Staff report

UNC rising junior Cameron Padgett (East Rowan) is on the D1 Baseball list of the top 100 college prospects for the 2025 MLB draft.

Padgett, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-handed pitcher who just turned 20 in June, is No. 94 on the list.

Padgett has pitched mainly as a reliever in his two seasons at UNC with a 3-1 record, but is expected to take on a prominent role as a junior and could be a weekend starter.

Padgett is currently pitching in the Cap Cod Baseball League, so he’ll be heavily scouted there this summer. He’s 0-1 with 10 strikeouts and three walks in 9 1/3 innings.

Padgett had two dominant high school seasons for East Rowan and won back-to-back Patrick Snider Memorial Awards as Rowan County Pitcher of the Year.

Padgett had 10 wins with a 0.56 ERA and 115 strikeouts as a senior in 2022.

He had five wins and a 0.62 ERA in the COVID-shortened 2021 season.

He was good enough athlete to play in the infield when he didn’t pitch.

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The batting average for Kane Kepley (South Rowan, UNC) has been sliding in the challenging Cape Cod League, but the OBP (.435) is still very strong and he has 15 steals and 25 runs scored in 30 games.

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Chance Mako (East Rowan, Coastal Carolina) is 1-1 in the CCBL, while Haiden Leffew (South Rowan, Wake Forest) is 1-3.