My son never played at the highest level, though he got a sniff of some top notch college ball. He definitely exceeded expectations his senior year of high school. He was something of a late bloomer. For instance, he was not the best player in his Little League, and really may have never been the best player on any team he played on. He got to play in an elite high school program that has won something like 10 state championships in 20 years. He was a pitcher only pretty much the whole time he was in high school, and pretty much every one knew he could be really good. The question was would he be good enough to be one of the top guys.
It looked like things were set up for him to get significant innings his junior year. In the fall of that year though he suffered a severe knee injury. His junior year of baseball was in jeopardy. He made it back to the field that spring but it was on a limited basis. Again, his senior year it was looking like he would have a chance to make big contributions. In short, he was lights out. Was very good. Set the school record for strikeouts in a season. Was named the area's player of the year and was named to a high school All-American team. Hard work and preparation meeting up with opportunity.