It didn’t take long for Faith Lutheran baseball coach Dave Anderson to realize that incoming freshman Rookie Shepard, before officially playing a high school game, was going to be a special player.
As part of an intersquad offseason scrimmage, the freshmen were assigned to the team with underclassmen. Anderson noticed that Shepard didn’t look too enthused to be with the younger players.
“He didn’t handle it poorly, but his body language looked a little disappointed,” Anderson said. “I just said, ‘Hey, if this isn’t where you’re supposed to be, just show me.’ And he goes, ‘Alright.’”
And Shepard’s play proved his point.
“After three innings, I got to get that guy out of there, he’s going to kill somebody,” Anderson said of the speed in which Shepard plays the game.
Shepard hasn’t stopped. The senior shortstop is the state’s top hitter in Class 5A, batting with a .537 average, and leads the Crusaders with 44 hits and 33 runs scored. He is committed to play college baseball at Miami (Florida) and is the No. 90-ranked MLB draft prospect by MLB.com.
Shepard will lead a talented Faith Lutheran team into the Class 5A Southern Region tournament, which begins Wednesday. The Crusaders (15-13), the Mountain League’s No. 2 seed, host the Sky League’s No. 4 seed Shadow Ridge at 4 p.m. in an opening-round game.
“He’s the type of kid that has a lot of influence because of his skill set. … but I think his maturity, leadership and outstanding attitude and effort, just outshines it all,” said Faith Lutheran football coach Jay Staggs, who coached Shepard when he was a part of the football program his freshman and junior years.
Last year, Faith Lutheran reached the 5A state tournament, but lost twice on the second day and were eliminated. Shepard is looking to lead the program to its first state titles since 2014, when the Crusaders won back-to-back 3A crowns.
“Hopefully, I can end my high school career with the state championship,” Shepard said. “I’m definitely a little anxious and excited for the next step, whether it’s college or professional baseball, but I just want to enjoy the moment and take care of everything that I can right now and then worry about those things at a later date.”
‘A super competitor’
Shepard’s reputation as one of the top youth baseball players in Southern Nevada had preceded his arrival at Faith Lutheran’s high school baseball team, with other coaches asking Anderson where Shepard was going to play.
With an already established senior shortstop for the 2023 season, Anderson looked for a way to get Shepard into the lineup, as the freshman “just kept hitting.” So, the coach asked if Shepard could play center field, and he took the challenge head-on.
“Anytime I’m on the baseball field, that’s where the fun is. Playing the game is fun,” Shepard said, “Whatever I needed to do to help the team, I was able to do that in center field.”
That selfless attitude has helped Shepard become one of the top prospects in his class. That attitude has radiated to the rest of the team.
“I see all the hard work he puts in,” Faith Lutheran senior third baseman Kingston Kela, a TCU commit who has been a close friend to Shepard since they joined the varsity team as freshmen.
“He’s just a super competitor. He always wants the ball. He always wants to win. I feel like that’s just a big (type of) person to have on the team.”
As Shepard continued to rise as a baseball star, he showcased his talents on the football field. He was good enough to make Faith Lutheran’s varsity team as a freshman, but opted to play freshman ball since it was his first year of tackle football.
Shepard didn’t play football his sophomore year, but was a starting slot receiver on varsity his junior year. He was also a returner on special teams and in the secondary backed up Matthew Mason and Gavin Day — now freshmen at BYU and Washington, respectively.
“Our high achievers, they always kind of used Rookie’s athletic ability to measure themselves against,” Staggs said. “Can they beat him? His competitive nature continues to push even our most elite players in the football program to be the best version of themselves.”
‘Confident in himself’
The cameras are always on Shepard, who opted not to play football his senior year. He started gaining notoriety during the club ball season on his 12-U team.
Shepard took his first unofficial visit to Miami during the winter of his eighth-grade year, which is where he began to build relationships with the Miami coaches.
Handfuls of MLB front office executives have contacted Anderson and countless scouts have appeared at Faith Lutheran’s games to ask about and see Shepard play.
Even with cameras watching Shepard warm up, the senior shortstop never shows his team that the attention impacts him.
“He doesn’t really get rattled. He’s confident in himself and who he is,” said Anderson, who was also Shepard’s teacher in U.S. History and Government. “It’s very unique for an 18-year-old to just kind of roll with it, no problem.”
Shepard could add to the school’s baseball history by being the sixth player from Faith Lutheran taken in the MLB draft, and second out of high school (Zack Trageton in 2016).
But Shepard said his focus over a potential grueling three-week playoff run is to hoist the state championship trophy.
“The guys returning from last year’s team, we got a taste of what state baseball is like,” Shepard said. “You know what it takes to get to that stage. You want to get back there and you want to finish on top.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Class 5A Southern Region tournament
Opening round schedule
All games at 4 p.m. at higher seeds (double elimination)
(Leagues: D = Desert, M = Mountain, S = Sky)
Wednesday
No. 4D Coronado vs. No. 3M Palo Verde, 5 p.m. at Centennial
No. 4S Shadow Ridge at No. 2M Faith Lutheran
No. 3D Liberty at No. 3S Legacy
No. 4M Durango vs. No. 2D Desert Oasis, at Sierra Vista
Thursday
Coronado-Palo Verde winner at No. 1S Centennial
Shadow Ridge-Faith Lutheran winner at No. 1D Basic
Liberty-Legacy winner at No. 1M Bishop Gorman
Durango-Desert Oasis winner at No. 2S Arbor View
