BASEBALL PRO REMEMBERS HIS ROOTS IN SANTA CLARITA.

Byline: Amy Raisin  Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays shortly after his graduation from Hart High in 2000, pitcher Jamie Shields was 3,000 miles away, climbing the ladder to his big-league dreams, when he learned his childhood pal and teammate had been killed in a car crash last spring.

Shields resolved to honor the memory of Nolan LeMar, the 19-year-old College of the Canyons baseball player who died. Authorities said a drunk driver hit the athlete's truck.

The 20-year-old right-hander now pursues his Major League dream for both of them, tackling his life these days with characteristic intensity and vigor.

Shields entered the business world last month with Get in the Zone Baseball, his own baseball camp for kids, which he debuted just before Christmas in Santa Clarita.

``I got the call at 3 in the morning. It's tough,'' Shields said about the loss of his friend. ``Every game before I pitched, I scratched (LeMar's) number 25 in the dirt with my cleat. I'll do that for the rest of my career. And I told his parents, I'm going to do my best to make it for him. The Major Leagues was always his dream.''

After a respectable season in single-A ball (4-5, with a 2.65 ERA) - mostly with South Carolina's Charleston Riverdogs in the South Atlantic league - Shields, the youngest of three boys, was eager to share what he learned playing professional baseball.

With three other young men, Shields took on his latest endeavor, welcoming as many as 30 kids, ages 8 to 14, for the off-season baseball skills camp he intends to make a yearly event.

``This was my first camp and I think it turned out really well for the kids,'' he said. ``I love coming back here and helping out young kids, teaching them all the things that I've learned that I didn't learn at their age.''

His father, Jack, is not surprised by his son's interest in running a baseball camp, as the now 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pounder had always seemed determined to match or surpass his older brothers.

``He's a bulldog, very focused,'' Shields said. ``It comes into everything he does in life. He just doesn't believe he will fail.''

Like his baseball idol, six-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, Shields is relying on his aggressive nature and stubborn determination to take him to the top.

``(Clemens) is really aggressive, he likes to challenge people,'' he said. ``If someone tries to compete over him, he doesn't like it. If you're out there scared and afraid, it's no good.''

After the Devil Rays signed him to a $262,000 contract, Shields celebrated by buying a black Cadillac Escalade. Now he has graduated to the world of professional athletes, he is tasting some of the fruits of recognized athletic prowess.

But the baby of the family, who his dad describes as very family oriented, still listens to his favorite country music and hangs out with his childhood friends on a Saturday night.

For the next six weeks, Shields will continue to get into shape for spring training, where scores of young, talented athletes will try and show the brass why they should be on the roster.

``I just want to continue what I was doing last season,'' he said. ``I'm happy with my decisions. I've always wanted to be a professional ballplayer. It's what I want to do.''

For information on Get in the Zone Baseball Camp, call [phone].

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(color) Ex-Hart High student Jamie Shields was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He has started his own baseball camp for kids.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer