The website blackcollegenines.com has released a list of ten players to watch for the upcoming 2022 college baseball season, along with 18 honorable mention names- and three are former Valley Leaguers.

  • Xavier Meachem (Winchester 2021), a right handed pitcher at North Carolina A&T, was named to the top ten. Meachem went 2-6, 8.31 in his freshman season in 2021, and then appeared in 11 games for the Winchester Royals in the summer, going 1-2, 8.18, with a save and 14 strikeouts in 11 innings.
  • Meacham’s teammate at NC A&T, Cameran Brantley, was named to the honorable mention list. Brantley hit .277/.447/.434 in 166 at-bats in 2021, with 44 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs, and an excellent 46/42 BB/K. He also played for Winchester in 2021, when he hit .248/.403/.324 in 105 at-bats, with five doubles and one home run. (Brantley is the featured image on this post.)
  • The third player mentioned is Florida A&M’s Jeremiah McCollum, who pitched in New Market in 2019. McCollum was also an honorable mention in this article. He’s pitched for four seasons in college, putting up a total line of 7-5, 4.65 in 65 games and 79 1/3 innings, with 54 walks and 76 strikeouts. He pitched out of New Market’s bullpen in ’19, going 0-2, 7.80 in 15 innings, with seven walks and 19 strikeouts.

Congrats to all three!

Xavier Meacham (North Carolina A&T)