For all of those Arizona high school baseball players who aren’t getting recruited or on any draft lists but still have major league aspirations, look no further than Valley raised Kole Calhoun for inspiration.

Calhoun willed his way to the major leagues and is presently hitting in front of Mike Trout and Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Not to shabby for a kid who wasn't even given a chance to tryout for a couple of Valley high schools. 

Calhoun’s high school journey began when three Phoenix high schools informed him that he’d never start for their programs.

He eventually found a home at Buckeye High and then landed at Yavapai College after not getting drafted or recruited by four year schools. Calhoun didn’t get drafted after his junior season at Arizona State but finally heard his name called in the 8^th round of the 2010 Major League Draft.

A lot of people overlooked the supposedly too short Calhoun (5-10) during his high school and college days, including myself. I was in charge of picking the All-State high school baseball teams when I was at The Arizona Republic.

I looked up the 2004 All-State team and found Calhoun’s name below the first and second teams of Class 4A. The can’t miss players on that 2004 All-State team were first-team members Ike Davis (Chaparral), Alex Sogard (Thunderbird), Pete Bourjos (Notre Dame) and second-team member Charles Brewer (Chaparral), who are now in the major leagues.

But you’ll need a magnifying glass to find Calhoun’s name on that All-State team, which appears in small print on the honorable mention list. But not being noticed didn't keep the determined Calhoun, 27, from eventually standing alongside All-Stars. 

You can read more about Calhoun’s improbable baseball journey here, in a story the Orange County Register posted a couple of days ago.