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Sports

SM Baseball Player in High School Showcase

Lucas Giolito is looking to impress in the Area Code Games.

He's back, and he may be better than ever.

For the second consecutive year, Santa Monica resident Lucas Giolito will play for the Milwaukee Brewers in the Area Code Games, which began Friday at Long Beach State's Blair Field and are showcasing 225 of the nation's top high school baseball players.

Giolito is a right-handed pitcher going into his senior year at Harvard-Westlake in North Hollywood, and a coach evaluating him at last year's tournament needed only one word to describe his sinking fastball: "awesome."

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The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder turned heads at last year's Area Codes with fastballs clocked 93-96 miles per hour on the radar gun. Add to the repertoire a late-breaking 75-m.p.h. curveball and a slider in the 84-85 range, and Major League scouts were touting him as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft.

Giolito began honing his baseball skills in the Santa Monica Little League, just up the road from Jackie Robinson Stadium, where UCLA plays its home games. Last August, after two visits to the Westwood campus, he verbally committed to play for the Bruins after his prep career—assuming he isn't drafted.

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Giolito was named to Cal-Hi Sports' 2011 first-team all-state squad following a strong junior season at Harvard-Westlake, where he had a 9-1 record with a 1.00 earned run average and 78 strikeouts in 70 innings. In the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, he threw a no-hitter and two shutouts.

The Area Code Games consist of eight teams, each named after a major-league organization and representing a specific geographic region. The eight teams are the Milwaukee Brewers (Southern California); Chicago White Sox (Midwest); New York Yankees (Northeast); Cincinnati Reds (Rocky Mountains, Hawaii); Oakland Athletics (Northern California); Texas Rangers (Texas, Louisiana); Washington Nationals (Southeast, Virginia); and Kansas City Royals (Pacific Northwest).

Like last year, the Brewers are representing Southern California, and their roster consists of 33 of the region's top prospects. Milwaukee's opening game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday against the Yankees. Games continue through Wednesday. 

Click here to view the complete schedule.

On Aug. 14, Giolito will pitch in the Perfect Game All-American All-Star Classic at Petco Park in San Diego. Baseball has become a year-round sport for Giolito, who plays travel ball with San Gabriel Valley Arsenal. In June he was selected to play for Team USA's 18u national squad.

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