Where Are They Now? 2017 Top 20 Hitters
December 8, 2018
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We continue our series of looks back on players who are recent prep graduates from Virginia/DC and how their careers have continued after high school. Today we look back at the Class of 2017, which saw some of its members make major impacts during their freshman years on campus. We will check the career progress of the nine position players who finished their prep careers ranked in our VA/DC Top 20.
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Matt Cooper C / 1B / Norfolk Academy, VA / 2017Cooper only got 7 at-bats as a freshman at Clemson in 2018, picking up his first two career hits. During the summer, he played for Orange County in the California Collegiate League, hitting .241 with 1 home run in 79 at-bats. |
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Conor Hartigan OF / OF / Millbrook, VA / 2017Rankings StateRank: 18 / POS: 3
Hartigan was limited to DHing and only played the first half of his freshman season at James Madison before being shut down to recover from an arm injury. During that time, he started 23 games at DH and hit .278 while slugging .433 for the Dukes, bashing 2 home runs and 7 other extra-base hits in 90 at-bats. |
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Darnell Lardge SS / Stafford, VA / 2017Rankings StateRank: 20 / POS: 3
Lardge earned 15 starts and saw 56 at-bats as a freshman at Old Dominion. During that time, he hit .268 with his first career home run, and also stole 3 bases. He hit .172 in 58 at-bats during the summer for the DC Grays of the Cal Ripken League. |
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Michael Ludowig OF / LHP / Briar Woods, VA / 2017Ludowig helped lead Briar Woods to the 2017 Class 5 State Championship and then had a strong freshman year at Wake Forest. He got 161 at-bats and hit .267 for the Demon Deacons, with 1 home run and 8 doubles and showing his speed with 10 stolen bases. During the summer, he played for Amsterdam in the NYCBL, he hit .338 with 3 home runs and 7 doubles while compiling a .432 OBP and driving in 31 runs. |
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Tanner Morris SS / RHP / Miller School, VA / 2017Morris was the top overall player in our final rankings and he lived up to those expectations as a freshman at Virginia. He earned 50 starts and hit .298 with a .397 OBP and showed some power with 9 doubles and 2 home runs while also walking more than he struck out. He continued his strong 2018 in the Cape, hitting .322 in 38 games for Harwich with 2 home runs and 21 RBIs. |
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Mikey Polansky 3B / 1B / Hickory, VA / 2017Rankings StateRank: 13 / POS: 1
Polansky committed to Virginia Tech out of high school but ended up playing his freshman year at Pitt CC in 2018. For Pitt, he hit .394 in 81 at-bats, with 6 home runs and 22 RBIs. |
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William Simon 1B / RHP / Benedictine, VA / 2017Rankings StateRank: 19 / POS: 1
Simon did not play during his freshman year at James Madison. |
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Tyler Solomon C / 1B / Battlefield, VA / 2017As a freshman at Vanderbilt, Solomon earned 6 plate appearances, drawing 2 walks and scoring 2 runs. Solomon played for Sanford in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and hit .211 with 6 home runs in 95 at-bats. He has transferred to Florida Southwestern College for the 2019 season. |
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Erik Stock SS / RHP / Greenbrier Christian, VA / 2017Stock had an impact freshman season at Old Dominion, earning a selection to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. He earned 153 at-bats, hitting .320 with 13 doubles and 3 home runs. He also threw 19 innings in 10 appearances for the Monarchs. During the summer, he mad a brief appearance for the Charlottesville TomSox in the Valley Baseball League. |
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