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High School  | General | 2/16/2023

Texas Region Preview

David Rawnsley
Photo: Blake Mitchell (Perfect Game)
High School Preview Index

Regional Previews: Florida | Georgia | Pacific | Deep South

This is the first year that Texas has been a region all to its own, as they have previously shared a region with Oklahoma and Arkansas.  With this years senior class having some notable premium talent with five PG All-Americans but limited depth, that left the very strong and notably deeper junior and sophomore classes to fill in the All-Region berths; the seniors and the underclassman splitting the positions seven to seven.



Six Texas teams are ranked in the PG Pre-Season High School Top 50, led by Pearland High School at 14th and Sinton High School at 18th.

C  --  Cade Arrambide (Jr., Tomball HS, Texas)
Arrambide is the top ranked catcher in the 2024 class and the fifth ranked player overall in that class.  He has elite level defensive tools behind the plate, including one of the strongest arms in the country regardless of class or state.  He also has a strong right-handed bat with lots of power potential.

1B –    Elbert Craig (Jr., Pantego Christian Academy, Texas)
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Craig is one of the strongest players in the 2024 class and has huge right-handed power.  He hit .349-7-29 in 47 PG games in 2022 and .441-2-21 for Pantego Christian Academy in the spring.  Craig is also an outstanding athlete for his size, with a 6.86 sixty and 93 mph arm strength from the outfield.  He also excels on the basketball court and averaged 17 points and 14 rebounds this winter.

MIF – Kayson Cunningham (So., Johnson HS, Texas)
Cunningham is the eighth ranked player in the 2025 class and features elite level hitting ability and barrel control.  A left-handed hitter, Cunningham has hit .451 with 74 walks and only 27 strikeouts in 114 PG games over the last two years to go along with 73 stolen bases.  He’s already a 6.53 runner and throws in the upper 80s off the mound.

MIF --  T.J. Pompey (Sr., Coppell HS, Texas)
Pompey was selected as a PG All-American based in large part due to his high-level defense in the middle infield.  An easy glider with loose athletic actions and long arms and legs at 6-foot-4, 175-pounds, Pompey has great hands and a very high ceiling as he gets stronger.  Pompey is probably best known as a pitcher actually after going 8-3, 1.08 in 58 innings as a junior but his future is as a middle infielder.

3B --  Theo Gillen (Jr., Westlake HS, Texas)
Gillen was a member of the 2019 PG 13U Select Festival and 2020 14U Select Festival teams as a middle infielder.  He’s grown into a strong 6-foot-3, 195-pound athlete with a well rounded tool set with an especially strong left-handed bat.

OF --  Nehomar Ochoa Acosta (Sr., Galena Park HS, Texas)
Acosta exploded as a prospect in 2022 and finished the year as the top ranked outfielder in Texas and the 45th overall prospect in the 2023 class.  He showed his plus-plus power all summer and fall, hitting .358-7-39 in 45 PG games, including .650 with 5 extra base hits at the WWBA 16U National Championships.  Acosta also has plus arm strength and has been up to 95 mph off the mound.

OF –   Kendall George (Sr., Atascocita HS, Texas)
George is one of the fliers of the 2023 class nationally, having run a 6.16 sixty at the PG National Showcase and shown his speed frequently at national level events, especially on the bases.  The left-handed hitter posted .412-2-23/22 stolen bases as a junior at Atascocita High School and is a career .381 PG hitter.

OF –  Sam Erickson (Jr., Flower Mound HS, Texas)
Erickson has a great combination of strength and quick twitch actions, featuring a strong 6-foot, 205-pound build and 6.49 speed in the sixty.  A right-handed hitter and left-handed thrower, Erickson has hit .409-6-38 in 47 PG games over the last two years.  He’s committed to Texas A&M.

LHP Zane Adams (Sr., Porter HS, Texas)
Adams missed almost all of his junior season after breaking an ankle running the bases but rebounded to become one of three PG All-American pitchers from the Lone Star State.  The 6-foot-4, 180-pound southpaw gained 6-7 miles per hour on his fastball from his sophomore year to junior summer and now works in the 91-94 mph range with a full three-pitch mix.

RHP Jack Frankel (Jr., John Paul II HS, Texas)
Frankel also missed the 2022 season with a non-pitching injury, in his case it being his non-throwing arm, but was so good in 2021 that he’s an easy choice here.  Frankel topped out at 94 mph as a freshman to go with an 80 mph breaking ball and low 80’s change up and is a strike thrower, having only walked 22 hitters in 84 career PG innings.

RHP Barrett Kent (Sr., Pottsboro HS, Texas)
Kent has a long and strong 6-foot-4, 200-pound build and a long and loose right arm that produces a 93-96 mph fastball without having to work too hard for his velocity.  He went 10-3, 1.97 with 110 strikeouts in 68 innings as a junior at Pottsboro High School and also hit .382-7-42 at the plate.  A PG All-American, Kent is signed with Arkansas.

RHP Travis Sykora (Sr., Round Rock HS, Texas)
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Sykora has a valid claim to being the hardest throwing high school pitcher ever, with an electric right arm that regularly touches 100 mph in short outings.  He also features a hard slider and a change up.  A former shortstop before he outgrew the position, Sykora is also a very good all-around athlete

LHP Cooper Williams (Jr., Alvin HS, Texas)
Williams has a very projectable 6-foot-4, 175-pound build to go with a 90-92 mph fastball and outstanding command of his three-pitch mix.  He went 6-2, 1.58 with 72 strikeouts in 48 innings as a sophomore at Alvin High School outside of Houston and was even better in PG play, notching 31 strikeouts vs only five hits allowed in 19 innings.

Utility Blake Mitchell (Sr., Sinton HS, Texas)
Mitchell is the top ranked catcher in the 2023 class and helped lead Sinton High School to a Texas 5A state championship as a junior.  The PG All-American hit .465-7-52 on the spring but rarely actually caught, spending most of his time at shortstop and on the mound, where he went 6-0, 0.40 with three saves and 67 strikeouts in 35 innings.


Texas Region Top Tools


Best Hitter for Average: Kayson Cunningham (So., Johnson HS, Texas)
Despite being only a sophomore, Cunningham is just one of those players who one can confidently can say is going to hit his way all the way up the ladder.  In addition to his .451 average and absurd walk to strikeout ration at PG events the past two years, Cunningham hit .493 with 23 steals as a freshman at Johnson High School.

Best Hitter for Power: Nehomar Ochoa Acosta (Sr., Galena Park HS, Texas)
Acosta has a chiseled 6-foot-4, 208-pound build and top of the scale raw bat speed and power.  The big question for scouts is how often he’s going to be able to get to his power against high level pitching.

Best Runner: Kendall George (Sr., Atascocita HS, Texas)
Scouts have reportedly clocked George as low as 3.40 on a bunt from the left side, which seems believable given his first step burst out of the box.  George’s slashing hitting style puts the ball on the ground frequently.

Best Defensive Catcher: Blake Mitchell (Sr., Sinton HS, Texas)
Texas might have the best defensive catchers in the country in each of the senior, junior and sophomore classes in Mitchell, junior Cade Arrambide and sophomore Omar Serna (So., Dobie HS, Texas), but Mitchell gets the nod here due to his being a senior and because of his superior lower half quickness and athleticism.

Best Defensive Infielder: T.J. Pompey (Sr., Coppell HS, Texas)
The 2024 class in Texas is loaded with talented middle infielders but Pompey’s easy grace at shortstop and strong arm make him stand out.

Best Defensive Outfielder: Derrick Mitchell (Sr., John Paul ll High School, Texas)
A 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete with 6.5 speed in the sixty and a 92 mph throwing arm, the switch-hitting Mitchell has a very high ceiling if he can make the jump with his bat, as his defense will play.  He is signed with LSU.

Best Defensive Arm: Cade Arrambide (Jr., Tomball HS, Texas)
Arrambide is in a class by himself when it comes to arm strength and it’s the type of tool that everyone stops and watches when he gets a chance to throw, such as at the 2022 PG Underclass All-American games where the LSU commit threw 87 mph from behind the plate and 99 mph from the outfield.

Best Fastball: Travis Sykora (Sr., Round Rock HS, Texas)
Sykora sat 99-100 at Chase Field in the PG All-American Classic and impressively had no problem throwing strikes with that high octane velocity.  Even from a state of traditionally hard throwers, that is special.

Best Off-Speed Stuff: LHP Zane Adams (Sr., Porter HS, Texas)
Both the senior power pitchers in the state, Sykora and Kent, are still developing consistency and feel in their sliders, which leaves Adams and his big breaking curveball and advanced change up to head up this category.

Best Pitchability: LHP Cooper Williams (Jr., Alvin HS, Texas)
Williams has the pitchability of a finesse left-hander to go with a fastball that is getting more and more firm as he matures.  He can add and subtract from his breaking ball to give it both a slider and curveball shape and has confidence in his change up.

Best Multi-Sport Athlete: Taylor Tatum (Jr., Longview HS, Texas)
Tatum plays baseball in the summer for the Marucci Elite Texas and for MLB Breakthrough Series and in the spring for Longview High School but he’s clearly a football-first athlete.  He’s one of the highest ranked running backs in the country and ran for 1,891 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior.
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