Upchurch ‘25 Making Baseball Waves

It’s been quite the year for rising junior Myles Upchurch ’25. After leading the St. Albans football team as the starting quarterback in the fall and starting on the basketball team in the winter, Myles took the mound in the spring and helped secure the Schools’ first DCSAA State Baseball Championship since 2016 with a 0.94 ERA for the season. He earned Washington Post All-Met honors in baseball and was named DCSAA Baseball Player of the Year.

With continued hard work this summer, Upchurch has added another accomplishment to his ever-growing list. He was identified by USA Baseball’s extensive scouting network as one of the top 72 prospects in the country among all 16 and 17-year-olds, earning him an invitation to USA Baseball’s U16/U17 National Team Development Program in Cary, NC.  

The development camp is an important step toward selection for the U18 National Team that will represent the country on a global stage and compete for a gold medal.  As explained by USA Baseball’s Director of Player Development Jim Koerner, “It is our honor to welcome this talented group of players to Cary for this year’s National Team Development Program. Our task force has worked hard this summer to identify the best fits for this program, and we are extremely excited to work with these outstanding athletes. We look forward to continuing the development of these players next week as the National Team Development Program continues to serve as an important piece of the gold medal process.”

The development program coaching staff consisted of former MLB pitcher Brad Penny and three current Division I head coaches – Illinois’s Dan Hartleb, Grambling State’s Davin Pierre, and Georgetown’s Edwin Thompson.

Describing the experience, Upchurch said, “My USA Baseball experience was nothing short of amazing. I’m very thankful for the chance to compete for a spot on the Team USA U18 national team and represent our country. I had a wonderful time learning from some of the best coaches and players in the world.”

Boasting a fastball that averages over 90 MPH and touches 93 MPH consistently, Upchurch has garnered attention from college coaches and MLB scouts alike. This season with St. Albans, he threw 59.2 innings, striking out 51 batters, allowing just 8 earned runs, and allowing a stingy .167 batting average against.

Head Baseball Coach RJ Johnsen helped guide Danny Hultzen ‘08 and Matt Bowman ‘09 to the Major Leagues. About Upchurch’s selection to the National Team Development Program, he said, “We’re all proud of everything that Myles has accomplished and it’s great that he has earned the opportunity this summer to compete against some of the nation’s top high school players. All of Myles’ hard work continues to pay off and he remains a great teammate, student-athlete, competitor, and tremendous human being. He is such a great representative of St. Albans.”