Under Armour All-America Game top performers

July 23rd, 2019

Pitchers dominated the 12th annual Under Armour All-America Game powered by Baseball Factory, combining for 34 strikeouts while allowing just 13 hits as the National team defeated the American club 4-3.

Harvard-Westlake HS (Studio City, Calif.) outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Lake Mary (Fla.) HS outfielder Dylan Crews, the two best prospects among 2020 high schoolers, went a combined 0-for-6 with six punchouts, with Crow-Armstrong managing to draw a walk to lead off the game. West Allegheny HS (Imperial, Pa.) outfielder Austin Hendrick lived up to his reputation as the best power prospect in the prep class by winning the pregame home run derby and driving a ball over the right-field scoreboard at Wrigley Field, but he went 0-for-2 with two whiffs and a walk.

Gameday

The Under Armour Game has produced an average of 10 first-rounders per year since moving to Chicago in 2008, and this year's group of players was similarly talented. Here are eight standouts from Monday afternoon's showcase:

Victor Mederos, RHP, Pace (Fla.) HS

Mederos earned MVP honors after requiring just 13 pitches to strike out the side in the fourth inning. He sat at 94 mph with his fastball and fanned Crews on an 85-mph changeup before catching Independence HS (Thompson's Station, Tenn.) Robert Hassell -- another likely 2020 first-rounder -- looking at an 82-mph slider. After missing with a 93-mph fastball in his first pitch to Greenbrier (Ark.) HS third baseman Cayden Wallace, Mederos froze him with three straight breaking balls.

Ben Hernandez, RHP, De La Salle Institute (Chicago)

Hernandez capped a 21-strikeout, three-hit performance by the American pitching staff by striking out the side in a perfect ninth inning. Throwing 14 of his 18 pitches for strikes, he operated at 91-93 mph with his fastball but registered all three of his whiffs with 82-83 mph changeups with filthy fade. He also excelled at the inaugural Prospect Development Pipeline League with six hitless innings in three appearances.

Blaze Jordan, 1B/3B, DeSoto Central HS (Southaven, Miss.)

A top 2021 prospect until he reclassified to a 2020 graduate last month, Jordan was one of the few batters who didn't look overmatched. In five plate appearances, he collected a pair of groundball singles and lined out twice (including what looked like a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth that turned into a double play). He won the High School Home Run Derby during the All-Star Game festivities in Cleveland.

Jared Kelley, RHP, Refugio (Texas) HS

Some scouts consider Kelley to be the top prep pitcher in the 2020 Draft class, and he showed why by blowing away Shawnee Mission East HS (Prairie Village, Kan.) middle infielder Robert Moore with fastballs of 96, 96, 96 and 97 mph to start the bottom of the first. Kelley struck out five in two innings, including Crews on an 82-mph slider and Hassell on a 93-mph heater, while allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk.

Nolan McLean, RHP/1B, Garner (N.C.) Magnet HS

McLean not only is one of the best two-way prospects in the 2020 crop, but he also is drawing interest from college football programs as a quarterback. He dealt at 93-95 mph during a perfect fifth inning -- aided by a diving catch from Hoover (Ala.) HS center fielder Robby Ashford, another baseball/quarterback prospect -- and ended it by catching Crow-Armstrong looking with a beautiful backdoor curveball at 74 mph.

Carson Montgomery, RHP, Windermere (Fla.) HS

The first of three pitchers to fan the side in a perfect frame, Montgomery delivered 10 of his 14 pitches for strikes in the top of the fourth. He focused on his fastball, sitting at 92-94 mph before finishing his inning by getting Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport, La.) middle infielder Blake Shapen to chase a curveball in the dirt.

Drew Romo, C, The Woodlands (Texas) HS

The top high school catching prospect for 2020, Romo singled off a slider from arguably the best right-hander (Kelley) and doubled off a 94-mph fastball from arguably the best left-hander (Nate Savino of Potomac Falls, Va., HS). Known more for his defense than his bat, he showed off his strong arm by erasing Spruce Creek HS (Port Orange, Fla.) Zac Veen on an attempted steal of third but uncharacteristically committed two throwing errors.

Alejandro Rosario, RHP, Miami Christian HS

Rosario struck out the first two hitters he faced in the sixth inning on just six pitches, concluding the at-bats with a 95-mph fastball and an 82-mph curveball. After giving up a walk and hitting the next batter, he got out of the jam with another punchout on a hard curve.