Four 2026 commits participating in Area Code Games

Four members of Kentucky's 2026 recruiting class are spending the week in Long Beach, California, participating in the prestigious Area Code Games. Righthanded pitchers Grayson Willoughby and Sammy Swank, and catcher Carson May are representing the Midwest on the Chicago White Sox team. Infielder Robert Omidi is playing with the New York Yankees, which represents the Northeast and Canada.

According to its website, the Area Code Games has been around for 39 years and has "provided the nation’s best high school baseball players with an opportunity to compete on amateur baseball’s biggest stage – The Area Code Games. With 248 alums on current MLB rosters, the Area Code Games are where many of baseball’s biggest stars earned the opportunity to compete before hearing their name called on Draft Day."

Games began today and will continue through Monday. The three members of the White Sox team will face off against Omidi and the Yankees tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.

Among the Kentucky commitments at the event, Willoughby is rated the highest by Prep Baseball Report and is ranked third in the class by Perfect Game, behind two-sport star Matt Ponatoski and May.

Willoughby, a native of Louisville who attends Trinity High School, has had a busy summer. After winning Trinity's second state title in school history in June, Willoughby participated in Phase 1 of USA Baseball's 18U National Team Training Camp in July in Cary, North Carolina. Willoughby was also a standout at the Perfect Game National event and was selected to play in Perfect Game's All-American Classic on Aug. 17.

Read more: Grayson Willoughby talks state championship at Trinity, rise up the 2026 recruiting rankings

Joe Healy, who works for D1baseball.com and is a friend of the Bat Cats Central newsletter, texted me the following information on Willoughby after seeing him at the USA 18U National Team trials: