Prep Baseball Report

2023 Utah HS Player of the Year: Ryder Robinson


Jeff Scholzen
Utah Scouting Director

The 2023 PBR Utah Player of the Year, is by all accounts, one of the most decorated Utah high school players in quite some time. Ryder Robinson, the SS for the 6A and west coast powerhouse American Fork Cavemen finished up a three year run of statistical dominance. As the primary 2B’man as a sophomore and junior, Robinson moved back to his customary spot at SS for his senior year. Once the hardware is handed down from the region and state, Robinson will finish as a 3-time 1st ™ All-Region, 3-time 6A 1st ™ All-State honoree and is the reigning Region 4 Most Valuable Player. A recently named Gatorade Player of the Year, Robinson takes home the PBR Utah Player of the Year! 

Robinson came into his senior year after putting up eye popping offensive numbers his first two years in black and red. Never hitting below .436 or scoring less than 50 runs a season, Robinson from his customary lead off spot, did what no Utah high school player has accomplished since the turn of the century and that is score 50 or more runs in three consecutive years! What makes this unique is how he accomplished it. As a sophomore and junior, American Fork had a D1 laden lineup of hitters and hitters who hit for HR and extra base power. A team that hit .392 in 2021 and followed that up in 2022 by hitting .364, as long as Robinson and his OB% numbers of .535 and .522 with amazing consistency was on base, the order was turned over more than any other HS lineup in the state, giving Robinson the chance to score each and every time he was on base. To put it into context, as a sophomore, Robinson reached base via a hit, walk or HBP 61 times and reached on an error 6 times. Robinson scored an amazing 53 runs out of 76 times he reached base. As a junior, he reached base 77 times and scored 55 runs. Do we see a theme here? Consistency! 

After losing over a half dozen players to the D1 level that was part of that two year run, it didn’t look like the Cavemen had the type of offense in ‘23 to aid the lead off hitter in circling the bases another 50 times. Robinson again was Mr. Consistency, as he reached base another 79 times and scored his 50th and final run of the 2023 season, Robinson scored the 50th run in the Cavemen comeback of down 4 runs headed into the bottom of the 5th inning, where Robinson scored the run and an inning later after hitting a crucial HR to score his 49th run, down by one in the bottom of the 6th and the state title chances hanging by a thread, Robinson laced a 2B to RF to score both runners, putting the Cavemen up 8-7 and setting down the order in succession in the top of the 7th, Robinson who was blessed to play for the state title all 3 years at American Fork, after a freshman year that was wiped out due to CoVid, Robinson a member of the state title winning 2021 30-1 juggernaut, put the Cavemen over the top to win their 2nd 6A State Championship in three years.

What made the year also filled with anxiety was the dual factor that Robinson was a marked man, coming into the year, was the fact he was a recently signed D1 player to national powerhouse TCU, but after catching a wave of attention coming out of the PBR Super 60 pro showcase in early February, Robinson had MLB scouts bearing down on his every move for the better part of the first half of the season. Scouts continued to trickle in throughout the season, but with a near 3 week layoff, due to the once in a 100 year snowpack in northern Utah for the most of March, it was hard to get into a hitting groove with eyes watching you as a commodity. Once the calendar flipped to April and now playing four and sometimes 5 games a week to make up for the lost games of March, Robinson with AB’s coming consistently, now found his groove and went on an extra base and HR spree!

 

Robinson first caught the attention of TCU and other in-state D1 programs before heading into his sophomore year, but it was the PBR Future Games, and the limelight of 350 college recruiters at LakePoint Sports Complex in Atlanta, GA, with nearly every D1 program in attendance watching a loaded Team Utah turn heads at every corner, Robinson with the help of the multi-media marketing machine that is Prep Baseball Report, was now a known name nationally.

Where did the talent come from? A bloodline player, as his uncle Dillon Robinson was a three year starting 3B at BYU after playing for Jeff Scholzen’s powerhouse Angels Scout Team for 2 years (12 future MLB players) during Scholzen’s MLB scouting days. Ryder’s Father Darek Robinson was an JUCO All-American MIF at CSI and Dixie State, after being drafted twice and eventually playing in the Cardinals chain for three years. Ryder’s older brother Crew was a JUCO All-American at CSI in 2021 and currently plays at UC-San Diego. Not to mention both grandfathers playing collegiate baseball and basketball, where grandpa Kent Garrett pitched at BYU and his Grandpa Randy Robinson played basketball at Snow College. There are other bloodlines, but you get the point, that the DNA gene pool is alive in Ryder.

Now after three years of having his way with 6A baseball, Robinson looks forward to one of two or both things happening in the near future. The MLB Draft is approaching next month in mid-July and Robinson could hear his name called or take his talents to Texas Christian University (TCU) where he awaits joining the national powerhouse Horned Frogs and continuing his career arc in the BIG 12 Conference as a Power 5 collegiate baseball player. Congrats to Ryder on this well deserved honor and we look forward to watching and rooting for Utah baseball’s “Mr. Consistency” at the next level of play.

3 Year Statistical Breakdown

Year Class G AB R H AVG HR RBI 2B 3B BB SO OB% SLG% OPS
2021 Sophomore 30 91 53 40 .440 0 21 7 1 13 4 .535 .538 1.073
2022 Junior 33 110 55 48 .436 6 27 9 1 8 9 .522 700 1.222
2023 Senior 33 103 50 48 .466 8 27 14 3 26 3 .573 .893 1.466

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JEFF SCHOLZEN (BIO)

Scholzen was brought on as the Utah Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report after serving 9 years as the Four Corners Scouting Supervisor with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-2020). Prior to his run with the Brewers, Scholzen worked for the Los Angeles Angels for 11 years (1999-2010), serving in a similar capacity as the Four Corners Scouting Supervisor. In all, Scholzen served as a full-time scout for 20 years. Scholzen also received a 2002 World Series ring for his contributions as a scout. 

With the Angels, Scholzen created an Angels Scout Team, in which he coached the likes of current and former major league players: Kris Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Greg Bird, Tyler Wagner, Aaron Blair, Joey Rickard, Donn Roach, Johnny Field, Taylor Cole and Paul Sewald to name a few. During his run with the the Angels, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Angels rookie ball affiliate with the Pioneer League Orem Owlz, helping guide the Owlz to the 2005 and 2007 Pioneer League titles.

Prior to becoming a professional scout, Scholzen served as the head coach at Southern Utah University between 1993-1997. At the time, Scholzen was the youngest Division I head coach when he was first hired at 24 years old. The Southern Utah baseball program was dropped after the 2012 season. While coaching at Southern Utah, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Alaska Goldpanners in 1995, as they won the Alaska League Championship. 

A native of Utah, Scholzen played at Hurricane HS and was twice named 1st team All-State and an AAU HM All-American, before moving on to Utah Valley CC and Eastern Oregon University, earning All-Conference honors on three separate occasions. Scholzen played in the Angels’ organization from 1991-199