Lieberthal Rated No. 3 Prep Prospect

Mike Lieberthal, a senior catcher at Westlake High, is rated the third-best high school prospect in the nation, according to a poll conducted by Baseball America magazine. The poll will be released in the magazine’s May 10 issue.

In a list of the nation’s top 25 high school prospects available for baseball’s amateur draft in June, Lieberthal is ranked behind Todd Van Poppel, a right-handed pitcher from Arlington Tex., and Chipper Jones, a shortstop from Jacksonville, Fla.

Lieberthal, who has signed with Arizona State, is batting .535 (38 for 71) with 13 home runs and 37 runs batted in. He is three home runs shy of tying the Southern Section single-season home run record set by Arnold Garcia of Channel Islands in 1981.