Nick Pratto has always been destined for baseball prominence. Before even starting his high school baseball career, Pratto made headlines, committing to USC in August of 2013. “Being so young, and going through it, I didn’t really think much about it. I was just happy that schools were giving me attention.”

Pratto, who plays first base and pitches, has a skill set that had colleges from all over the country trying to land the high schooler. Now, as a Junior, Pratto is ready to prove, once and for all, that he is the nation’s top prospect.

While it is clear that Pratto has immense baseball talent, you wouldn’t know it by talking with him. As a highly recruited prospect, Pratto tries to keep a low profile, saying, “At first, I had to be better than everyone else and I couldn’t let anybody catch up to me, but now I see it as almost humbling,” explained the high school Junior. “You can’t look at yourself like that. You have to act like a normal average player and let the game come to you. You can’t act like you’re above the game or it’s going to catch up to you.”

Despite his humbling attitude, Pratto’s hard work and strong play has led to opportunities that most high schoolers can only dream of, such as being drafted to the MLB straight out of high school. “It kind of depends on the money: whether I can get a life started because if I go to the draft, then baseball is my life. I won’t have the education to fall back on” he continued. “Basically, the bonuses of playing pro ball would have to outweigh the college experience. It would have to be enough so that I could live a life off of it.”

If Pratto decides to forgo the draft and go to USC, he will join a stellar 2017 Class consisting of players such as Nick Allen, Ben Ramirez, and Hans Crouse. After choosing USC over schools such as UCLA, Cal Poly, and California, Pratto has put himself in a position to be one of the top dual-threat options in college baseball. “My greatest strength is probably my versatility.” said Pratto. “Being able to play defense and pitch at the same time, I think it’s valuable for teams. I’ll probably have to make a decision on which I would rather do, but I like the fact that I can do both now, that I can play both ways.”

Even with a dual-threat mentality, Pratto realizes that what separates him from the rest of his class is his tremendous poise on the mound, saying, “I’ve always loved to hit, but when I get on the mound, I have a different kind of mindset. “

Pratto’s pitching prowess was able to land him a spot on Team USA with the 18U team. “Coming back from Japan with a gold medal was my greatest baseball achievement. Everything that team went through and everything that we overcome was awesome. That whole team experience was amazing.”

However, this wasn’t Pratto’s first experience with Team USA, as he said, “I had a little taste of Team USA from going to Columbia when I was 15, but it was nothing Japan. The 18U team was a grind. It takes up almost the whole summer. It’s definitely a commitment. Those guys end up being your brothers for a summer and it’s awesome. We went out there, we got off to a slow start, but we overcame it and won it all.”

After proving that he can compete at the highest level with Team USA, Pratto is definitely ready for the next level, whether that be at USC or in the MLB. Whichever decision he makes, he is undoubtedly proving to be a top prospect in his class. With his Junior season fully underway, Pratto has the chance to justify the hype and prove once and for all that he can "Stand Above the Rest."