By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

With school in session around the country, things are relatively quiet on the prospect front. However, Team USA is off to a good start at the Pan American Championship in Mexico. The 18U National Team is 3-0 and has outscored its opponents 51-1 so far. Between four exhibition games and the tournament, RHP/1B Luken Baker (Oak Ridge HS, TX) is leading the offense with a .600 (15-for-25) clip and three home runs, two of which have been in tournament play. OF Trent Clark (Richland HS, TX) isn’t far behind with a .571 (16-for-28) average and two home runs. Team USA has used just four pitchers in the three Pan Am games thanks to the mercy rule shortening the contests. RHP Peter Lambert (San Dimas HS, CA) and LHP Kale Breaux (Sulphur HS, LA) each pitched five-inning complete games and didn’t allow a run while striking out seven each. LHP Kolby Allard (San Clemente HS, CA) and RHP Joe DeMers (College Park HS, CA) combined for eight innings against Canada on Sunday. Allard allowed one run on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out 10. DeMers closed the game out and allowed just one hit while striking out six.

Now, let’s get to a reader’s question…

Who are the top 2016 catching prospects in the country that you have seen?
There are still many players I need to see in the 2016 class, but I have been able to see a few standout catchers in the last year. Brad Debo (Orange HS, NC), T.J. Collett (North Vigo HS, IN), Cooper Johnson (Carmel Catholic HS, IL) and Blake Sabol (Aliso Niguel HS, CA) immediately come to mind as some of the best.