Jackson star has distractions swirling, but Caden Bogenpohl is 'laser-focused' on state title

There are a lot of components to Caden Bogenpohl’s baseball ability to find appealing.

The Jackson High School athlete has the size, strength, arm, legs, power, eye, well, you get the picture, all of which sets him apart from most high school seniors not just in this state, but anywhere.

“I think he is the best (high school) player in Missouri,” one veteran Missouri high school baseball coach said recently. “I think he’s going to get drafted (in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft).”

However attractive Bogenpohl’s ability ON the baseball diamond may be – and it is definitely attractive – his ability to compartmentalize his life OFF the diamond may be the most appealing feature he possesses.

On Monday, Bogenpohl not only had a practice with his Indian teammates, as they prepare for the MSHSAA Class 6 Final Four on Friday and Saturday, but he also had to attend the initial team gathering for his summer team, the Cape Catfish.

All of this doesn’t even include the fact that he has signed to play baseball next fall at Missouri State, oh, and as that Southeast Missouri-area coach mentioned, Bogenpohl could be drafted professionally in July.

“At the end of the day,” Bogenpohl said, “you are just playing baseball somewhere. I play every day, just looking for the next opportunity.”

As if he doesn’t have enough opportunities on his plate right now.

Bogenpohl will lead Class 6 No. 7-ranked Jackson (33-6) in its first Final Four on Friday against (also ranked No. 7) Francis Howell (30-10) at 4 p.m. at US Baseball Park in Ozark.

He’ll follow that game up with one final outing in red and black on Saturday in either the state title game or the consolation game.

Bogenpohl could then begin his post-secondary career on Sunday with the Catfish against the Thrillville Thrillbillies on Sunday in Marion, Ill.

“I’m going to go give 100 percent to whoever I am with that (particular) day,” Bogenpohl said, “and give them my all.”

Jackson varsity assistant baseball coach Jeremy Smith created a mantra earlier this spring for the Jackson players, which Bogenpohl has found helpful to put into practice.

“It’s ‘200 feet,’” Indian varsity assistant coach, and Cape Catfish pitching coach, Jason Chavez explained of the philosophy, “whatever they can see in their headlights (200 feet ahead), that is where their focus is.”

It is unknown whether Smith teaches driver’s education, but his point is well-taken particularly this week.

Not only Bogenpohl and Chavez are pulling some double duty, as the Catfish open their season with road games on Wednesday at O’Fallon, and a Friday clash at Jackson (Tenn.), followed by the Capaha Field opener on Saturday against Jackson (Tenn.) at 7:35 p.m., but so is Jackson High School third baseman Quinton Borders, who is also signed to play for the Catfish this summer before trekking up to Crowder College in the fall.

“Coach Smith puts out these things called ‘skull sessions,’” Chavez said. “We really focus on the mental side of the game. Every single day, he puts out a skull session, and one of them was pertaining to (a car’s) headlights, where you can only see 200 feet ahead.

“The focus is, don’t try to look and see what is happening on the outside or too far ahead, just focus on the next 200 feet.”

To a degree, Chavez can relate to Bogenpohl’s situation.

When he was a young pitcher at Mineral Area College, he not only had scholarship offers to play NCAA Division I baseball (he eventually signed with Southern Illinois) but he was also drafted by the San Francisco Giants.

“It is a lot to put on a kid at that age,” Chavez said. “But Caden has never been the type to get lost in all of that. He is very much focused on the Jackson stuff. He has a really, really tight bond with (his high school teammates).

“I am around him all of the time and I have never heard him once say anything about (the future). He is about as humble as they come, and he is laser-focused on the task at hand. We have a job to do (in winning the state championship) and that is what he is focused on.”