National Baseball Player of the Year Watch: Small and medium schools

Video: Joe Perez of Archbishop McCarthy
Watch the Maverick All-American perform at the National High School Invitational

The country's top baseball players aren't always found on the large-school teams. Here are 10 players in consideration for the MaxPreps Medium and Small Schools Baseball Player of the Year awards.

Medium Schools
Joe Perez, Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Perez has had a huge season for a team ranked among the best in the nation all season long. He is batting .526 with 14 doubles, 37 RBIs and nine home runs. On the mound, he's 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 18.2 innings pitched.

Tanner Sparks, Shawnee (Shawnee, Okla.)
Sparks led the Wolves to the Oklahoma Class 5A state championship with impressive offensive and defensive numbers. He led the nation with 81 RBIs and added 12 home runs, 11 doubles with a .504 batting average. Sparks was 10-0 on the mound with a 0.82 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 51.1 innings pitched.

Jacob Gonzalez, Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
The son of former Arizona Diamondback World Series hero Luis Gonzalez, Jacob had a huge season at the plate for Chaparral. He hit .489 with 38 runs scored and 48 RBIs. He added 14 doubles and seven home runs.

Peyton Glavine, Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.)
The son of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine, Peyton helped Blessed Trinity reach the Georgia Class 4A state championship game with a 35-4 record. He leads the team with an 11-1 mark with a 0.98 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 64.1 innings pitched.



Jonathan Guardado, Nogales (La Puente, Calif.)
Nogales (24-2) is having its best season in over a decade and Guardado is a big reason why. He is 12-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched. Guardado also leads the nation with four no-hitters. At the plate, Guardado is batting .400 with 34 RBIs and 12 doubles.

Small Schools

Aaron Walters, Center Point (Center Point, Texas)
One of the top power hitters in the country, Walters is batting .652 (45 for 69) with 44 runs scored and 45 RBIs to go with 11 doubles and 13 home runs. He has three games with more than two or more home runs and back-to-back games with three home runs. He has also led Center Point to the Texas Class 2A Region 4 quarterfinals.

MacKenzie Gore, Whiteville (Whiteville, N.C.)
A possible early round selection in the MLB draft in June, Gore was a MaxPreps All-American as a junior and has a 7-0 record as a senior. Whiteville is playing in the North Carolina Class 1A quarterfinals this week.

Justin Bullock, South Granville (Creedmoor, N.C.)
Bullock has South Granville in the North Carolina Class 2A state quarterfinals as he hit .495 with 51 runs, 45 RBIs, 16 doubles and 10 home runs. For his career, Bullock has 130 RBIs and 29 home runs in four varsity seasons. He is also 11-1 on the season with 112 strikeouts and a 0.49 ERA. He has a career record of 37-9 with 413 strikeouts in 219.1 innings pitched.

Ledgend Smith, Binger-Oney (Binger, Okla.)
Smith had huge numbers at the plate and on the mound for 33-2 Binger-Oney, which won the Oklahoma class 1A state title and had 21 shutout wins. He hit .472 with 32 runs scored, 62 RBIs, 10 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. On the mound, Smith was 13-0, including a win over Tushka in the state championship game. His ERA was 0.55 with 119 strikeouts, 16 walks, three no-hitters and six shutouts.



Sam Keating, Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Defending Class 3A state champion Canterbury has reached the state semifinals this year. Sam Keating, the Class 3A state Player of the Year as a junior, is having another big season. He is 11-1 on the mound with 93 strikeouts and a 0.96 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched. He is also batting .400 with 26 RBIs, nine doubles and two home runs.