Virgin Islands premier Little League all star Callix S. Crabbe was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 32nd round of the 2000 Major League amateur baseball draft on Tuesday.
A second baseman who will graduate from Georgia's Stone Mountain High School on Friday, Crabbe was the 970th selection overall.
Crabbe was the Charlotte Amalie High School starting shortstop during his freshman and sophomore years. CAHS won the Interscholastic Athletic Association varsity baseball championship both years — 1997 and 1998 – and was undefeated in his sophomore year. He transferred to Stone Mountain for his junior year.
If Crabbe signs with Atlanta, he will probably go to one of the Braves' rookie level teams — the Orlando Braves in Florida's Gulf Coast league or the Danville, Va., Braves of the Appalachian League. Both leagues begin play in late June and conclude in late August.
Crabbe, a perennial all-star, was a Little League starting shortstop for the Elrod Hendricks West in 1994 and 1995. In 1995, he was named best relief pitcher as he accumulated the most saves in that year's Latin American Little League tournament in Maracaibo, Venezuela. The Virgin Islands won its division but finished third overall.
Although the weather is ideal, the opportunity for baseball players to gain exposure is limited in the territory. For example, teams played only eight games apiece in the local Interscholastic Athletic Association varsity baseball league. On the mainland, teams typically play about 40 games in a season.
"He improved his chances of being drafted by moving to the mainland United States to finish his high school education," Crabbe's Little League all-star manager, Michael Bute noted. "There is very little that could have been offered to him on St. Thomas."
Crabbe was an Elrod Hendricks West senior league all star from 1996 through 1998. His senior league all-star manager, Alvin "Bello" Richards, said that what he needs to do now is "to focus on the positive and continue to do the hard things to make him better and put him on top."
