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TL1 Corpus Christi Hooks

Mayfield's Memories

April 24, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Corpus Christi Hooks News Release


Corpus Christi has always been good to Jack Mayfield.

As an 11-year-old, he traveled from Del Rio for older brother Hector's 18-U baseball tournament, played at high school campuses around town.

"We stayed at what's now the Emerald Beach Hotel," Jack remembered. "My dad likes to tell the story of how they had this big play area for kids with a ping-pong table. I would go down there and beat all the older kids at ping-pong. I guess I was pretty good."

He was good at baseball, too.

"The catcher on my brother's team, Jerry Cervantes, fractured his ankle rounding the first-base bag. They only came with nine players, so they asked me to play. I was still in Little League. I'm standing there on first base and I'm told, 'Hey, you can take a lead.' I'd never done that. I was scared. I was a little 11-year-old playing with 16 and 17 year-olds. But, I actually scored a run."

Fast forward to the weekend of February 22-24, 2013. Jack Mayfield is a senior shortstop at the University of Oklahoma, and the Sooners are pitted against Iowa, New Mexico, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field. OU, the nation's 14th-ranked team, sweeps the field as he hits .385 with a home run, three runs batted in, and three stolen bases. Mayfield earns tournament MVP honors after belting a two-out, three-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth off Josh Walker to lift Oklahoma past the Lobos, 10-8.

"I loved Whataburger Field from the first time I saw it," Mayfield said. "As a college player coming to a minor league park, I was in awe. The outside looks unreal. I remember on workout day sitting with my teammates, enjoying a Whataburger and watching New Mexico practice.

"All my friends and family were here from Del Rio that weekend to watch me. OU was so far away for them; it was special."

Now in his second tour with the Hooks, the middle infielder doesn't take for granted the special opportunity he has to play professionally in the Houston Astros organization. Though Corpus Christi and Del Rio are 240 miles apart, it's still South Texas.

Adults and children in the border town knew early on that David and Maria Mayfield's youngest child had a chance to excel on the baseball field.

"I didn't start as early as I could have," Jack recalled. "I skipped T-ball. The first time I played it was in coach pitch at Buena Vista Field. I always played first base because I could consistently catch the ball.

"One time there was a ball hit into right field and I chased it down, turned, and threw a runner out at the plate. That was the first time I heard about arm strength."

Jack credits Hector with introducing him to the game and fueling his passion for the sport.

"Hector started playing and I began to follow him," Jack explained. "My brother didn't have much natural talent, but he worked hard. I loved the game because of my brother. He was an outfielder and pitcher at Del Rio High, now he's a teacher."

David also contributed to Jack's development by pitching batting practice at Roosevelt Field. From the time Jack turned 13, David provided the transportation for his son to out-of-town tournaments.

As a pitcher/shortstop for the Rams, Jack drew the attention of junior college and Southland Conference recruiters before a life-changing 2008 summer day in San Antonio.

Participating in a game at Nelson W. Wolff Stadium, home of the San Antonio Missions, Mayfield made an extraordinary defensive play and was spotted by a Washington Nationals scout.

"It was like a district all-star game between my junior and senior years, our District 28-5A against another one. I made a pretty good play in the hole. This scout was good friends with (then-OU assistant, now Texas Tech coach) Tim Tadlock. He called Coach Tadlock and said, 'This is a pretty good little kid over here in San Antonio, you might want to check him out.' Based on that recommendation and the trust they shared with each other, Oklahoma offered me a scholarship. I jumped on it right away. I remember being out on Lake Amistad and getting a voice mail from Coach Tadlock. I was so excited. I signed early as a senior with OU; he didn't see me play until the next year."

The significance of playing Big 12 baseball wasn't lost on Mayfield.

"From Del Rio, you don't hear much about players going to big schools. I was a Big 12 fan growing up, a UT fan. Once I signed with OU, UT became the most hated rival. Getting to play in the Big 12 was a really awesome experience. There are such great traditions. And, Norman, Oklahoma, really cares about its players. It's a fantastic sports town."

With the Sooners, Mayfield was a pitcher/infielder in 2010-11. He became the regular second baseman as a junior in 2012 before moving across the bag for his senior campaign.

"My junior year I was hoping to get drafted and I hit .280," Mayfield said. "My senior year it was about .260. I filled out 10 questionnaires from major league teams, hoped I'd get drafted late."

The 2013 draft came and went with OU involved in a Super Regional at LSU, but he didn't have to wait long.

"Ryan Gaines, the director of baseball operations at OU, texted me the day after the draft ended," Mayfield said. "He told me, 'two teams are looking for a middle infielder - the Astros and Athletics - and they're interested in you.' I told him, 'yeah, I'd love to play for the Astros.' Jim Stephenson, the area scout for Houston, contacted me and offered to send me to Greeneville, Tennessee, for rookie ball.

"I have to give a lot of credit to Jim. He'll text and encourage me. He says, 'you've worked so hard and I love seeing you progress.'"

And progress Mayfield has, scaling four rungs on the organizational ladder - including a 2014 California League championship run at Lancaster - to land in Corpus Christi last summer. He went 4-for-4 in his Double-A debut on July 7, 2015 at Springfield. The next night, he homered in his first professional Whataburger Field plate appearance.

A promotion to Triple-A Fresno would take Mayfield out of Texas, the next step in his journey through the Astros' system. The opportunity to play at Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston would be the realization of a long-held dream for the Lone Star State-loving Sooner.

"Pretty much the two biggest names to come out of Del Rio are Larvell Blanks and Jerry Cervantes," Mayfield said about the middle infielder who played for Atlanta, Cleveland, and Texas in the '70s, and the eventual Texas State standout young Jack once pinch-ran for.

But that Nationals scout on a hot afternoon on the Alamo City saw something in Jack Mayfield and so did Jim Stephenson. As a result, Corpus Christi college and pro baseball fans are all the richer.

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