ZEBULON — The loud thud of a well-hit baseball against the fence proved one thing.

Brian Goodwin is the best player Rocky Mount has seen, maybe since Danny Talbott. Maybe ever.

The first time Goodwin hit the ball in play during game three of the state championship series Saturday, he hit the ball to straight center field. It climbed, and climbed, and then fell – just next to the 400-foot sign.

High school ballplayers are not supposed to hit balls against the fence in Five County Stadium. Maybe in batting practice, but not in the game, against good live pitching.

But that's what Goodwin did, scampering to third and finishing the at-bat with a Willie Mays-style slide.

"That's crazy," Goodwin said of hitting the wall. "I thought it was gone."

Goodwin, a junior, is a relic – a nod to the good ol' days, when you looked at five skills above all else in baseball prospects.

He can run. He can hit, for both power and average. He plays great defense. And he has an arm to stop baserunners in their cleats.

Goodwin was 3-for-8 during the series, scoring four times. Remarkably, he was intentionally walked four times in three games. ("It gets frustrating," Goodwin said of the free passes) There were other deserving candidates, but he was the one named MVP.

This is where his coach, Pat Smith, comes in. All players need to be grounded, need someone to force their feet to the dirt.

Two of Goodwin's five tools – his speed and his arm – are God-given. He has made himself a complete ballplayer, but he had some help.

Goodwin's only presumed weakness results from his strength.

He is so naturally gifted that when a double is not a triple, the assumption is he did not sprint. When he does not make it to every fly ball, he again was not sprinting.

Anyone who saw Goodwin the football star knows such a notion is preposterous. He is, after all, the guy who saved Rocky Mount High's undefeated record and preserved a win over SouthWest Edgecombe last fall. Goodwin, starting from the opposite side of the field, caught the SouthWest Edgecombe wide receiver within a few yards of the end zone. Not only did he make the tackle, but he punched the football and caused a turnover.

The game comes so easily to some players that it's unfair to the rest of us, and we, against our better nature, seek to strike them down.

It would be a shame if that happened with Goodwin.

He has one more year remaining at Rocky Mount, one more year to, theoretically, enjoy the game of baseball and one more year for us to enjoy him.

That ship might have already sailed, though. Area college coaches already knew about him, salivating over his five-tool potential and green with envy at North Carolina's Mike Fox for securing the early commitment.

Next week, though, Major League Baseball conducts its annual draft of college players and high school seniors. Then, scouts from all 30 teams will start watching next year's senior class.

Saturday's championship game might have been the last without pro scouts lined up behind home plate. His last before every at-bat, every put-out and every throw are dissected, studied and relayed back to the office.

"They're going to be hounding us," Smith said. "I just want to keep him progressing. They'll make that judgement next spring, but right now, he's going to be a pretty good draft pick."

One of Smith's past players, John Raynor, now trolls the Five County Stadium outfield for the Double-A Mudcats. The left fielder will play in the big leagues one day, with Florida or somebody else.

Goodwin will, too.

"I am trying to go pro," Goodwin said. "That's what I plan on being."

Sports writer H. Williams Kellenberger can be reached at 407-9950 or hwkellenberger@coxnc.com