Posted by Andrew Drennen, ESPNRISE.com Baseball

Out of Millville (N.J.) High School, Trout was one of th Angels' two first round picks in the 2009 MLB Draft.  In 2008 he was selected to the All Area Code Team (Yankees) and verbally committed to East Carolina. He was named to the 2009 EA SPORTS Baseball All American Team after a solid senior campaign.  He hit .531 and drove in 45 runs and on while on the mound he posted a 1.71 ERA and a 5-1 record. Baseball America ranked him No. 1 in their Arizona Fall League top 20 prospect list.

Randal Grichuk out of Lamar Consolidated (Rosenberg, Texas), was also drafted by the Angels in the 2009 MLB Draft and, like Trout, was an EA SPORTS Baseball All American.  In his final high school season he belted 21 homers and drove in 46.  He hit an incredible .613 and signed with the University of Arizona.  Baseball America ranked him No. 5 in their Arizona Fall League top 20 prospect list.

Check out the top 20 Arizona Fall League Prospect list here.

Posted by Andrew Drennen

Randal Grichuk is gearing up for the future. The Lamar Consolidated (Sugar Land, Texas) midfielder stands at 6-foot and 195 pounds.

	Courtesy of the Grichuk Family
	Grichuk is off to Arizona next fall.

Last year, the Mustangs finished 29-9-1, and lost a best of three series to Friendswood (2-1), which knocked them out of advancing to the state tournament. This year, Grichuk and the Mustangs look to get into the state tournament.

"We are predicted to make state this year," Grichuk said. "We have a pretty good team."

The Mustangs are going to get a couple of players back this year who got hurt last year.

This year, the team's strength looks to be on the offensive side of the ball. Not only do the Mustangs get Grichuk back, but they also get Cody Robinson back. Robinson is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound outfielder who played with Grichuk on the 2008 Texas Rangers Area Code Baseball Team.

"We have me and Cody Robinson. We both committed to DI schools. We should be able to put some numbers up offensively."

That may be an understatement. Last year, Grichuk put up some solid offensive numbers, including a .406 average with 17 homers and a .924 slugging percentage.

"In high school I would consider myself a power hitter, but maybe at the next level maybe not," he said when asked about his junior year stats. "If I see the right pitch and put a good swing on it, the ball will take care of itself.”

Like many other top high school baseball players -- Grichuk is ranked No. 69 by Baseball America -- he has the opportunity to go this June's amateur draft.

When asked whether there was any pressure to perform this year because of the draft, Grichuk said, "I am going out on my senior year, play and have fun. When draft time comes and if the offer is there and it is right, than that is a possibility, too.”

Before that happens, though, Grichuk committed to the University of Arizona.

"I have already committed and signed with Arizona and I have a great scholarship there,” he said.

He chose Arizona because the coaches showed a lot of interest in him. "I liked the phone conversations we had," he said.

When he went to Tucson and visited the school, Grichuk was able to talk to other players, tour the facilities and get acquainted with the school.

"I went down there, and the facilities they have there are really nice," he said. "I got to talk to some of the players and they liked the way the coaches conducted themselves and the practices. It seemed like a perfect fit for me.”

The Arizona signing class for 2010 is strong. "I met Tommy Joseph and Matt Helm at the home run derby [in Tampa] and then a couple more players when I went on my official visit.”

He said he didn't mind leaving the state to play; he just wanted to go to a winning program. The opportunity to possibly play and contribute right away were keys in his decision.

"We [Arizona] have a chance to go pretty far next year,” he added.

And it looks like Grichuk has a chance to go far this year, too.

Posted by Andrew Drennen

Weatherford, Texas- Once again the Texas Rangers Area Code Team Tryouts kicked off the journey to the 2008 Area Code Baseball Games. For some of these players Weatherford College was just the start, with the goal playing in Southern California.

One of the first things you may think of when you look at baseball in the Lone Star State are the arms. This year will be no different; the Rangers should have some solid pitching in August. This has been a reoccurring theme for the Texas squad in recent memory.

At today's tryout the arms certainly did not disappoint. Right from the start, one could not help but notice that the pitchers from Texas throw hard and have good stuff.

The select few pitchers who played in the simulated game overpowered the hitters. Hoby Milner and Slade Heathcott both had stand out performances.

Milner stands in at 6-foot-2, 155 pounds out of Paschal High School (Texas). The Fort Worth native is long and lean and threw well. He had a good fastball and worked the zone trying to set up the hitters. He kept the offense off balance and showed that he could mix his pitches. Ironically, one of the few hits in the game, a game that only yielded two runs, came from Milner came off of Slade Heathcott.

Heatchcott stands in at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds. He has a good body for a pitcher and threw hard. His fastball was consistently 89-90 mph and at times hit 91mph on the gun. His curveball also had a hard break on it, clocked at 78mph. His stuff looked even better when he got into the game, as he fanned three of the five batters he faced. Like Milner, Heathcott changed speeds well and kept the hitters guessing. It looked like his breaking ball was his out pitch. Not only did he change speeds on the hitters, but he changed their eye level, too.

Another arm that made an impact today was Damien Magnifico, a right-handed pitcher out of North Mesquite High School. The Amarillo native was clocked 88-90mph with a nice breaking ball. He may not have been as known as some of the other pitchers in Weatherford, but he certainly made a name for himself.

Local product, out of Weatherford High School in Weatherford, Texas, Josh Easley had himself a good day at the tryout. He was 89-91mph on the gun with his curveball coming in at 71-72mph.

There were a trio of outfielders who made a name for themselves today. Ronnie Mitchell out of Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas came in sort of unknown to scouts, but by days end that certainly changed. He started the day off running the 60 7.20 seconds, which was competitive with the other outfield times. At the plate he showed good hands and the ball came off the bat well.

Fellow outfielder Cody Robinson made an impression in Weatherford. He started off by running a sub seven 60-yard, coming in at 6.90. When he ran the 60-yard a second time, he got even better posting a solid 6.76 time. Like Mitchell, Cody had good hands and because of this hands and combined with a solid lower half, he was able to generate good bat speed.

Last, but certainly not least, Randal Grichuk had an impressive showing as well. Like Robinson, Grichuk ran two sub seven 60-yard dashes, the first coming in at 6.85 and a second coming in at 6.95. During the defensive evaluations, from right field, he showed that he had one of the best arms at the tryout. The strength continued to show at the plate, when he hit everything hard.

Overall, it was a strong workout at the Texas Rangers Area Code Baseball Tryouts and there is still one more workout to go. The second workout will take place at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas on June 17. Days later the first Area Code Baseball Roster will be announced.



TOP 60 TIMES

Max Muncy | 2B | Keller | 09 | 6.96/6.92
Charlie Martin | 2B | Heath | 09 | 6.70/6.85

Will Poythress | 3B | Northwest | 10 | 6.95
Austin Elkins | 3B | Coppell | 09 | 6.94/6.95

Jamondrick McGruder | SS| First Baptist | 09 | 6.66/6.78
Matt Lipka | SS | McKinney | 10 | 6.83/6.68
Logan Vick | SS | Tivy | 09 | 6.80/6.89
Jordan Lewis | SS | Naaman Forest | 09 | 6.98/6.86

Jacob Morris | OF | Coppell | 09 | 6.64/6.60
Todd Glasesman | OF | Midway | 09 | 6.96/6.94
Chase Durham | OF | Flower Mound | 6.84/6.82
Cody Abraham | OF | Lamar Consolidated | 10 | 6.97/6.80
Cody Robinson | OF | Lamar Consolidated | 09 | 6.90/6.76
Nathan Lyons | OF | Berkner | 09 | 6.87/6.79
Reggie Rodriguez | OF | Fossil | 09 | 6.98/6.96
Randal Grichuk | OF | Lamar Consolidated | 09 | 6.85/6.95
Hoby Milner | OF | Paschal | 09 | 6.93
Dexter Kjerstad | OF | Randall | 10 | 6.79/6.80
Slade Heathcott | OF | Texas | 09 | 6.82/6/77