Lawrence High senior shortstop Aaron Rea is pictured on Wednesday at Ice Field. Rea was recently named first-team all-state, first-team all-Sunflower League and Sunflower League Player of the Year. LHS will face Blue Valley at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 6A state tournament.

When Lawrence High senior Aaron Rea was 13, he took baseball lessons from a man who one day would become his high school coach.

Rea, little more than a scrappy athlete full of potential at the time, was the source of much frustration for future head coach Brad Stoll.

“I left every lesson mad because here was this wonderful kid, who had the potential to be a great player, and I knew I was never going to get to coach him,” said Stoll, a Free State assistant coach when he tutored Rea.

As fate would have it, the two were reunited when Stoll moved over to coach his alma mater, and Rea eventually became a three-year starter in the LHS program.

During his sophomore and junior seasons, Rea flashed the kind of ability that made Stoll believe in him from an early age. Great range at shortstop and excellent speed joined with toughness and raw power to create the Aaron Rea the city has seen throughout his senior season.

But it’s not just fans of Lawrence High baseball who have taken notice of the kind of player Rea has become. Earlier this week the 6-foot-1 shortstop was named first-team all-state, first-team all-Sunflower League and Sunflower League Player of the Year.

“There’s not a better player in this conference than Aaron Rea,” Stoll said. “He’s done it all.”

And he’s done it with a hint of humility and a devastating smile.

Rea’s introduction to the game he loves came days after he was born.

“The first sport I ever played was baseball,” Rea said. “That was the first toy my dad put in my crib and I’ve been around baseball ever since.”

Although he dabbled with other sports — he was part of an 18-0 sophomore basketball team and was the Lions’ leading receiver in football last fall — baseball always beat at the forefront of Rea’s heart.

During his younger days, he spent time playing the outfield as often as the infield. But from 13 on he’s stayed put near the middle of the diamond, most often holding down his familiar spot at shortstop.

For Rea, the area between second and third always has been a second home. Same goes for his spot at the top of the Lions’ batting order. In both spots, Rea has tried to approach the game with an aggressive attitude. His numbers, both offensively and defensively, seem to indicate it has worked, as Rea has followed up a solid junior year with a much better senior season.

“Overall, I’d say the biggest jump I’ve made has been in the mental part of the game,” Rea said. “It’s all in your mind. Last year, I was probably the same player I am this year, I just didn’t have the mentality you need. The more risk you take, the better the result and the less errors you make. The coaches have preached that all year and I’ve really tried to take it to heart.”

Rea’s new approach has sparked his defensive numbers more than anything else. Instead of waiting back and letting ground balls play him, Rea has charged just about every ground ball hit his way, attacking them like an elementary student busting through a line of Red Rover at recess.

“He just became a little more confident in himself this year,” senior catcher Jake Green said.

That includes at the plate, where Rea leads the Lions in seven major offensive categories: hits (26), batting average (.433), on-base-percentage (.553), slugging percentage (.650), runs scored (24), home runs (4) and stolen bases (16).

He credits his increased strength for his high home run total and takes pride in his ability to produce with the bat.

Few deliveries stand out quite like his performance at Kansas University’s Hoglund Ballpark in a victory against Free State on May 14.

“I made the error and then I got the hit to win the game the next inning,” Rea said.

The hit? That’s not exactly what others called Rea’s sixth-inning, game-winning solo home run at KU’s field. Most people used words like “bomb,” “shot” or “rocket.”

“It was a good hit,” Rea amended as a smile crept across his face. “A nice hit.”

One that just about everyone in the LHS dugout expected.

“That’s probably the best memory of the year from him,” Green said. “But he’s always solid like that and he knows we count on him to be the best shortstop in the state, which we think he is.”

For the first time in his career, such a blanket statement covers his defensive ability, too. Credit that to Stoll’s practice tactics. Every day, he gives his infielders time to work on the Omar Vizquel, Ozzie Smith, Derek Jeter defensive gems.

“Aaron does all the little things,” Stoll said. “But he also makes the spectacular plays, too.”

For Rea and eight other seniors, their careers have come down to one final weekend. After back-to-back third-place finishes at state, LHS has its focus entirely fixed on winning it all this season. The fourth-seeded Lions (18-4) will open play at 1:30 p.m. Friday at 3&2 Baseball Complex in Lenexa against Blue Valley (17-4), the team that eliminated them last season.

When Friday’s first pitch is released, whether he’s at shortstop or at the plate, the Lions will look to Rea to get them started.

“He’s definitely the guy we look to for that,” Green said. “Especially leading off. He always sets the tone. Any time he leads off with a hit, that just gets us going and usually good things happen after that.”