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Area stars Creed Willems, AJ Smith-Shawver choose to start MLB careers over college

Brian Gosset
·2 min read

Aledo’s Creed Willems and Colleyville Heritage’s AJ Smith-Shawver, both who made this year’s all-area high school baseball team, are forgoing college and starting their professional careers.

Willems, the Star-Telegram all-area player of the year, signed a $1 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. The Aledo catcher was selected in the eighth round of the MLB Draft on July 12.

The former TCU commit also pitched out of the bullpen for the Bearcats, who reached the Class 5A Region 1 final this season. Willems finished the year with a .412 batting average, 52 hits, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, five triples and 44 RBI. He was voted 5A all-state.

Smith-Shawver was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the seventh round and signed for $997,500. The Colleyville Heritage two-sport standout had been a Texas Tech commit.

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The right-handed pitcher was selected second-team all-area and District 6-5A Offensive MVP this season as the ace of the Panthers. He batted .344 and drove in 20 runs. According to scouts, Smith-Shawver throws in the mid- to low 90s and can reach 95 mph on his fastball.

UT-Arlington pitcher Carlos Tavera, a Keller Fossil Ridge graduate, also signed with Baltimore for $375,000. The Orioles drafted Tavera in the fifth round. Tavera had a school-record 117 strikeouts this season for UTA and was named to the Sun Belt all-tournament team.

Other local players selected in this year’s draft include Argyle’s Brenden Dixon, who has signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Keller’s Eric Hammond (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Eaton’s Xavier Casserilla (St. Louis Cardinals).