Jesuit trio invited to Area Code Games

Posted Jul 14, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jul 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Jesuit High standouts John Kilichowski, Jordan Parnell and Spencer Trayner have been invited to compete in this year’s ESPN Area Code Baseball Games presented by New Balance.

Some of the nation’s top rising high school seniors, juniors and sophomores have been selected to play in this week-long tournament set for Aug. 5-10 at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.

Eight regional teams will compete in the Area Code Baseball Games with a Major League Club representing each region. The Washington Nationals will represent the Southeast that the Jesuit trio have been invited to play for. Kilichowski is a left-handed pitcher, Parnell is a right-hander and Trayner is listed as an infielder/right-handed pitcher.

This summer’s event will mark the 26th year of the Area Code Games. The Games’ founder, Bob Williams, initially worked with Northern California Major League Scouts to gather some of the top high school underclassman from geographical areas based on telephone area codes. The idea was to have these players compete using wood bats and dress in the respective Area Code Teams Major League uniform. Over the years, it has changed to players wearing Area Code Baseball uniforms and the hats of their respective MLB teams.

Players in the Area Code Games do not pay any fees to play in the games or to try out. According the event’s organizers, all tryouts are by invitation only and, in most cases, players must be nominated by an MLB scout to be considered for an invitation.