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betts-header-smallHighly touted catching prospect Chris Betts of Woodrow Wilson High School was added to the roster for the 2014 Under Armour All-America Baseball to be played August 16 at the historic Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The high school showcase game put on by the performance apparel company features 36 of the best baseball players in the country selected by a committee of Baseball Factory (a player development and college scouting service). The game will air nationally on MLB Network August 17 at 6:00 PM local time.

Betts’ combination of skills, a strong defensive game and consistent left-handed hitting (he throws right handed), landed him on MaxPrep’s list as the 10th best player of top 50 juniors for 2014. Fellow LBUSD player Brendan Davis (Lakewood) also made the MaxPrep rankings.

“One of the best left-handed bats in the 2015 class, Chris shows repeatable power especially to the pull side,” said Steve Bernhardt, vice president of baseball at Baseball Factory and chairman of the selection committee. “We’re excited to see this physical young catcher show off his power at Wrigley Field this summer.”

Betts, who is committed to playing his college baseball at the University of Tennessee, is among the team leaders at Wilson in almost every offensive category, leading the team in runs scored and home runs. He’s spent the last three summers playing with USA Baseball, winning a gold medal in the Pan American games in Venezuela in 2011.

Playing in the Under Armour game can be a strong indicator of a future in the major leagues. Since the game’s inception in 2008, 151 of the 171 draft eligible Under Armour alumni were selected in the MLB Amateur draft, including 42 first round picks.

Additionally, according to Baseball Factory’s site, 99% of Division I college programs have at least one BF alum with one out of every four MLB draftees having gone through the program. Notable graduates include Roy Halladay, Mark Teixeira and David Wright. Baseball Factory, which promotes developing complete student athletes also boasts 50,000+ college graduates that have gone through their system.

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Jason Ruiz covers City Hall and politics for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or @JasonRuiz_LB on Twitter.