FAYETTEVILLE — Mountain Home right-handed pitcher Trey Killian, who is verbally committed to play college baseball Arkansas, will play in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 13.
Killian, a rising senior, is one of 36 players from across the country invited to the event, which will be televised by MLB Network.
“I’m extremely excited,” Killian said. “It’s a dream to get to go to Wrigley Field and get to play with my senior year coming up in the fall. I wasn’t expecting it and I never thought I’d get to play in such a big game.
“It’s very humbling. I feel very blessed and thankful I get this opportunity to go play.”
Killian will be joined at the event by fellow Arkansas commit Teddy Stankiewicz, a right-handed pitcher from Keller, Texas. As part of the trip, the players will be introduced on the field prior to a Chicago Cubs game and will take batting practice with hall of fame infielder Cal Ripken Jr., whose son will also play in the game.
Killian has played this summer for the traveling team Arkansas Express. Killian is one of four Arkansas commits on the team’s roster, along with catcher Blake Baxendale (Rogers Heritage), right-handed pitcher Hunter Wood (Rogers Heritage) and outfielder Garrett Rucker (Arkadelphia).
Prior to his appearance in the all-American game, Killian will play alongside Baxendale for the Chicago White Sox in the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif.
“You don’t find very often to have so many guys on the same team who are going to the same college,” Killian said. “I feel lucky to be able to get to know these guys and build great friendships. I look forward to moving on to the next level of baseball with them.”
Killian committed to Arkansas prior to his junior season, in which he helped Mountain Home to the Class 6A semifinals. Killian finished his junior season with an 8-3 record and 1.65 earned run average. He struck out 118 batters in 63 2/3 innings on the mound.
In April, Killian was part of the state's most anticipated pitching match-up of the year, facing Arkansas signee Dillon Howard of Searcy, a second round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians. The two pitchers combined for 24 strikeouts in front of 14 scouts on-hand. Mountain Home beat the eventual state runner-up 2-1.
“Trey got a big boost when we played that game,” Mountain Home coach Ron Blevins said. “There were several scouts there to look at Howard and they both pitched very well. I know when they left they were very impressed with Trey. Several of them made the comment, ‘We’ll obviously be back.’
“Trey is well-deserving of it. He’s a great kid and a very humble kid, and somebody you really enjoy coaching.”