“He’s such a humble kid,” said Ashlea Norman, mother of Glendale sophomore third baseman Sebastian Norman. “He doesn’t tell people anything. Even when he has the best game of his career, he’ll just tell you, ‘It went good.'”
And there’s plenty of reason to brag about Sebastian. His friends call him “Seabass”. His family calls him “Bub”.
And according to the Perfect Game ranking system, you can also call him the second-ranked baseball player in his class in all of Missouri. You can also call him the 48th ranked player in the entire country for his class. “Rankings aren’t everything to me,” said Sebastian. “But it’s cool to be ranked highly in the nation.”
And now college coaches and scouts are all calling him. “I’m on the phone for him more than myself at this point,” said Ashlea, with a laugh.
“Call, after call, after call, my mom is getting about me,” said Sebastian. “It’s cool, but it’s a lot of pressure on me too.”
They tell his mom that Sebastian is a potential first round pick in the MLB draft out of high school. Missouri, Arkansas and Missouri State have all already offered him a scholarship to play for them. They want the player who the fastest 60-yard dash time of any kid in his class in the country. And the one who hits the ball harder than anyone else at his age. He’s got the fastest exit velocity clocked in the nation.
Those schools also like the skills he put on display last month at the Team USA National Championships. Where the best 15 -year-old baseball players in the country recently got together for a tournament. Sebastian earned all-tournament honors and an invite to next week’s Team USA camp in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I just cried and cried,” said Ashlea, with a laugh. “Just because it was something that he has wanted and he’s worked for.”
Ashlea is excited for the day he can get his driver’s license. “I’m always like, ‘Do I have to drive you again?'” she said with a laugh. “Do I have to take you to the gym again?”
And she’s trying to build the right support system for Sebastian. “I call them Sebastian’s angels,” she said. “I always tell him I’m so proud of who you’ve chosen as friends.”
“I have a couple of friends that want to go play big in college or the pros,” said Sebastian. “So we all work out at the same times.”
And wherever the next level takes Sebastian, Ashlea says she needs to see those qualities in his next coach.
“Who these coaches are as people is huge to me,” she said. “I mean, I love his talent and I love that he’s good at baseball. I love his heart even more. I want him to be a good man when he comes out of it.”
