Think you’ve had a good summer? Waiakea senior Kodi Medeiros probably has you beat.
Medeiros, a left-handed pitcher who Oahu fans got to see as a sophomore in the 2012 state tournament at Les Murakami Stadium, pitched in the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Sunday, striking out two in an inning of work.
Perfect Game invited its top 51 high school prospects in the country to play at Petco Park in San Diego and Medeiros said he’s the first person from Hawaii chosen for the game after getting an invitation at the Perfect Game National Showcase in June in Minnesota.
His fastball topped out at 95 MPH, according to reports, and he featured both a changeup and a slider in the 78-80 MPH range that had scouts, including ESPN’s Keith Law, marveling.
“Every scout here just booked tickets to go to Hawai’i in the spring to see sidearming LHP Kody (sic) Medeiros after he sat 93-94 in his inning,” Law wrote on Twitter.
Medeiros, who is listed at 6 feet, said he didn’t pitch much for the Warriors this season to rest his arm. The decision paid dividends this summer, as he’s added enough velocity on his fastball to become a high draft pick next year.
With his selection to the Perfect Game All-American Classic, it’s almost a lock he’ll be featured in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list for 2014.
“When I heard I was invited, that made me feel really grateful,” Medeiros said over the phone on Tuesday. “It’s been a really neat experience.”
His performances in both Perfect Game showcases, plus the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif., have elevated his stock big time this summer.
Following in the footsteps of Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Kolten Wong (2011 first-round pick), Baldwin’s Branden Kaupe (2012 fourth-round pick) and Waiakea’s Kean Wong (2013 fourth-round pick), Medeiros looks to be a lock as the next great player from the neighbor islands to be a high draft pick.
“My name kind of got out there since the showcase, where I had colleges texting me while I was still pitching,” Medeiros said. “I got my phone after and checked the time they were sent and it happened as I was pitching.”
Medeiros originally committed to Hawaii as a sophomore but decided to decommit in May and has recently narrowed his choices to Pepperdine and UCLA, where he has already taken unofficial visits.
“The thing was when I was going into my sophomore year, getting a verbal and hearing about a scholarship from Manoa was a really big thing for people from our island to go play over there,” Medeiros said. “After that I started to notice what I could have and wanted to see what else is out there, go through the process and stuff, and do all the official visits.
“I was going to (visit) Arizona and Oregon, but I kind of just narrowed it down to somewhere in California.”
Medeiros says he will pitch in the October Fall Classic in Peoria, Ariz. He’s currently advised by former MLB player David Matranga, who served as an adviser and is now an agent for both Wong brothers.
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