18 of the 25 athletes selected for the Oakland Athletics Underclass Area Code Games roster hail from Northern California high schools, with a few more just south of that in the baseball-rich Clovis area.
Central Coast Section and North Coast Section high schools each had six players selected for the roster, including two-time selection Kyren Paris (Freedom). Paris played on the team last year as well, and helped lead the Falcons to their first league title in eight years this past spring.
Other NCS selections include Michael Dixon (Berkeley), one of our finalists for the NCS Sophomore of the Year award, along with Connor Lawrence (California), Jake Putnam (San Ramon Valley), Cal commit Josh White (Monte Vista), and Dalton Bowling (Kennedy-Fremont).
Exceeding the two athletes selected for the senior version of the A's ACG team, Valley Christian had three athletes selected for the underclass group. Those three are Coleman Brigman, William Kempner, and Nick Marinconz. Marinconz was a finalist for the CCS Sophomore of the Year award this past spring after posting the top batting average for the season among all WCAL athletes.
Other CCS selections include Glenallen Hill, Jr. (Santa Cruz), Joseph King (Woodside), and Brennan King (Los Gatos).
The five Sac-Joaquin selections come from throughout the vast section. They include Michael Brown (Vacaville), Xavier Carter (Capital Christian), Peter Hansen (Oak Ridge), Alex Kendrick (Buhach Colony), and Seth Tomczak (Argonaut). Like Paris, Tomczak is a repeat selection from last year's team.
Buchanan had two athletes selected from the Central Section powerhouse, with TJ Fondtain and Miguel Ortiz getting the nod. The other Central Section selection also hails from Clovis, in Clovis North's Brock Jones.
The Oakland Athletic League also has one representative, with Oakland Tech infielder Adam Crampton making the roster.
The Underclass Area Code Games takes place at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Los Angeles, from August 10 through August 12. The A's team faces the Nationals team on the 10th, the White Sox on the 11th, and has two games on the 12th against the Yankees and the Brewers.