Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 18, 2020.
Just over a year before being selected in the first round of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, a 17-year-old Mick Abel toed the rubber for the Jesuit High School Crusaders on perhaps the biggest stage in Oregon high school baseball — the Class-6A state championship game.
Abel would soon accomplish his personal goal of being selected in the draft, but at this point in time, the high school junior was set to pitch the last game of a season where the team goal was to win the state championship.