Five Tigers Rank Among Baseball America’s Top Summer League Prospects
9/3/2015 1:14:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Five Mizzou Baseball standouts were recognized among Baseball America's Top Summer League Prospects, as announced by Baseball America's Jim Shonerd on Thursday (Sept. 3). The five Tigers honored were RHP Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.), SS Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.), RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.), OF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) and C Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.). The five Tigers were among 37 SEC players recognized on the list, the most of any conference – the ACC was second with 18. Four of Mizzou's five honorees are underclassmen as well, showing a bring future for Tim Jamieson's team. The five selections tied for the second-most among SEC teams, trailing only Texas A&M (six).
Houck, a consensus Freshman All-American last season, was voted the fifth-best draft prospect playing with USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team this summer. He was the top-rated sophomore on the list, making him the top prospect on Team USA for the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft. A teammate of Houck's on Team USA, Howard, who was the team's starting shortstop, checked in as the No. 20 overall prospect for Team USA and the 16th-best for the 2016 draft. He was the eighth-best position player prospect on the team.
Moving to the Cape Cod League, sophomore Montes De Oca was rated as the 14th-best prospect in the nation's premier summer ball league and the top prospect for the 2017 draft as all 13 players rated ahead of him are eligible for the 2016 draft.
Moving to the MINK League, both Harris and Bond were standouts according Baseball America. Harris, an All-SEC Freshman Team performer a year ago, was voted the fourth-best prospect in the MINK league while Bond checked in at seventh.
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