Malachi Lott, Cannon Peebles headline Future Stars Series college alum update

March 20, 2023

Malachi Lott delivered a huge performance for the University of Houston in their big Sunday win over Minnesota, and he leads off the Future Stars Series college alum update this week.

Lott, who was one of the standouts of the 2021 Pre-Draft Combine, has been a true two-way player in his sophomore season, having already made four appearances on the mound while largely playing every day as an outfielder. It was there where he did some big damage, going 4-for-4 and falling a home run short of the cycle in their 5-2 win, scoring two runs along the way. He has a 3.00 ERA on the mound, and is now hitting .289 at the plate as he starts to emerge as an interesting candidate for the 2024 MLB Draft.

Cannon Peebles struck again. The NC State freshman delivered a two-run, walk-off single in their dramatic 5-4 win over Virginia on Saturday. The 2021 National Combine alum is off to a dazzling start at the collegiate level, hitting .391 with four home runs and 21 RBI in his first 17 games this season.

One of the standouts from the early days of the Future Stars Series national tournaments, Levi Wells has continued to build momentum since then. Now a junior at Texas State, where he’s teammates with International Week alum Daylan Pena, Wells has already won Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, and has been one of the best starters in D1 baseball thus far this year.

Wells is 4-0 in 2023, with 34 strikeouts in just 23 2/3 innings pitched, pitching to a 1.14 ERA in his first four starts. His last start was arguably his best yet; he recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts with no walks in six innings of two-run ball in a win over Southern Miss.

Considered to be a potential top-five pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Braden Montgomery has done little to hurt his stock in recent days. The Stanford sophomore, who attended multiple Future Stars Series events as a two-way player, continues to shine on both sides of the ball, but garnered plenty of attention for a huge weekend at the plate against Oregon State. Montgomery tied a season-high with five RBI in a 2-for-3 showing on Saturday, hitting his seventh home run of the season along the way as part of their series sweep.

Gavin Turley was another player who made the most of his appearance at the Future Stars Series national tournaments, delivering a memorable showing back in 2019. Taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks late in last year’s draft, Turley instead elected to honor his commitment to Oregon State, and the decision has paid off at least early on, as he’s hit five home runs in his freshman season. He had a streak of five consecutive multi-hit games, recording a season-high three hits back on February 25 against Coppin State.

One of the pitchers from the very first International Week back in 2017, Kaleb Hill has taken a very circuitous, but successful path to Charleston Southern, where he’s emerged as one of the top strikeouts arms in the country thus far. Hill has racked up 34 K’s in just 20 2/3 innings thus far in his senior season. Hill had previously been drafted by the-then Cleveland Indians in 2018, and has since pitched at Ole Miss and Crowder College.

Mike Ashmore
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