Graduated from Clinton (N.C.) High School in 2007 where he was a two-time All-State selection, the Sampson County Player-of-the-Year, East Central Conference Player-of-the-Year...also served as the team's closer, recorded eight saves...also played football in high school and was named the Defensive Player-of-the-Game in the Class 2A State Championship as punter...is from the same high school as Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker...played college baseball at UNCWilmington where he was a first-team all-Colonial League selection leading the league with 22 caught stealing his draft season...was a Cape Cod League all-star during the summer of 2009...comes from an athletic family as his father, Kelly, played college baseball and football at Elon University while his mother Beverly played softball at Lenoir Comunity College...resides in Clinton, N.C.
2014
Received an invite to Major League Spring Training...Played in 103 games at Springfield (AA), starting 76 at catcher and 27 as designated hitter...Earned Texas League All-Star Game MVP honors as starting catcher for the North squad going 2-for-2 with a two-run home run which was the eventual game-winning RBI. Participated in the Home Run Derby and hit one home run...Named to the Texas League post-season All-Star Team...Led Springfield and ranked 5th in the Texas League in both batting (.283) and slugging (.429)...Tallied 109 hits and nine sacrifice flies, leading Springfield in both categories and establishing single-season highs...Led all Cardinals minor league catchers with 13 stolen bases, a single-season high...Ranked T9th among Cardinals minor leaguers with 12 home runs...Threw out 41.8% of attempted base stealers (28-67), ranking 2nd among Texas League catchers...Had 33 multi-hit games with eight three-hit games and two four-hit games (4/28 at Arkansas & 8/8 vs. Midland)...Smacked a pair of home runs vs. Northwest Arkansas (7/9)...Produced a .364 BA (32-88) in May with 4 HR and 8 RBI...Played for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League and batted .292 with 12 RBI. His .292 BA was the 2nd highest average among AFL catchers. Posted a 10-game hitting streak from 10/14-11/3, batting .342 (13-38) with 8 RBI.
2013
Began the season at Palm Beach (A) and was promoted to Double-A Springfield on 5/11...Was a non-roster invitee to Major League camp in Spring Training...Started 18 of his 23 Palm Beach games at catcher and was the designated hitter on five occasions...Played in 75 of Springfield's remaining 104 games after promotion. Hit .309 as the DH (17-55) and .233 when behind the plate (50-215). Went 1-2 as a pinch hitter, his one hit a 3-run home run on 6/27 at Corpus Christi...Threw out 40.0% (25-63) of attempted base stealers with 42.2% success at Springfield (19-45).
2012
Sat out the first 50 games of the season on suspension for testing positive of a banned substance under the guidlines of professional baseball....played three games at Gulf Coast League batting .300 (3-10) before promotion to Palm Beach (A) for the rest of the season...was a non-roster invitee to Major League camp in Spring Training...named Florida State League Player of the Week (8/20-26) batting .417 (5-12) with two home runs and 11 RBI...tied his career-high of 5 RBI twice (7/23 at Jupiter & 8/22 vs. Charlotte)...batted .378 (17-45) with two home runs and 33 RBI with runners in scoring position...posted a 12-game hitting streak 7/22-8/5, batting .358 (19-53) during the streak, the third longest on Palm Beach team...threw out 25.0% (10-40) of attempted base stealers with 26.3% success at Palm Beach (10-38).
2011
Has won a League Championship in each of his first two seasons with the Cardinals (Johnson City, 2010; Quad Cities, 2011)...Played the entire season at Quad Cities (A), appearing in 101 games and starting 80 at catcher...Selected to the Midwest League All-Star Game as the starting catcher for the West squad. Went 1-for-2 with a single...Ranked 2nd in the Midwest League in caught stealing percentage, throwing out 34 of 88 possible for a 38.6% CS rate...Ranked 2nd on the squad with 11 home runs, 66 RBI, 100 hits; and 3rd with 54 runs and 24 doubles. His 66 RBI were 9th most among Cardinals minor leaguers...Batted .339 (21-62) with 6 HR and 14 RBI in the month of July...Recorded a .343 BA (23-67) in lead-off situations and hit .292 with10 HR and 48 RBI in the first five innings of a game...Put together a career-best 10-game hitting streak from 7/20-8/4, batting .356 (16-45) with 2 HR and 6 RBI during streak...Batted .302 (19-63) with 2 HR and 26 RBI with runners in scoring position and two outs...Had a career-best 5 RBI on 6/10 vs. Great Lakes while tying a career-best wih four hits for the second of three times in 2011...Batted .286 with two doubles and two RBI in seven games of the Midwest League Playoffs.
2010
Played 53 games at Johnson City (R) before a promotion to Quad Cities on 9/5 to finish the regular season...threw out 56.5% of would-be base stealers (13-23) and would have ranked 4th in minor league baseball, but did not qualify...named to the Appalachian League All-Star team...ranked 2nd among Cardinals minor leaguers with a .319 batting average...led Johnson City with five triples and eight stolen bases, while ranking 2nd on team with 39 RBI, 67 hits and 104 total bases...established a career-best four hits 8/3 at Greenville...had 20 multiple hit games out of 53 total including a stretch of five consecutive multi-hit games from 8/22-27, which included an RBI in all five games...began career with hits in five straight games...batted .313 with runners in scoring position and two outs...hit two home runs in Appy League playoff opening game at Burlington.
