It’s one record down, one to go for Ohio slugger Andrew Benintendi.
Benintendi, a five-tool player for Madeira (Oh.) High, set a new Ohio state record for career runs when he scored three times against Cincinnati (Oh.) St. Bernard School in a 16-1 rout. According to MaxPreps, Benintendi’s three runs pushed his career total to 174 runs, two more than the prior record set by Jeromesville (Oh.) Hillsdale star Doug Paullin between 2007 and 2010.
"It came as a surprise and I'm pretty happy about it,” Benintendi told MaxPreps. “You can't do it all by yourself. There have been a lot of good players hitting behind me. Before this year I had an idea how many hits I would need. I think I'm 10 hits away from tying it."
Benintendi alluded to the Ohio state record for career hits, another mark he is nearing. Though his calculation that puts him 10 hits behind the current state record of 200 has yet to be verified by official sources, it’s believed that he is within striking distance of that mark.
The Madeira senior, who also starred for his school’s football team, is a 5-foot-10 speedster who is a phenomenal contact hitter. Benintendi has hit better than .500 throughout his high school career, a talent which his coach said has garnered plenty of attention from pro scouts.
For now, Benintendi plans to attend Arkansas, though he won’t completely rule out considering a professional contract straight out of high school.
"It all depends on the right situation coming up,” the senior told MaxPreps. “It's going to take a lot for me to skip college."
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