Mission Hills High baseball coach Ken Putnam got a tip that there was a pretty good player on campus who might not go out for the team.
So Putnam followed up. He bugged River Stevens until the freshman finally relented and said he would give high school baseball a shot.
Now, nearly six years after Putnam reached out, Stevens is living with the Grizzlies coach and his family and making the drive to Single-A Lake Elsinore of the California League as he tries to climb the ladder to the big leagues.
“River was a skater, a free spirit,” Putnam said.