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J. Mike Blake on Muck Rack

J. Mike Blake

North Carolina
As seen in: HighSchoolOT.com, ScienceDirect, The Charlotte Observer, WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC), The News & Observer, The State, The Island Packet, The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), Rock Hill Herald, EducationNC, Our Community Now and
@HighSchoolOT Sr Contributor ✍🏻🎙️🎥. HS educator since ‘18! 2022 NCHSAA Media Person of the Year. 14-time NCPA winner. Covered games at 300+ NC high schools.

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Articles

NC Softball Coaches release largest all-state team ever as more than 500 make the list

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By J. Mike Blake, Rachel Byrd, Eastern Alamance
| HighSchoolOT.com Verified
If you thought going to eight classifications would be the impetus for the N.C. Softball Coaches Association to trim down the size of its all-state teams, you couldn't be more wrong. The association released the largest all-state team in its history — or of any coaches association for that matter — with 550 players in all. With 400 N.C. High School Association programs, that's more than 15 percent of all starters statewide being named all-state.
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Mariners select North Brunswick alumnus Trevor Lucas 129th overall in MLB Draft

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By J. Mike Blake
| HighSchoolOT.com Verified
Trevor Lucas is changing coasts. The North Brunswick alumnus and UNC-Wilmington third baseman was taken 129th overall in Saturday's fourth round of the 2026 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. Lucas was a first-team All-CAA infielder this year, starting all 58 games for the second straight season with a .312 batting average with 12 doubles and 12 RBIs. As a freshman, he batted .344 with seven home runs in JuCo at Gaston College.
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Seven players from North Carolina high schools taken in first 10 rounds of 2026 MLB Draft

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By J. Mike Blake
| HighSchoolOT.com Verified
As the Day 2 of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft continues, we're updating where former N.C. high school players end up. (If we missed someone, let us know at highschoolot@wral.com). In total, we've counted quite a few North Carolina natives that were drafted. This year's draft stopped a nine-year streak of having at least one first-rounder from North Carolina. Previous Drafts 2025 2024 2023 Rounds 1-4 Players drafted on the first day of the draft have standalone stories.
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