Area Code Games draw some of area’s top returning high school baseball players

Some of the area’s top returning high school baseball players will travel to Long Beach, California, to play against some of the best in the nation in the 2015 Area Code Games.

Fife’s Jaden Hassell, Rogers’ Troy Johnston, Federal Way’s Christian Jones, Kentwood’s Jordan Jones and Michael Toglia of Gig Harbor will play on the Kansas City Royals’ team, composed of players from the Pacific Northwest. All will be seniors this coming school year.

The Area Code Games will run from Tuesday through Aug. 9. Teams will represent eight regions, with each being built by MLB organizations: the Royals, the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers and the Washington Nationals.

The teams were decided on by tryouts. Scouts from all 30 MLB organizations and the Major League Scouting Bureau are expected to be in attendance, as well as college coaches.

Hassell, Christian Jones and Jordan Jones are committed to the University of Washington baseball team. Johnston is committed to Gonzaga and Toglia recently decommitted from Washington State.

Other players from the state of Washington on the Royals’ squad include Brendan Ecklebarger of Redmond High (UW commit), Liberty of Issaquah’s Tyler Haselman, Mount Si’s Alden Huschle, Mountain View’s Preston Jones (Oregon State commit), West Seattle’s Morgan McCullough (Oregon commit), Snohomish’s Jake Mulholland (Oregon State commit), Lakeside’s Ryan Shaw (Richmond commit), Bellingham’s Austin Shenton (UW commit), Skyline’s Danny Sinatro (WSU commit), Union’s Brady Whalen and Garfield’s Elijah Wilson.

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Area Code Games draw some of area’s top returning high school baseball players."