By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

LONG BEACH, CA—For the first time in the event’s history, the Area Code Baseball Games have an underclass portion, featuring three teams of players that are rising sophomores and juniors. After a full day of nine-inning games with the older group, I struck around for the second underclass game, played between the White Sox (Midwest) and Yankees (East Coast). My travel schedule won’t allow me to see any of the other games, but based on what I saw Friday night, the underclass games will be factored into my schedule for 2015. Here are some highlights from that contest…

+ LHP Jeff Belge (Henninger HS, NY) burst onto the scene in the spring when he went head-to-head with RHP Scott Blewett (Baker HS, NY), a second-round pick of the Royals in the 2014 draft. Belge is already verbally committed to St. John’s and started for the Yankees against the White Sox. He pitched three innings and had an up-and-down outing, but primarily showed excellent stuff for a young arm. His fastball ranged from 85-89 mph, touching 90, with good arm-side run. His slider was inconsistent, but it showed sharpness at 77-78 and he flashed the ability to throw it for strikes. He struck out seven in three innings while allowing two runs on four hits, three walks and a hit batter.