2024 TribLive HSSN Baseball Player of the Year: Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields

By: Don Rebel
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | 11:52 PM

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David Shields will likely hear his name called at the MLB Draft in a couple of weeks, but the Mt. Lebanon senior isn’t counting the days. Instead, he’s in South Florida getting a start on his college education at Miami.

“The idea is to put myself in the best position I can, no matter when I end up going,” said Shields, a talented left-handed pitcher and outfielder. “If I end up staying here (in Miami), I’ll have a jump on classes and workouts and stuff like that. If not, sitting at home wasn’t going to do my any good anyway.”

His drive to improve also made him stand out on WPIAL baseball fields. For the second straight season, Shields was named the TribLive HSSN Baseball Player of the Year.

A lot happened to Shields before he even threw his first pitch this spring. He tested ahead in school to skip his junior year. He bypassed high school football season to focus on baseball. And then he had to overcome a bout of mononucleosis right before the season started that caused him to lose 20 pounds.

However, once he got going, the senior showed everybody why dozens of MLB scouts were following him in advance of the July 14-16 draft. Shields finished with a 5-1 record and allowed only two earned runs in 35 innings pitched, walking four and striking out 63. He was pretty good with the stick, too, batting .383 with 16 runs scored and 18 RBIs.

Shields could have a decision to make between turning pro or playing college baseball. In spite of the countless mock drafts out there, Shields said he couldn’t begin to guess which MLB team might take him.

“Anybody who says they know what is going to happen is probably lying to you,” Shields said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Shields discussed his season with TribLive HSSN’s Don Rebel on the Rebel Yell podcast.

Tags: Mt. lebanon