Lowndes Academy's Yelder showing off his talents at national showcases
Ashton Yelder (00) has spent the last week participating in a baseball showcase and will have another opportunity to show his wares in a showcase in Florida this week. (File Photo)
By TIM GAYLE
While several of his Lowndes Academy teammates were practicing football or attending a media day to kick off the upcoming season, Ashton Yelder was working out on the baseball diamond.
Yelder spent the past week in Florida and will spend the upcoming week in California in two different national baseball showcases designed for high school juniors and seniors.
“He’s all over the place,” Lowndes Academy coach Shane Moye said. “But he’s getting a lot of looks.”
Yelder helped the Rebels to the Alabama Independent School Association state baseball championship in May, alternating between third base and the mound. He is generating interest as a third baseman after batting .354 this past season, hitting six home runs and driving in 35 RBIs in 39 games while stealing 22 bases in 24 attempts. His on-base percentage was .493.
Yelder is currently committed to Loyola Marymount University but the national exposure is certain to generate more offers, including some from Major League Baseball.
“That’s big, just to have a kid with that athletic ability,” Moye said. “I’m not going to say he’s able to do what Gunnar Henderson was able to do, but just to have another player like that in our (AISA) league is big. He’s got a lot of opportunities, for sure.
“He’s hitting it really well. He’s hit a bunch of home runs with a wood bat this summer and has a lot of bigger D-I schools looking at him. And the Mets, the Braves and the Yankees have spoken with him.”
Henderson had a standout senior season for Morgan Academy and was selected in the second round of the 2019 Major League Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, earning his first selection to the all-star game this summer.
Yelder was one of eight players from this state invited to the Hank Aaron Invitational Showcase that was held from Sunday to Thursday at Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla., along with McAdory’s Brandon Heard, Clay-Chalkville’s Nic Youngblood, Pensacola Catholic’s Braylon Nelson of Daphne, Enterprise’s Mikey Vanderheyden, Hoover’s Will Adams, Buckhorn’s Xavier Burress and Myles Hammonds and Vincent Howard, both from Bob Jones.
Adams, a left-handed pitcher, and Hammonds, a middle infielder, were among the 44 (signifying Aaron’s jersey number) players invited to the fifth annual 44 Hank Aaron Invitational Showcase Game at Truist Park today.
The Hank Aaron Invitational (formerly known as the Elite Development Invitational), operated by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), in partnership with USA Baseball, and sponsored by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, is the premier, diversity-focused development experience for high school age baseball players in the United States. Nearly 90% of all alumni of the event, which began in July 2015, who have graduated high school from 2016-2019 are either playing baseball in college or at the professional level.
It is the second trip to Vero Beach for Yelder this summer. He was invited to Breakthrough Series, along with Hammonds and Vanderheyden, in early June.
This week, he will attend the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif., one of three Alabama players invited to that national event.
St. Paul’s Episcopal junior John Stowers and Prattville Christian Academy senior Ethan Walls will play in the national tournament as part of a team called the Washington Nationals, while Yelder will be a member of the MLB Breakthrough Series team.
The event will run from Aug. 8-13 at Long Beach’s Blair Field.