By Luke Holthouse

Following in the footsteps of MLB-bound former Wolverines Max Fried ’12 and Lucas Giolito ’12, Arden Pabst ’13, Tyler Urbach ’14 and Jack Flaherty ’14 competed at the Area Code Baseball Games August 5-10 in Long Beach.

Pabst, a catcher, and Flaherty, who played infield and pitched for the Wolverines, helped lead the Southern California regional team to a perfect 5-0 record at the showcase. Urbach, an infielder, participated for the Northeast regional team that went 1-3-1.  

The Area Code Games feature about 250 of the best current high school baseball prospects from across the country. Over 500 participants from the Area Code Games during its 26-year history have gone on to play Major League Baseball including Ryan Braun, Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw and Albert Pujols.

Fried and Giolito, who were both drafted in the first round of this year’s MLB First Year Player Draft, both participated in the Games last year.

Players need a recommendation from an MLB scout to be invited to a regional tryout. At the games, the 250 or so players are divided into eight different teams, each representing a region in the US, that play against each other throughout the week in front of collegiate and professional scouts. Urbach said he was added to the Northeast team instead of the Southern California team because every year, the Northeast team usually adds one kid from Southern California.

According to MaxPreps, Pabst led the Wolverines last year in runs batted in with 35 and hit .375. Flaherty .397 with 13 RBIs. Urbach hit .287 with 18 RBIs. The Wolverines went 25-4-1 overall and 9-2-1 in league last year, winning their second straight Mission League Championship and advancing to the 2nd round of CIF Division II playoffs before being knocked out by Placentia.