Indiana native Alex Meyer wants one thing: a state title for his team 

Yeah, “Bubba” can pitch.

But he does a lot more.

He’s a selfless kid who works with disabled children in his community. He refills the gas tank after taking his travel teammates on a laundry run. And even with a college baseball scholarship already in hand, Bubba still plays basketball to avoid disappointing his teammates.

Simply put, ask people about Alex “Bubba” Meyer and they just can’t say enough. Just ask his travel team manager, Quinn Moore, of the Lids Indiana Bulls.

“He is unbelievable,” Moore said. “He is a great teammate and is very coachable. He is just a tremendous kid.”

The right hander for Greensburg (Ind.) High School, as a junior went 3-4 with two saves and a 3.45 ERA in 47 innings. He allowed 28 hits, 27 of which were singles, 39 walks and held opponents to a .172 average. Meyer also collected 72 strikeouts of the 206 batters he faced.

Even though Meyer had a sub-.500 record in 2006, it’s his size and potential that caught the attention of scouts for the major leagues, as well as the University of Kentucky, to which Meyer already has committed. At 6-7 and 200 pounds, Meyer possesses formidable mound presence with the stuff to back it up. His fastball touches 95 mph, with an above-average curveball, and a slider that is a work in progress.

But Meyer isn’t focused on himself. He’s too busy with his crosshairs on a single target this year.

“I really just want to get us a state title,” he said. “The team we had last year paved the surface for these guys. With the underclassmen we have, as well as our senior class, we have a good chance. I just want to get that ring on my finger.”

Meyer’s potential caught the eye of baseball people throughout the state of Indiana. Meyer said he joined the Indiana Bats, an elite travel summer baseball team run by Doug Burcham, and he credits Burcham for teaching him a great deal of what he knows about the game.

“He was playing right down the road in Versailles, and I had a buddy already playing travel ball,” Meyer said. “Finally, one day he called me to play on the team, and I ended up traveling throughout the country. Burcham really showed me how the game should be played the right way and most things I know about baseball.”

As good as he is at baseball, Meyer still enjoys another love: basketball. He is the starting center for the Greensburg squad. Meyer understands that he risks hurting his baseball career by playing basketball and exposing himself to potential injury every winter. But with all the pressure he faces in baseball between weighing scholarship offers and wondering where he will land in the draft, he still enjoys the escape basketball provides.

“Basketball helps out a ton to get my mind off of thinking about the draft,” he said. “In Indiana, every kid wants to get out there and play on Friday night. While I’m trying to win there, I don’t have to focus on baseball full-time.”

Moore also believes it is good for Meyer to play basketball and other athletes to play more than one sport. It helps teach them how to deal better with failure in a sport where they aren’t as dominant.

“All kids shouldn’t just specialize,” Moore adds. “It helps you to just compete. This keeps him in shape, and I think it helps him to deal with more than just baseball or basketball, and life. I think kids at that young an age should have fun and help their school out.

“It is one thing that he could be a possible first-rounder, but he still plays basketball and doesn’t care if he gets hurt because it is about his team and his friends.”

Besides, Meyer already is living the charmed life. He has known ever since attending a college football game between the Hoosiers and the Wildcats that Kentucky was where he’d end up based on the result of that contest. Being too young to have a favorite football team, he decided the winner of the game would be the one he’d follow.

“The school was looking at me, and I knew I wanted to stay close to home,” Meyer said. “The coaches at Kentucky were great, and I got to stay close to my family.” 

View more photos of Alex in our gallery section.