Parkersburg South’s Grant Hussey doesn’t quite remember how he got started in baseball. “It just kind of happened,” said the Patriots’ freshman. In a sport unfriendly to people who don’t take it seriously, fate must have had special plans in mind for Hussey during his time on the diamond. Though he plays basketball, baseball is the sport he lends most of his time to and it has paid off. A utility player because of his versatility, Hussey has found himself on a number of prestigious lists and teams. “He has played baseball for years and you think he is good,” said Steven Hussey, Grant’s father. “He always stood out against his peers locally but we didn’t really know how good he was in the grand scheme of things. Last summer I signed him up for the Perfect Game camp down in Western Kentucky just to go down there and see how he stacks up against really good competition. He had a really good showing.” In case you didn’t know Perfect Game is the biggest baseball scouting organization in the country, with their exclusive job being the identification of potential college players and major leaguers. The collegiate hopeful walked out of the camp with the 8th fastest bat speed in the class of 2021. Then he graded out overall as a 7.5 (on a scale of 1 to 10), which puts him as a solid to excellent college prospect and a future Major League Baseball draft pick with further development. His strong workout earned him an invitation to try out for the elite-travel Kentucky Baseball Club. Only 100 kids received an invite for the 15 and under team. Hussey impressed, then accepted an offer to play on the Prime team, their top tier club, as one of 14 players selected. His talents go on national display next summer for a team who has had 60 players drafted to MLB over the past 10 years. “It was awesome,” said Grant of the honor. “I had to try out by myself because we couldn’t make it down for tryouts so I haven’t seen my teammates yet but I am looking forward to it.” Watching clips of him on the internet certainly doesn’t do him justice. The young man can pull the ball when he wants to, to go along ample power and spot-on timing. “Whenever we get a free minute we are usually hitting,” said Steven, who is working on putting a hitting cage inside the Hussey home. Knowing he regularly faces some of the top pitching during his games, Grant has adopted an attitude of working with whatever he gets from a pitcher. An approach which has served him well. Being able to hit any pitch with any count means pitchers lose the element of surprise. Opposing hurlers can’t automatically go to their “out pitch” when ahead in the count or in a full count because Hussey could have his eye on any pitch. Prep Baseball Report took notice of his accomplishments as well and named to him to their National Freshman Prospect “Hot List” along with 25 other ninth-graders around the country. His reptutation proceeded him before his appearance on the Parkersburg South baseball roster. Freshman don’t normally make the varsity team at the high school level because the adjustments needed but Hussey hasn’t missed a beat. New Parkersburg South head coach Todd Burner inserted him into the starting lineup in the season opener against Ripley on March 22. His bat speed was on display as he crushed two home runs during his first four at-bats, and three of his four hits this season have gone for extra-bases. “Hitting is 100 percent my favorite thing to do,” said Hussey, who enjoys watching the Boston Red Sox and former-Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. Patriots’ fans can see Hussey at second base or wherever else needed dependent on who was called to pitch on a given day six different times this upcoming week (weather permitted).