Justin Campbell Back For More With USA Baseball

CARY, N.C.–Unless you are a teenager yourself, Justin Campbell can’t help but make you feel over the hill.

Campbell was born on Valentine’s Day 2001. There have only been two U.S. presidents in his lifetime. Y2K? It happened before he was born.

But Campbell has lived a lot for a 14-year-old. He’s got a gold medal in his trophy case already. As a 12-year-old Campbell allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings in front of a sellout crowd to beat the Taiwanese hosts in the 12U Baseball World Cup. He was named the best starting pitcher of the tournament.

“It was just about going out there and having confidence in yourself,” Campbell said. “It meant a lot to me to go out and start the first game of the 12U tournament and the last game, it was unreal. It was a lot of fun.”

Two years later, he hopes to help lead USA Baseball’s 15U team to a COPABE Pan Am Championship. He would be the youngest player on the roster.

In an outing at the 15U Trials this week, Campbell demonstrated why he’s already generating lots of interest even though he’s yet to throw a pitch for his high school team. When he’s pitching, it’s hard to remember that Campbell won’t be draft-eligible until 2019. He’s already 6-foot-5, 185 pounds.

In his outing on Tuesday he sat at 83-84 mph, then dialed it up to 86-87 when he faced fellow Simi Valley native Jaden Fein in a key situation. He repeats his delivery consistently and already shows the ability to snap off a true 12-to-6 curveball, although like many young pitchers, he will hang a curve every now and then.

Campbell’s older brother Matt is 6-foot-6 and a pitcher at California North Ridge. His father Jack Campbell also pitched in high school and college. Quality pitching instruction was never hard to find around the house. But with an accomplished brother who is four years older than him, Justin has always had to work hard to keep up.

“I try to be just as good as him (Matt),” Campbell said.

Campbell will be facing a similar dynamic in high school as a rising freshman facing seniors. But considering his stuff and his plentiful international experience, he’s unlikely to find himself in over his head.

Simi Valley High has a long history of producing top teams and top talents. Jered and Jeff Weaver both pitched there as did Scott Radinsky. The school has won a pair of California Interscholastic Federation titles. Pioneers fans have been waiting patiently for Campbell to arrive, hoping he can add another future big leaguer to that impressive list.

When Campbell was a seventh-grader, the Los Angeles Times wrote about how the school couldn’t wait for his arrival for the 2016 season. He was 6-foot-2 then. He’s added three inches since and as a 14-year-old, he’s still growing. Now he’s about to become the most eagerly anticipated freshman in the CIF.

At that time of that L.A. Times’ feature, Campbell’s left arm was in a cast. In trying to dunk as a seventh-grader he broke both arms slipping off the rim and falling awkwardly. Thankfully the left hand (his non-pitching arm) took the brunt of the damage.

It didn’t slow him down. Four weeks after the casts came off, Campbell successfully dunked. As a 6-foot-5 rising freshman, he’s a pretty good basketball player as well. But it’s harder to find pitchers with this kind of feel and stuff, which is why USA Baseball is happy to have him on the mound in red, white and blue.