Skyline baseball: Carter Allen feature

I interviewed Carter Allen the other day for the Skyline baseball 2011 yearbook. He was a senior last season. Although he didn't play much, it was inspiring to hear that the camaraderie on the squad kept him motivated. A lot of people could learn from him. Here is the proposed article for the yearbook.

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Carter Allen admitted that his high-school goals didn’t involve playing Major League Baseball. He was, however, proud to be part of the Skyline Eagles.

Carter didn’t earn much time on the field as a senior, but relished the moments anyway.

“It was great every day … just going out and hanging out with my best friends,” he said. “We challenged each other. It was like a competition where we pushed each other to do better.”

Allen only started playing baseball during his sophomore year, mostly due to the urging of his best friend and locker partner, Sam Trout. He said he worked hard to make the team that year. He improved quickly and, by his second year on the team, was playing a lot on the junior varsity.

“I didn’t expect to be the best player,” he said. “I played behind Devin (Gomez) and he was having a great year. I learned a lot from watching him, and the other players. I don’t regret that at all.”

Allen said he played in perhaps five games and got three at-bats during his senior season. Allen said he, Trout, Gomez and Ashton Sponaugle had most of their classes together. The team’s camaraderie and eventual success made it a great way to finish his high-school career.

“The whole school was excited,” Allen said. “People were really into it. We beat Cottonwood twice and people thought we had a real chance to win the championship. It was great to be part of that.”

Allen said he was better at individual sports. Growing up, he played golf and racquetball and was a key member of both of those Skyline teams. Racquetball, of course, was not sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association. Skyline, however, had one of the state’s best golf teams.

* - As a junior, Allen carded a two-round score of 181 at the Valley View Golf Course in Kaysville as Skyline finished eighth behind state champion Syracuse.

* - As a senior, Allen’s two-round score dropped to 172 at Orem’s Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. Skyline again took eighth among the 5A schools and Lone Peak was the team champion.

“I was good, but not like the top (players) in the state,” Allen recalled. “I had a 6 or 7 handicap.”

Golf and racquetball, however, didn’t have the social network of baseball.

Allen said his two fondest moments from being on the team included watching Trout beat Cottonwood twice, which allowed the Eagles to end the Colts’ long reign and give Skyline the region championship.

Another great memory occurred during his junior year:

“At that time, our locker rooms were being rebuilt and people weren’t allowed to go through because it had asbestos,” Allen said. “Garrett Wallace walked through and no one would sit by him and or even get around him. We told him it was contagious and he was totally fooled.

“Coach (Erik) Hansen even went along with it. We told him he needed to go Walgreen’s (drug store) and get some asbestos crème. The people at Walgreen’s had to tell him there was no such thing. ‘You guys toyed with me,’ he said. It was great.”

Allen said he saw Wallace at the University, where he also enrolled shortly after graduation. He said he was majoring in International Business and Political Science and also playing on the school’s racquetball team. He also continued to follow baseball, and hoped Skyline’s success he was part of continued to grow.