Jersey Village and Elkins HS grads have monster games for Memphis

Nick Stavinoha

Jersey Village High School graduate Nick Stavinoha hit his 21st home run in going 3-for-6, but the Memphis Redbirds fell to the Reno Aces, 8-7, Wednesday.

Stavinoha is a 2000 graduate of Jersey Village High School. He made multiple stops in his college baseball career playing at the University of Houston, San Jacinto College and Louisiana State University. He spent two seasons (2004 and 2005) in Baton Rouge batting .348 with 26 home runs and 107 RBIs in 121 career games for the Bayou Bengals. In 2005 as a senior, Stavinoha was named MVP of the Baton Rouge regional of the NCAA tournament after a season in which he hit .370 with 18 home runs.

He was drafted in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 2005 MLB draft by St. Louis. Stavinoha advanced to triple-A Memphis of the Pacific Coast League in 2007, his second full pro season, and one year later he made his Major League debut for the Cardinals on June 22, 2008. He appeared in 29 games in 2008 for St. Louis batting .193 with four RBIs, and he spent 112 games with Memphis where he was a .337 hitter with 16 homers in 74 RBIs to earn PCL all-star honors. In 2009, Stavinoha hit .282 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs in 72 games for Memphis while also appearing in 39 games for St. Louis, where he hit .230 and hit two homers. He spent the bulk of 2010 at St. Louis hitting .256 with two homers and nine RBIs in 79 games while also appearing in 23 contests for Memphis. Stavinoha was born May 3, 1982, in Houston.

Elkins High School graduate Matt Carpenter also went-3-for-6, with a run scored, a triple and an RBI in the loss.

Carpenter is a 2004 graduate of Elkins High School. He played five seasons (2005 to 2009) of college baseball at Texas Christian University posting a career batting average of .312 with 24 home runs and 159 RBIs. Carpenter hit .349 in 241 at-bats as a sophomore (2006) before receiving a medical redshirt in 2007 after appearing in only eight games. He posted back-to-back 11 home-run seasons in 2008 and 2009, which hit also hit 23 doubles and six triples while hitting .333. Carpenter was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round (399th overall) of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He quickly advanced through the St. Louis system making it to double-A Springfield of the Texas League by the end of 2010, his first full pro season. He was named a Texas League all-star DH after hitting .316 with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs in 105 games with Springfield. Carpenter was born Nov. 26, 1985, in Sugar Land.