Bozeman Bucks shortstop invited to area code games
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Shortstop Bryce Hampton is a rising star on the American Legion Baseball Bozeman Bucks roster.
Hampton is being rewarded with an invitation to participate in the area code games this summer in Kansas City.
His performance could determine his future as he’ll be playing in front of many major league scouts.
“I can get a lot of division one offers if I perform well at this,” Hampton said. “I could also get some early professional looks and hopefully get drafted out of high school. If not then I’ll go to college and get drafted out of college.”
The junior shortstop is the second player from the Bozeman Bucks organizations to be invited to the area code games after Christopher Wrench was invited as a junior last season.
This is an enormous accomplishment which can be hard to handle for a young athlete but luckily, he’s had some help from a mentor along the way.
“The Gallatin Valley Outlaws head coach Duwayne Scott has been coaching me since I was about 10 years old and has been through the recruiting process a lot with kids,” Hampton said. “He was a major league scout for a while and has taught me to not let this get to my head and focus on the season in front of me. If I do my best right now everything will fall into place.”
This summer Hampton will be playing against some of the best talent at his grade level in the nation.
He looks forward for the trip to Kansas City and hopes to turn heads like he does on the field in Bozeman.
“It has always been one of my goals to play in the area code games and it has been a dream of mine for a while since I heard about them. I’m very excited.”
Hampton has around a dozen different college programs looking at him now, including a few power fives.
If Hampton isn’t drafted out of high school, he has plenty of other ways to make it to the big leagues.
