Batting practice starts off the annual Area Code Games in Long Beach and among those from California wowing big league scouts were Stockdale's K.C. Hobson, Yucaipa's Matt Davidson and Richard Stock of Agoura. For complete Area Code Games, coverage check out the high school baseball link on ESPN shown above.

Written By Senior Editor Ronnie Flores

Long Beach, Calif. -- The 2008 Area Code Games at Blair Field started off with all eight teams going through a player evaluation process that included SPARQ Testing and batting practice. All of the testing results will be posted on sparqtraining.com by the end of the week.

In addition to SPARQ Testing, batting practice is always of keen interest to the 320 plus major league scouts in attendance. This year, however, B.P. took on a whole other dimension because of the makeup of this year's player crop.

Last year's games produced seven high school players taken in the first round of the June Amateur Draft, including top pick Tim Beckham to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Considering that group of players signed for well over 10 million dollars, the MLB scouts were extra giddy this year as the scouts were all in agreement that this year's crop had superior size and more pop in their bats across the board.                     

"Natural raw strength, muttered one American League Area Scout.

"Different type of game this year, remarked a National League Area Scout.

One team in particular that carries heavy lumber is the Milwaukee Brewers Blue Team, a club with a heavy Southern California contingent. Deep power was displayed in batting practice by such notables as K.C. Hobson (Stockdale, Bakersfield, Calif.) and Jonathan Singleton (Millikan, Long Beach, Calif.). Hobson is a lefthanded first baseman that stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 210 pounds while Singleton is a 6-foot-2, 215-pounder. Of the 32 players on the Brewers Blue team, only three are not six-foot tall and seventeen of them check in at over 190 pounds.            

One player on the Brewers Blue that was really stroking it during batting practice was Matt Davidson, a third baseman from Yucaipa (Calif.) High. One trusted American League Area Scout commented that Davison just might be the purest hitter in Long Beach this week.

Off the Milwaukee Brewers Gray club, which consists of prospects from both Northern and Southern California, Richard Stock has opened some eyes. The Agoura High product and younger brother of USC catcher Robert Stock put on a power display that included a shot off the scoreboard in right centerfield. A catcher, the left-handed hitting Stock had no problem clearing the outfield fence that sits 387 feet from home plate in right centerfield.                

Other standouts during B.P. included Demetrius McKelvie (East Columus, Hallsboro, N.C.) of the Oakland A's (Southeast Region) and Randal Grichuk (Lamar Consolidated, Rosenberg, Texas) of the Texas Rangers, which won the first of nineteen games on Tuesday afternoon.   

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