Now eight years in to running events all over the globe, there never seems to be a shortage of alums of the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series making an impact in college baseball.
This past week, there was no greater example of that than Alabama lefty Zane Adams, who shut down No. 1 Arkansas for eight innings to lead the charge in a stunning upset win. A standout in both the National Tournaments and National Combine, Adams was an easy choice to add to the Main Event, where he proved he belonged and then some; earning one of the prestigious starts at Fenway Park, he struck out four of the 12 batters he faced, allowing just one hit.
At ‘Bama, the true freshman earned SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors after his outing, and has a 3.71 ERA in his first 11 appearances of the season, recording 25 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched.
Zion Rose — C, Louisville
A strong commitment to Louisville kept Rose out of the most recent MLB Draft, where he likely would have went somewhere in the middle rounds. Honoring his commitment appears to be a strong decision for the freshman catcher, who had a memorable run with the Future Stars Series that included stops at the 2022 Main Event as well as that year’s Caribbean Classic. Four of Rose’s last six games have produced multiple hits, including a 3-for-4 showing against Virginia on Saturday.
Braden Montgomery — OF, Texas A&M
The Stanford transfer picked up right where he left off in joining Texas A&M, and remains a likely top five pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He’s hitting .380 with 19 homers and 58 RBI, and is one of the top players in the country not long after going through the national tournaments, National Combine and International Week with the Future Stars Series.
Aidan Meola, INF — Oklahoma State
Meola memorably homered at the 2019 national tournaments as a member of the Scorpions, and while he hasn’t ever been considered a top prospect like his teammates at the time Zac Veen, Dylan Crews and Drew Romo were, has gone on to similarly big impact with Oklahoma State. Meola went 6-for-14 in the most recent series against Cincinnati, hitting two homers along the way.
Chris Bernal, C — Texas State
Bernal is a true veteran of the Future Stars Series, having played at virtually everything available to him as he came up on his way to Texas State, where he’s teammates with his former LB21 lineup-mate, Daylan Pena. While it was Pena who garnered headlines for hitting two grand slams in one game earlier this year, Bernal has made waves himself this year, including recently; the redshirt sophomore had his first multiple RBI game of the season Saturday.
Michael Brooks — INF, Kansas
The author of one of the most memorable moments in Future Stars Series history with a walk-off winner at Fenway Park for the National Team at International Week in 2019, Brooks remains a steady producer for Kansas in his redshirt junior year. He’s on pace for a career-high with a .330 batting average through this weekend’s games, a number he upped after hitting three homers in the weekend series against Pacific.
Jaden Brown — INF, Austin Peay
Brown is an FSS original, having played in the first ever signature event, 2017 International Week. It’s been a circuitous path ever since — he never got to play at Kentucky during the COVID year, transferred to Iowa Western CC and then UT Arlington — but he now finds himself in a familiar place with Austin Peay. The redshirt senior has played well this year, hitting .333 thus far, which includes his second homer of the year on Friday night against Jacksonville.
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