Parker Eshelman photo

Holt’s Tim Melville delivers a pitch in yesterday’s 8-1 victory over Hickman. Melville, a potential top-five pick in June’s MLB draft, held the Kewpies to two hits and struck out 10.

The best high school baseball player in the country came to Columbia yesterday.

Tim Melville lived up to his billing.

The strapping 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior right-hander from Holt tossed a two-hitter, struck out 10, walked zero and clubbed a towering solo home run over the left-field fence to lead his Wentzville squad to an 8-1 win at Hickman Field.

"He was on his game," Hickman Coach Dave Wilson said. "Sometimes if a guy comes out and throws that hard and has that good of stuff, he might be a little bit wild at times. He had pin-point control today. Everything he was throwing, he was throwing for strikes."

Well … not quite everything.

"I felt like I had all my pitches working, except for maybe the changeup," Melville said. "I’m still working on that."

With a 93-mph fastball and a knee-buckling curveball, the North Carolina recruit, who is expected to be drafted in the first round of the Major League Draft in June, had plenty of pitches working to keep the Kewpies (18-5) in check. It didn’t hurt matters that the potential top-five pick kept throwing those pitches for strikes. Melville didn’t run the count to three balls against any batter and few counts reached two balls.

"He could go No. 1" overall "in my opinion," Holt Coach Joel Adam said. "There’s a lot of good players out there, but he’s the real deal. There’s no doubt about it."

He made a believer out of the Kewpies.

Melville’s first seven strikeouts came on curveballs, his final three on fastballs. Only Taylor Steuber and James Hudelson avoided striking out for Hickman.

"We were kind of intimidated," Steuber said. "You see all the stuff in the media and know about him. It might have affected us."

Steuber collected Hickman’s only hits, going 2 for 3 with an RBI single up the middle in the seventh that scored pinch-runner Eric Johanning and spoiled Melville’s shutout. Steuber nearly had another hit leading off the fifth inning, but Holt shortstop Blake Farley made a nice play on his chopper up the middle.

"Taylor’s got quick hands," Wilson said. "He just stayed level on it, didn’t try to overswing, and he hit the ball pretty good."

The rest of the Kewpies did not.

Melville struck out at least one batter in every inning but the seventh. Three Kewpies reached on errors, but two of those runners were erased on the bases. Melville picked off pinch-runner Ehrich Chick in the fifth, and catcher Zach Simonds caught Chris Pfau stealing second in the sixth.

Steuber’s two singles and a liner by Hudelson that was misplayed by the third baseman were the only balls Hickman hit into the outfield.

"You have to look fastball and just try to adjust," Wilson said. "His stuff is going to be great. That’s why he’s going to be a first-round draft choice. … I don’t think our kids gave in. It’s just the first time they’ve seen a kid of that caliber."

Facing a tough starting assignment, Greg Kanuckel (1-3) took the loss. The senior right-hander pitched the first four innings, allowing seven runs - four earned - on seven hits and four walks.

Kanuckel dug himself a hole in the first inning by walking two batters and allowing a two-out, two-run double to Farley. In the second, two Hickman fielding errors led to four unearned runs. David Turnbull’s two-run double off the center-field fence with two outs was the big hit for Holt (16-6).

"If you face a guy like him, you have to play good defense, and we started off making a few errors that cost ourselves some runs," Wilson said.

Melville turned on a Kanuckel pitch in the fourth inning to make the score 7-0. The towering blast got lost in the gray sky, but Melville said his teammates informed him that his eighth home run of the season reached Hickman pool - located beyond left field - on a bounce.

"I think it bounced once and hit the school," Melville said. "I didn’t watch it. That’s what I heard."

Besides performing well for all of the professional scouts who were watching behind home plate with their radar guns aimed at his every pitch, Melville said he had a little extra motivation going for him yesterday. Three years ago as a freshman, Melville said he got roughed up by a Hickman squad that would go on to win a state championship.

"I pitched against them freshman year, and I lost when they had" Blake "Tekotte and all those guys," Melville said. "They hit me around, so I was kind of getting back at them for that."

Consider the score even, but Hickman might get another crack at Melville in a Class 4 sectional if the Kewpies and Indians both get that far.

Adams said he had no reservations about letting the Kewpies get a sneak peak at his ace.

"I like to let them know what they’re going to see," Adams said. "You plant that seed: ‘Oh my god. If we win our district, we might have to see that big bastard.’ "

From the No. 1 high school player to the top-ranked team in the state, Hickman plays host to Francis Howell at 4:30 p.m. today.

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