High School Stars Shine at Baseball Tryout

Despite overcast weather conditions, baseballs were flying around Russell Carr Field July 6 as about 100 of the best high school baseball players from the Los Angeles County and San Fernando Valley regions took part in an exclusive tryout. Nearly 90 major league scouts and college coaches evaluated the prospects during the first day of Area Code Tryouts, which are free and open to public viewing.

In the morning, players went through a typical pro-style workout, including timed running, infield and outfield evaluations and batting practice. In the afternoon, the top players were invited to a simulated game to face some of the nation’s best pitching.

Tryouts for players from Orange County, Riverside, the Inland Empire and San Diego regions will be held Wednesday, July 7, beginning at 9 a.m. The final tryout, which will feature the best of the players from the initial rounds, will be Thursday, July 15, at Carr Field.

Though there were many coaches from much larger colleges, Westmont Baseball Head Coach Robert Ruiz says he hopes to land a top prospect or two.

“It is a great opportunity for Westmont to bring many high-profile players to our campus,” Ruiz says. “As a result of the Area Code Tryouts, the Westmont name will go into different parts of the baseball community in a very positive way. That’s beneficial to the development of our program and a powerful tool for recruiting.”

Ruiz projected many of the players would be selected in the MLB draft or sign with top colleges.

One of those in attendance was Harvard-Westlake School junior pitcher Lucas Giolito, who has received several scholarship offers from Big West and Pac-10 universities. The Los Angeles Times reports Giolito’s fastball was clocked between 90 and 93 mph at the Stanford camp last week.