GREENSBORO, N.C.—Las Vegas had a banner year for baseball talent in 2010. Bryce Harper was the headliner, destroying junior college competition as a 17-year-old on the way to a National League rookie of the year campaign two years later.

Then there are players currently enjoying success in the minor leagues like Padres righthander Donn Roach and Red Sox righthander Aaron Kurcz (who were both teammates with Harper at Southern Nevada CC), Pirates righthander Nick Kingham and Rangers third baseman Drew Robinson.

Two players—third baseman Kris Bryant and righthander Michael Wagner—are now juniors at San Diego. But what happens in Vegas, sometimes winds up in West Virginia.

Righthander Aaron Blair from Marshall is one of the top righthanders in this year's draft class. How does a high school player from Nevada wind up at a college nearly 2,000 miles from home?

"I went to Jupiter, Florida, my senior year and I played with the Ohio Warhawks," Blair said. "And they saw saw me throw out there. I came on a visit and committed the next day. I had a lot of fun on my recruiting visit. I really liked the coaches and the players I was with. Everything was great."

Blair's emergence at Marshall capped a fine year for the program's pitchers. Athletics righthander Dan Straily led the minor leagues in strikeouts (190) and became the first Marshall pitcher to pitch in the big leagues since Rick Reed in 1988. Other recent picks like Padres righthander Joe Church (17th round, 2012), Rockies lefthander Mike Mason (24th, 2012), Rangers lefthander Greg Williams (12th, 2011) and Blue Jays righthanders Arik Sikula (36th, 2011) Ian Kadish (NDFA, 2011) had solid minor league seasons in 2012.
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Last year against Fresno State, Stanford righthander Mark Appel got the loss, giving up two home runs to Fresno State outfielder Aaron Judge in the process. Appel later beat the Bulldogs in Regionals and carried that success into the 2013 season. On Friday night at home, Appel pitched a complete game while giving up one run on three hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts for the win. On the season, the senior ace is now 1-1, 1.93 with 10 hits, four walks and 14 strikeouts over 14 innings.

Indiana State lefthander Sean Manaea tossed six shutout innings against College of Charleston at a tournament in Auburn, Ala. Manaea allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out 10, but didn't factor in a decision. On the season he is now 0-1, 0.90 with five hits, five walks and 16 strikeouts over 10 innings.

Oklahoma lefthander Dillon Overton continues to dominate. After ranking eighth in the country in strikeouts as a sophomore, Overton is off to a blistering start as a junior. He scattered seven hits over eight shutout innings against Iowa this weekend for a victory in the first game of the 2013 Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. Overton did not issue a walk and struck out nine, improving to 3-0, 0.56 on the season with 16 strikeout and one walk over 16 innings. Overton will take on Scott Frazier and Pepperdine at home this Friday.

Appel wasn't the only Pacific 12 pitcher with a stellar outing this weekend. Arizona State righthander Trevor Williams struck out eight over seven shutout innings for the win against Tennessee; Oregon State senior lefthander Matt Boyd struck out nine over 8.1 shutout innings for the win against San Diego State and Washington righthander Austin Voth struck out 14 over 7.2 innings against Lamar. He gave up two runs on five hits for the win.

Mississippi State outfielder Hunter Renfroe had an excellent weekend against Purdue and Samford, going 5-for-10 with a triple and two home runs as the Bulldogs went 4-0 on the weekend in their Diamond Classic tournament to improve to 9-0 on the season. Renfroe is now hitting .393/.471/.750 on the year.

Virginia Tech left fielder Tyler Horan went 6-for-9 on the weekend against Temple, Holy Cross and Delaware. Horan’s six hits included two home runs and the slugger is now hitting .429/.515/.714 on the season. Virginia Tech travels down to Cary, N.C. next weekend for the inaugural Irish Baseball Classic, where the Hokies will take on Rhode Island, Ohio, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

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Andrew Dunlap from Westbury Christian High in Houston is one of the draft's most fascinating prospects. Read or listen to the interview below to learn about his conversion from catcher to pitcher (and how he recently touched 96 mph), his new training buddy Trevor Bauer and why he won't be playing for his high school team this spring . . .

Click here to download the .MP3 interview with Andrew Dunlap

Welcome everyone to a Baseball America Q&A. I'm Conor Glassey and joining me on the line is Andrew Dunlap. Andrew, thank you for taking the time. How's everything going for you?

Oh, it's going well. I'm just training and working on this pitching thing.

Nice. Well, let's start off talking about Twitter for a minute. Twitter is how I got in touch with you for this interview. What's the story behind your Twitter handle, @DunDeuce?

Haha, oh wow, I did not see this one coming. So, my freshman year of getting hazed in high school, I went to an all-guys Catholic high school where they did a little bit of freshman fun stuff. So everyone would throw out all these nicknames based upon my last name, Dunlap. And so I had pretty much Dun-followed by any other word, expletive, anything you can think of. And one that stuck was DunDeuce. I don't know why, but that's how that came about.

Nice, so you're wearing it proud?

I'm wearing it proud, exactly. Another one that stuck was The Lone Ranger, because I would always stretch by myself and get in trouble a little bit, but that's another story.

Well, it doesn't look like you're super into Twitter, like some of these guys who I see are Tweeting 100 times a day.

No. I don't know. I had one about two years ago and I deleted it because I never used it and then I figured that it'd be good to just get connected again. Although I'm not like a huge social media guy. I mean, I'll get on it and I like to follow people, but I don't really have too much to say.
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Kentwood High catcher Reese McGuire ($) isn’t Washington’s only marquee talent for the 2013 draft. But that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Over the past 10 years, the only states to produce more high school picks from the top three rounds than Washington are California, Florida, Texas, Georgia and Puerto Rico.

Righthander Dustin Driver from Wenatchee (Wash.) High first put his name on the map as a rising junior at the 2011 Area Code Games. With teams hand-picked by scouts, any time an underclassman makes one of the squads, it typically means they’re pretty special. Just consider some of the other rising juniors at the 2011 event and where they wound up on Baseball America’s High School Top 100 rankings more than a year later: outfielder/lefthander Trey Ball (3), shortstop J.P. Crawford (5), first baseman Dominic Smith (6), lefthander Rob Kaminsky (12) and first baseman Rowdy Tellez (16).

Driver checked in at No. 22 thanks to his 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame as well as his fastball that sits in the 90-92 mph range and tops out at 94.
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• Georgia Tech righthander Buck Farmer pitched a beauty against Akron on Friday. The YellowJackets' ace threw eight shutout innings, allowed only four hits (all singles), didn't walk anybody and struck out a career-high 14, as Georgia Tech won, 3-0. Scouts don't love Farmer's arm action and he slipped to the 15th round last year, but is one of the most interesting seniors available for 2013.

• Fresno State outfielder Aaron Judge has some of the loudest raw tools in this year's draft class. But scouts would like to see his raw power translate into more home runs, as he's hit just six over his first two years with Fresno State. Judge got off to a nice start this weekend against UC Santa Barbara by going 5-for-13 with a double, a home run and a stolen base.

• Washington State outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda got off to a hot start in cold weather, though his Cougars weren't as fortunate. Monda, who you can read more about here, went 6-for-14 on the weekend with a home run and a stolen base. The home run already ties his total output from last season. The Cougars scored 19 runs on the weekend, but wound up going 1-2 against Western Carolina.

• Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo helped the Irish get off to a 2-1 start to the season in the Snowbird Tournament in Sarasota, Fla. Notre Dame beat Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State before losing on Sunday to Mercer. Jagielo anchored the lineup by going 6-for-11 with a double and two home runs.

• Oregon third baseman Ryon Healy went 8-for-12 on the weekend against Hawaii with three doubles, a home run and a stolen base. Healy was a breakout prospect in 2010 when he ranked as the California Collegiate League's No. 1 prospect and hit .312/.378/.419 as a sophomore. The Ducks went 3-0 on the weekend and finish up the series against Hawaii today.

• North Carolina lefthander Kent Emanuel continued to do what he does by throwing a complete-game shutout on Opening Day against Seton Hall. Emanuel gave up four hits, didn't walk anybody and struck out five to notch a 1-0 win for the No. 1 ranked Tar Heels.

• Jacksonville righthander Chris Anderson dominated Radford on Friday, giving up no runs on one hit and one walk over seven innings while recording 13 strikeouts. Even after that sparkling performance on the mound, it still took Jacksonville 11 innings to win, 2-1.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by school. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

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CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Washington State outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda was born to be a Cougar.

His Washington State roots run deep. Both of his parents attended the university before his father, Greg, spent six years in the minor leagues after the Reds made him their 15th-round pick in 1983.

"Obviously I've been a Coug since day one, so it means a lot to me," Monda said about wearing the crimson and grey. "I'll be a Coug until the day I die and hopefully the Cougar tradition stays in the Monda family for a while."

"His entire family, they all go to Washington State," Washington State head coach Donnie Marbut said with a chuckle. "I think he lives with three cousins and his twin brother (Michael), who is on the team now as a backup catcher for us. Jason's biggest fan is Michael and Michael's biggest fan is Jason, and I think they bring out the best in each other."
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It's a bit of a light year in the Northeast for college pitchers. One of the most exciting draft-eligible arms in the region was on display in Cary, N.C., on Opening Day, so there were about a dozen scouts taking in the 2013 Ron Fraser Classic at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Righthander Pat Young from Villanova took the mound against Monmouth to open the season. Young, who stands 6-foot-7 and 208 pounds, gave up three runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings for a no-decision.

Young sat in the 92-94 mph range and topped out at 95 with some natural sinking action. His 79-81 mph breaking ball is developing right now, but showed signs of becoming an average slider. He only threw a couple changeups during his first outing.
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RALEIGH — Appalachian State senior Rob Marcello wasn't drafted out of Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) High. He wasn't drafted out of Indian River State (Fla.) JC as a teammate of Padres 2011 first-rounder Cory Spangenberg. And he wasn't drafted as the Mountaineers' Sunday starter last year, after the 6-foot-3, 245-pound lefthander went 6-5, 5.31 with 48 strikeouts and 30 walks over 83 innings.

This year, his role has changed and has boosted his draft stock. Marcello is now in the closer's role, a move that has boosted his fastball into the 91-93 mph range and getting as high as 95.
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See Also: 2013 HS Games To Watch

The beginning of college baseball season is 111 days before the draft. Those days go quickly for scouting directors and crosscheckers, as they zig-zag across the country trying to see as many key players as possible. With such a limited amount of time before the big day, carefully choosing the best matchup games is important. Here are some of the season’s best college matchups, from a draft perspective, for the 2013 season.

Minnesota at UCLA (Feb. 15)
From a draft perspective, this looks like the best opening day matchup in the country with UCLA righthander Adam Plutko likely facing off against Golden Gophers lefthander Tom Windle.

Stanford at Rice (Feb. 15)
This series has more overall appeal than the one in Westwood. Even with righthander A.J. Vanegas on the shelf after having back surgery, Stanford is loaded with draft talent. This game will feature the top overall draft prospect, righthander Mark Appel (who was born in Houston and has a number of family members who attended Rice) against Rice righthander Austin Kubitza. Kubitza, who went 6-5, 2.69 last season, will have his work cut out for him, as Stanford’s lineup features two first-team All-Americans in outfielder Austin Wilson and first baseman Brian Ragira, along with one of the better college shortstop prospects in Lonnie Kauppila.
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COMPTON, Calif.—Each February for the better part of the last decade, hordes of scouts have descended upon the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton for the MLB Scouting Bureau's Southern California Invitational showcase. The brainchild of longtime Bureau scout Dan Dixon, the showcase brings together the top draft-eligible high school talent in Southern California, drawing many scouting directors, crosscheckers and area scouts.

Nearly all of the region's top players were on hand Saturday, with the notable exception of first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith, whom one scout called "by far the best guy out here." But most scouts came away with the impression that this SoCal crop features fewer marquee talents than usual.

"There is a lot of depth this year, it's just not depth at the high end," an American League area scout said. "It's depth at the middle to lower end. And a lot of those guys are going to college—they're not going to take 150,000 bucks. So a lot of these kids are good, but are they good enough to go in the top three rounds? Bottom line for me was there was no star power, other than (Carlos) Salazar—that was it."

We surveyed an area scout, a crosschecker and a scouting director to get impressions of the talent assembled in Compton, and the consensus was that Salazar—a righthander from the small town of Kerman, just west of Fresno—and San Diego lefthander Ian Clarkin (Madison High) stood out above the rest of the pack Saturday. [...] Continue Reading »

Lefthander Stephen Tarpley was one of the biggest recruits to wind up on campus last year. After being selected in the eighth round of the 2011 draft by the Indians, Tarpley honored his commitment to Southern California and ranked as the No. 37 college freshman in Baseball America’s 2012 College Preview issue.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound southpaw pitched well for the Trojans, going 5-3, 3.22 with 67 strikeouts and 29 walks over 78 innings, but returned closer to home to pitch for Scottsdale (Ariz.) CC for the 2013 season. The move to juco ball makes Tarpley eligible for the 2013 draft and he projects as a second- to fourth-round pick.

So far this season, Tarpley has helped the Fighting Artichokes to a 5-0 record by going 1-0, 1.23 with 10 strikeouts and three walks over 7.1 innings.

“The stuff has been really good,” Scottsdale head coach Alex Cherney said. “I was told his fastball was 91-94 (mph) the other day. His command has been OK. It could always get a little bit better, but he’s pitched well so far. Obvioulsy we expect him to get a little bit sharper as the season goes along, especially with his command, but so far he’s been as advertised.”
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While most sports fans were focused on the Super Bowl yesterday, more than 60 scouts were huddled in a warehouse in McCook, Ill., for the 11th-annual Super 60 Pro Showcase presented by Prep Baseball Report. The event featured 60 of the best players from the Upper Midwest.

“It’s kind of a catch-22 for me,” an American League area scout said about the event. “It’s important to see these guys, to give you a little bit of an idea of who’s gone forward, who’s gone backwards, that type of stuff . . . but these kids aren’t ready. A lot of these kids are still playing other sports and there’s an inch of snow still on the ground.”

The best player at the event was shortstop Connor Heady from North Oldham High in Goshen, Ky. The Kentucky recruit is a known commodity to scouts, as he was at all the major showcase events this summer and played on Team USA’s 18-and-under squad, as well.

Heady, who ranked No. 78 on Baseball America’s High School Top 100 list this fall, is an above-average runner and turned in a 6.70 60-yard dash time at the event. While he doesn’t have tools that jump out to scouts, he’s a solid player across the board who stands out for his instincts and consistency.

“Connor is the same guy he was during the summer,” the scout said. “What separates him from some of the other guys is that he’s toolsy, but he’s also very steady. He’s got soft, sure hands and a good, accurate arm. He’s got a great feel for the bat head. To me, he looked good. He looked just like he did last summer and he looked like he’s on pace for everything in the spring.”

The player who made the biggest name for himself at the event was righthander Cory Wilder from Shawnee High in Lima, Ohio.
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