Baseball’s recruits make national rankings

USC baseball’s 2018 recruiting class is ranked No. 16 in the nation by Perfect Game, the highest among any Pac-12 or West Coast team. USC’s 14-member class is ranked as high as No. 14 by Baseball America. The newcomers, who edged UCLA by one spot and Arizona by three, feature seven of the top 500 freshmen and three of the top 40.

The incoming freshmen include Preston Hartsell, the 15th-ranked outfielder in the nation and top-ranked outfielder in California by Perfect Game. Hartsell earned All-American honors in both his junior and senior years at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach. The 6-foot, 205-pound Hartsell hit .396 with 110 RBIs for his high school career.

Right-handed pitchers Chandler Champlain (No. 34) and Ethan Reed (No. 39) round out the Trojans’ top-40 prospects. Champlain had a decorated three years at Santa Margarita Catholic in Mission Viejo, Calif.He was named All-Trinity League in each of his seasons and is the second-ranked pitcher in the state. Chaplain also has a large national profile; he played for Team USA youth teams from 2014-17 and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 38th round of the MLB Draft.

Reed, the fourth-ranked pitcher in California, was a two-sport athlete at Aliso Niguel High School in Laguna Niguel. At 6-foot-4-inches and 200 pounds, Reed was dominant both on the mound and the hardwood; along with winning a league basketball championship, Reed was named to the All-South Coast League team in his junior and senior seasons.

The final Trojan freshman ranked in the top 100 by Perfect Game was Emilio Rosas. Rosas, a Mater Dei product who comes in at No. 54, is the fifth-ranked shortstop in California and 20th-ranked at the position nationally. The Rawlings Pre-Collegiate All-American hit 367 with a .405 on-base percentage in his junior and senior seasons, joining Champlain on the All-Trinity League team.

Carson Lambert and Calvin Schapira, the No. 319 and No. 321 pitchers in the nation respectively, fill out the pitching rotation. Lambert posted a 1.44 ERA and recorded 147 strikeouts in 165 innings over three seasons at Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif. His 0.86 ERA as a junior set a single-season record and was the back-to-back Marmonte League Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

Schapira is one of two USC freshmen hailing from outside California. The Arizona native towers over his opponents at 6-foot-5-inch, and was named the second-best pitching prospect in the state.

Catcher and third baseman Clay Owens is the final top-500 prospect for the Trojans. His .415 average and 10 home runs as a senior at Norco High School in Corona, Calif., helped him achieve All-State first team recognition.

Infielders Tyler Lozano, Ty Evans and Will Steele, pitchers Gus Culpo, Patrick Hubbs and Tyler Uberstine and outfielder Charlie Johnson round out USC’s 2018 class.