Three years ago Lance Thompson stood on a small, deserted high school field and dreamt about playing Division I baseball. Some of his friends thought he was crazy, but he never doubted himself.

Now he's an everyday starter for Penn State.

It wasn't an easy road -- but, then again, success never is.

Few recruiters heard of Thompson, and even fewer were aware of his alma mater: Class A Moshannon Valley High School, a public institution that graduates about 85 students a year.

He was a diamond in the rough, a sparkling gem who performed in a park full of bumps and scattered clumps of grass.

"Well, if you looked at it from a distance, it looked like it was all grass," a stone-faced Thompson acknowledged.

Maybe so, but not many fans probably noticed that since only 50 people showed up to watch a game.

And, according to Thompson, that scant attendance consisted of all parents.

It wouldn't have been so bad if Moshannon was more than just a blip on the proverbial recruiting radar.

The outfielder never received any offers -- even from Division II colleges.

Still, Thompson knew he could play. The problem was getting someone outside of Moshannon to realize that.

But unlike most underdog athletes, there soon came a time when opportunity knocked -- and he took advantage by opening the door to a new world of possibility, a realm of Nittany Lion baseball.

Thompson said he could remember the moment vividly. He was tossing balls in the outfield during a Legion baseball tryout, when a mustached-man -- somewhat resembling Burt Reynolds -- walked on the field to speak with him.

It was Penn State's then-assistant, veteran pitching coach Randy Ford.

"I can really remember the one day when he called me," Thompson said. "I was in my bedroom at 10 or 11 in the morning.

"It was almost like a suggested walk-on."

Ford couldn't guarantee anything, but Thompson didn't seem to mind. It was his chance without luck, a break without downside -- and he was ready to make the most of it.

He stepped onto the field as a walk-on longshot that day -- but swaggered off as one of the Lions' brightest rookie prospects.

He started 34 games his freshman season, recording a .357 batting average.

"I wasn't surprised, not with his work ethic," said Jim Hawkins, Thompson's former high school head coach.

"As a hitter, oh my goodness, he's one of the best in this area."

A lot of colleges and universities overlooked the junior outfielder, and maybe it was difficult not to -- he is, after all, generously listed as 5-foot-8 in the media guide, a height that makes it all too easy to compare him to Notre Dame football's Rudy.

"They still give me a hard time about it," Thompson said.

"Anything we do; if we're in a small bus, they're like 'Hey, you don't even have to duck.'

"But I'll get that for the rest of my life, so it doesn't bother me."

What he lacks in stature, though, he makes up for with grit.

Thompson never let anybody shatter his high school dreams, and he's not going to allow anyone to belittle his college ambitions either.

"If I could play an inning of minor league ball, that would be a dream come true," he said.

It may seem like quite an outside chance, but nobody's about to count Thompson out -- because they're all banking on him proving everyone wrong.

Again.