Huntington Beach pitcher Hagen Danner's impressive outing at National High School Invitational earns him the top spot.
Video: Hagen Danner's highlights vs. Edison High School
See what makes Huntington Beach's Hagen Danner the nation's top-ranked sophomoreIf scouts needed any evidence that
Hagen Danner of
Huntington Beach (Calif.) is one of the top sophomores in the nation, he provided it with his pitching performance at the National High School Invitational.
Hagen Danner, Huntington Beach
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
In Huntington Beach's second-round matchup against defending Washington Class 4A state champion Puyallup, Danner went the distance on the mound for the first time this season and the results were impressive. The 6-foot-1 righthander limited the Vikings to just three hits. He also walked two and struck out a whopping 13 batters in a scoreless outing.
In five appearances this season, Danner has only allowed one earned run while striking out 23 batters in 18 1/3 innings pitched. He also takes the top spot on MaxPreps' list of the Top 50 sophomores in the nation.
Among the top five sophomores on the list include
Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) slugger
Alex Toral,
Fort Bend Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) outfielder
Ron Washington,
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) pitcher
Nick Pratto and
Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) infielder
Mark Vientos.
Toral had a huge year as a freshman, bashing seven home runs and earning all-county second team honors. Washington, meanwhile, was named preseason All-Houston by Houston 5A Baseball.
Pratto is 2-0 on the mound this year for the Monarchs with a 0.35 ERA. He has 13 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched. Vientos is batting .347 with 14 RBI.
The Top 50 sophomores list was compiled by consulting various national rating services while also considering participation in national all-star contests and statistics.
View the Top 50 Sophomores
