Lakes DB earns All-America game invitation
Palm Beach Lakes defensive back Gurvan Hall earned a coveted invitation Saturday afternoon to the 2018 Under Armour All-America Game.
The four-star recruit who will be a senior in the fall was one of three top South Florida football players to pick up invites to January’s game after participating in an Under Armour All-America Camp at Gulliver Prep School in Miami.
The others are Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Elijah Moore and Miami Central linebacker Robert Hicks.
Saturday ’s c amp drew more than 160 players from throughout South Florida, i n c l u d i n g 32 f r o m Beach County.
Hall, an All-Area fifirst-team selection in 2016, has drawn multiple Power 5 college offffffffffffers.
L a s t mont h , A l a b a ma coach Nick Saban paid a visit to Palm Beach Lakes by helicopter. Saban spoke with Rams coach Al Shipman as well as Hall’s family.
Hall wasn’t the only area player to impress coaches Saturday.
Oxbridge Academy wide receiver Carlos Silencieux, who will be a senior, was one of two South Florida players to win the UA iLLSPEED competition, a race that requires football moves. The other is Deerfifield Beach running back Jakari Norwood.
Baseball: Pitcher Triston McKenzie, the Palm Beach P a l m Post’s 2015 Large Schools Baseball Player of the Year, is getting recognized as one of the top young players in the minor leagues.
The former Royal Palm Beach star, who was drafted by and signed with the Cleveland Indians, is the No. 3 prospect in the Indians’ system and the No. 57 prospect in major league farm systems, according to MLB.com.
“M c K e n z i e o f f e r s a n int r iguing blend of present pitch-ability and physical projection,” MLB.com’s scouting report says.
“McKenzie throws everything on a downhill plane, and his above-average control and overall efficiency cause his entire arsenal (to) play up.”
McKenzie dominated his fifinal season in Palm Beach County, putting together a 9-5 record with a 0.62 ERA as a senior. In his fifirst full year in the minors, he was 6-5 with a 1.62 ERA with the Lake County Captains of the Midwest League and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League.
“Despite being one of the youngest players in his draft class, McKenzie has a foundation that could allow him to move relatively quickly through the minor leagues,” hi s scouting repor t says. “He’ll need to answer questions about his durability, but the potential is certainly there for him to develop into a front-line starter.”