Over the course of a full season in any sport, Prep Rally tends to note some fairly remarkable statistics. Few, if any, can match what hit the radar in Mississippi. That's where Silento Sayles, a senior shortstop for Port Gibson (Ms.) High, stole 103 bases in a single season.
Unsurprisingly, the 103 stolen bases mark an all-time national record, according to National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) records. According to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the previous NFHS mark was 96 steals as set by Vincente Rosario of New York (N.Y.) George Washington High in 1996. Sayles' 103 steals were also an incredible 26 more than the previous Mississippi mark, which was shared by two teammates at Natchez Trace (Ms.) Academy in 1991.
The senior has signed to play baseball for Chipola College, though it's likely that those plans would take a backseat if he were selected in the MLB Draft.
“I really didn’t set any goals,” Sayles told the Clarion-Ledger. “I just wanted to go out there and get as many as I could get.”
What he got were more steals than anyone in history, and he did so by running every single time he got on the base paths. According to the Clarion-Ledger, Sayles averaged 3.5 steals per game, but had a single-game high of 12. He stole seven bases during his team's 10-0 victory against Jefferson County (Ms.) High to cap off his record single season performance.
While the successful numbers behind Sayles record are enough to make one's head spin, his unsuccessful number is just as remarkable. En route to 103 stolen bases, Sayles was thrown out exactly one time, while trying to steal third base late in a game that Port Gibson trailed.
Sayles told the newspaper that he shouldn't have even attempted the steal, but felt obligated to try and make something happen for his teammates.
The one caught stealing didn't do much to diminish the senior's remarkable stolen bases success rate; with 103 successful steals, he was still successful more than 99 percent of the time.
With that kind of success, its remarkable that more major scouts didn't come see Sayles play. The senior was also a star quarterback and free safety for Port Gibson in the fall, but his baseball accomplishments were far more out of this world.
His coach made it clear that if they had, they would have little trouble believing in the authenticity of his remarkable record.
“The only thing I can tell them is to come watch him play,” Port Gibson baseball coach Dan Smith told the Clarion-Ledger. “Get a clock because the stopwatch doesn’t lie.”
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