Baseball: Arden Pabst states his case as top hitter
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
In a season where pro baseball scouts have been desperate to find hitting prospects, senior catcher Arden Pabst of Studio City Harvard-Westlake is making the case that he might be someone worth drafting even though he has signed with Georgia Tech.
Pabst has been demonstrating he has both power and ability. This season, he’s hitting to all fields, a major improvement from his junior year.
He’s batting .419 with eight doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs. He had a home run against Oaks Christian’s Phil Bickford, perhaps the top Southern California pitching prospect.
His development has helped fuel the rise of Harvard-Westlake, which is 19-3 overall and starting to score runs in bunches, something the Wolverines couldn’t do the last two seasons when they’ve had good pitching.
If the hitting continues, it means Mater Dei, Fountain Valley and Orange Lutheran could face a strong challenge from Harvard-Westlake when the Division 1 playoffs begin next month.
Another test of the Wolverines will come Friday when they face Duke-bound left-hander Kevin Lewallyn of Chaminade.
-- Eric Sondheimer