trainers,” Pickens, who has sent the likes of Andrew Toussaint and Chris Smith, among others, to the professional ranks, said. “But Desmond and other kids in the inner-city can’t afford the $5-6,000 it costs annually for that. They can’t get to the showcases and the tryouts for the same reason. It’s a shame these kids are being overlooked for that. There are a lot more kids than just Desmond out there.”

The Area Code Games, a showcase of some of the top high school talent in the country, is certainly a place to be noticed, considering all the big league scouts and college recruiters in attendance.

Henry, a virtual unknown at the time, wowed those in attendance with his speed and bat. He was 6-for-14 with a pair of doubles and, with a little luck, could have done even better.

“He hit in some tough luck,” Pickens said. “He easily could have had three more hits. He hit a couple of deep balls that outfielders made great plays on and there were some close plays at first base in which he was barely out.

“He was the most talked-about player because he was the most unknown. The scouts were impressed by his running and his bat. The first time he took off and ran to first base, they all said, ‘wow.’ He had the fastest time of any kid at the Area Code Games. Everybody there was asking, where was he from.”

Henry, who stole 45 bases in 46 attempts for Centennial this spring, is clearly now on the radar of people who matter the most.

Pickens estimates Henry filled out questionnaires for six to seven big league teams. He expects more college offers to be coming in the future.

USC was recruiting Henry, according to Pickens. But with the firing of coach Chad Kreuter this week, that is up in the air. Southern and San Jose State are others after the Apache star.

“I’m very proud of him because all the hard work is paying off,” Pickens said. “Now, he’s on the map. But he’s just one of many inner-city kids being overlooked because of finances.”

That’s where Pickens comes in.

Through his CBATs program, he is making it his mission to increase opportunities for inner city kids. He would like to unite with Major League Baseball in some fashion to provide more chances for participation of these youngsters in showcase events.

“I’ve been talking to some (big league) organizations about doing more because these kids are not getting in showcases,” he said.

Just to get to the Area Code Games tryouts, you have to be recommended. Then, you have to get through a couple of tryouts featuring 200 to 300 elite players at each just to make it on one of the ACG rosters.

One of the tryouts was in Santa Barbara. If Pickens hadn’t driven him there, Henry wouldn’t have been able to make it.

Henry made the most of his opportunity, though.

“He really beat the odds,” Pickens said.

It figures to pay off in the future, too.

“He’s going to go somewhere in the draft, possibly the second or third round,” he said.

All-ACG
A 15-player All-Area Code Games team was selected and the shortstop was St. John Bosco’s Dante Flores, a teammate of Henry’s on the Milwaukee Brewers White squad.

Flores led the tournament with three doubles, had one of the top slugging averages at .800 and batted .500 (5-for-10) with four runs scored and an RBI.