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VA/DC Class of 2026 Rankings Update: Top 100

August 27, 2025
Staff
Prep Baseball Virginia/DC

 

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Today we release a late summer update to the 2026 class, our third update of the year. This update has the class expanding from the Top 175 to Top 225. While there will be three other updates to this class before they move on to their next destinations, this is the final expansion to to the Class of 2026. Below we highlight a few players that our staff had an opportunity to gather evaluations on this spring during the high school season.

2026 Rankings Stories:

New Faces
Rankings Risers

There were fifty new players moving into the Top 225, as well as plenty of movement throughout the rankings. Today we highlight a handful of players in the Top 100.

+ Drew Christine - St. John's College HS - LHP - Tennessee

The Vols commit makes his move to the #1 spot in the 2026 class. While he was light in work this spring, he made up for it this summer with a heavier workload and some impressive production. While there are other arms that may carry "louder" stuff, this is the only left hander inside the Top 20, and he has the best pitchability and projection remaining. Both at 17U National Championship and East Coast Pro, Christine worked 88-90 mph and showed three future average to above average offerings. The breaking ball could stand some firming up, but he has as good or better feel for it than any other higher end arm in this group. In addition to the breaking ball, he shows a low 80's changeup that pairs well with the fastball and uses it to hitters from both sides. This one will be one to watch closely as we prepare to move through the fall and into the spring season. 

+ Will Yow - St. Anne's Belfield - SS - Univ. of Richmond

While there are others who have made a bigger jump simply in overall spots, there probably isn't another player that has made as significant of a move than Yow did. While his showing at the Procase certainly sealed the his move, our staff has seen the Richmond commit multiple times this summer, and every time we came away with an evaluation that showed significant steps forward in multiple areas. The offense this spring was not consistent when we saw him, but he has really turned it up since June. Heavy barrel, improved contact rate, and the tools at short have improved. While there are still some questions surrounding whether or not he will stick at short, the tools will give him every chance for that, and even if he moves, it will still be on the left side, or up the middle of the field in some regard. The run tool is near top of the scale, and as long as the hit tool and offensive production continue to tick up, we could be looking at serious draft helium.

+ John Michael Szefc - Miller School - SS - Louisiana Lafayette

As easy and as clean of a swing as there is in the state. Hit tool over power, uses the whole field, and has an advanced awareness of the strike zone. There is a calmness when he is at the plate, he always seems to control at bats really well. Mature approach and has shown the ability to handle velo, while continuing to add some occasional impact to the offense. While he is certainly a capable defender at shortstop, whne we are talking long term and higher levels of play, the defense and tools are more suited for second base. The run tool has made some sizable strides, turning out a 6.80 60 at the Procase. While the run tool is still near or slightly above average, the improvements have given him some flex to be able to move around the infield. Regardless, the hit tool wins this profile over and between Szefc and Cuddyer, they carry the most consistent offensive outputs of this class.

+ Kason Wagner - Miller School - RHP 

While the other three we have mentioned are Top 10 ranked players in this class, Wagner settles in as the now top uncommitted pitcher in the 2026 class. Similar to what we discussed with Christine, Wagner does not possess pure power stuff, but he is one of the best pure pitchers in this class. While the stuff can be vanilla at times, the pitchability and compete are not. He is a high end competitor and attacks hitters at a relentless rate. Wagner generally works in the 86-88 range with a breaking ball and changeup as his secondary offerings. The Miller School ace is currently ranked above more than twenty division one committed arms. Why? Because he gets outs and wins. At some point and time, that is what arms have to do if they want to continue to pitch, and this one will give someone a chance to win baseball games at the collegiate level.

VIRGINIA/DC Class of 2026 Top 10

*Positions listed are primary positions listed on their profile.*

1 Drew Christine St. John's College HS LHP Tennessee
2 Mandela Browman Miller School OF North Carolina
3 Casey Cuddyer Great Bridge HS SS North Carolina
4 Daniel Nienaber Glen Allen HS RHP Mississippi State
5 Lawson McLeod PDG Academy RHP LSU
6 Will Yow St. Anne's Belfield SS Univ. of Richmond
7 Jack Woda Bishop O'Connell C East Carolina
8 Aaron Dierks West Springfield HS RHP South Carolina
9 John Michael Szefc Miller School SS Louisiana-Lafayette
10 Jalen German Trinity Episcopal RHP Coastal Carolina



Click Here For The Full Release --> VA/DC 2026 Rankings: Top 100