Video: Hagen Danner - Huntington Beach (CA)
See the top junior in the nation playing at the nation's top tournament.A strong performance at the National High School Invitational showed why
Huntington Beach (Calif.) pitcher
Hagen Danner is the nation's top player in the Class of 2017.
In the MaxPreps rankings of the nation's top 50 juniors, Danner comes out on top based on his dual ability to pitch and hit. Not only is he one of the top prospects for the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, but he is also an outstanding hitter, as evinced by his performance at the NHSI in March.
Danner came up big in the championship game, a 7-2 win over Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. He also hit a home run in the semifinals and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs against Trinity Christian Academy. He also went 5 2/3 innings to get the win in the tournament opener against Poly Prep Country Day (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Danner comes in just ahead of
Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) slugger
Alex Toral, who is considered the top power hitter in the junior class. Toral has helped the Mavericks to a No. 2 ranking in the MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard as of April 5.
The rest of the top five includes No. 3
Mark Vientos of
Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), No. 4
Hans Crouse of
Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) and
Hunter Greene of
Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.).
Click here to see the complete list of the Top 50
