CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Fourteen current and former Appalachian League players were invited to the 2026 MLB Draft Combine, which will take place from June 23-26 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Current Appy Leaguers Jack Beck (Burlington) and Gunner Skelton (Johnson City) will participate in the Combine. In five games for Burlington, Beck is hitting .313/.542/.750 with a 1.292 OPS, two home runs, one double and five RBI. Skelton is batting .372/.400/.791 with a 1.191 OPS, five homers, three doubles and nine RBI in nine games for Johnson City. Skelton is tied for the league lead in home runs, second in SLG and total bases (34), and fifth in OPS.
The 2025 Appy League Player of the Year, Kam Durnin (Kingsport ‘25) was invited to the Combine after hitting .329 with a 1.008 OPS, nine home runs and 25 RBI in 43 games at Missouri this spring. In 2025, Durnin led the Appy League in AVG (.407), hits (59), RBI (56), OBP (.519), OPS (1.181) and total bases (96). His 56 RBI set a new single-season best, and his .407 batting average tied the single-season record.
Three alumni invited to the Combine rank inside MLB.com’s Top 200 Draft Prospects list. Carson Kerce (Johnson City ‘24) ranks No. 131, James McCoy (Pulaski ‘23) is No. 150 and Russell Sandefer (Danville ‘24) is No. 175. Kerce hit .322/.444/.452 with a .986 OPS and 17 RBI in 30 games for Johnson City. McCoy had 17 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA in 14 2/3 innings over five appearances (two starts) for Pulaski. Sandefer had a 2.45 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11.0 innings over four starts for Danville.
The Danville Otterbots and Johnson City Doughboys lead all Appy League clubs with three players at the Combine. The Burlington Sock Puppets and Elizabethton River Riders both have two participants. The Greeneville Flyboys, Kingsport Axmen, Pulaski River Turtles, and Tri-State Coal Cats all have one representative.
The entire list of current and former players invited to the Combine are listed below:
& Indicates currently in the Appalachian League
^ Indicates Appalachian League All-Star
% Indicates Appalachian League Select Team
- Jack Beck, SS, Burlington 2026 &
- Hudson Brown, 1B, Elizabethton 2025
- Alex Conover, OF, Danville 2024-25 ^%
- Kam Durnin, SS, Kingsport 2025 %
- Robert Evans, LHP, Burlington 2023
- James Guyette, RHP, Danville 2024 %
- Carson Kerce, SS, Johnson City 2024 - No. 131 Draft prospect
- Jake McCoy, LHP, Pulaski 2023 - No. 150 Draft prospect
- Josh McDevitt, RHP, Tri-State 2024 ^
- Chris McHugh, 1B, Johnson City 2024
- Russell Sandefer, RHP, Danville 2024 - No. 175 Draft prospect
- Rintaro Sasaki, 1B, Greeneville 2024 ^
- Gunner Skelton, SS, Johnson City 2026 &
- Pablo Torres, RHP, Elizabethton 2023 ^
About the Appalachian League
Founded in 1911, the Appalachian League is one of the longest-running baseball leagues in history. The Appy League is the only collegiate summer league under MLB and USA Baseball’s Prospect Development Pipeline (“PDP”) and is an integral part of the identification and development process for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Teams and other future National teams.
For more information about the Appalachian League, visit appyleague.com or follow @appyleague and @appyleaguedata on X, and @appyleague on Instagram.
