Pope's Campbell, Walton's Jones named MaxPreps All-Americans

Pope’s Dawson Campbell and Walton’s Jared Jones earned spots on MaxPreps’ All-America baseball teams.

MaxPreps announced its teams this week, which included the top 60 high school players following the 2022 season. Campbell and Jones each earned second-team recognition.

As a pitcher, Campbell went 12-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 68 innings. The Lander University commit also helped lead the Greyhounds to the Class AAAAAA state title.

Pope coach Chris Turco said Campbell’s consistency made him an extremely capable player this season, and that other players on the team took notice.

“He’s really confident. He understands that he’s going to get the job done and, and he’s really supportive of his teammates as well,” Turco said. “All year long, he had been kind of an example, from all of our summer workouts to during the season. He just kind of set the tone for the team in just being a leader.”

Campbell, who also split time in the outfield with a 1.000 fielding percentage, was also named the Cobb County Player of the Year.

Jones, an LSU commit, finished the season with a .410 batting average, 33 RBIs and 32 runs scored as a catcher and first baseman. His tally of extra-base hits included 11 doubles, three triples and nine home runs.

Walton coach Shane Amos said Jones was a major factor in the Raiders securing a state playoff berth. Amos said that he could see Jones’ game translating to both the college and professional ranks, and that his numbers give him a strong foundation.

“He had a good season this year and came up in some big situations for us,” Amos said. “He really was just our team leader all year behind the plate, and I think it was also just the way he went about everything. He incorporated his teammates in everything that he did and realized that if the team does well he will also do well in turn.”

The pair were not the only Georgia players to be selected as All-Americans.

Wesleyan’s Druw Jones and Houston County’s Drew Burress were selected to the first team. Druw Jones is projected to be among the top picks in this year’s MLB draft, and Burress is slated to play for Georgia Tech this fall.

Woodstock’s Brayden Davis was also named to the second team as a pitcher.