James, a 9-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, was weaving between fields at the Roger Dean Baseball Complex, the humid air thick with chatter and the pop of distant gloves. His 13-year-old brother, Harrison, followed behind, waiting out the hours before their eldest sibling’s game at the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship in Jupiter.
James had one mission.
“Please,” he said again and again, tugging at his brother’s patience. “I need to show you something on YouTube.”
After enough pleading, Harrison sighed, unlocked his phone and handed it over.
“What could possibly be so important?” he asked.
James answered instantly. “You’ve got to see this guy,” he said.
On the screen appeared Striker Pence, a 6-foot-6 righthander who, at just 16 years old, is already a viral fascination thanks to a fastball that reached 101 mph four times on Thursday last week.
Harrison watched as the first pitch crossed the plate and froze. He rewound the clip. Watched again.
“Holy crap,” he muttered, staring at the screen.
For Pence, that kind of reaction has become routine. It’s his new normal, he told Baseball America, doing his best to hide a grin.
“In a way, it’s always been like this,” Pence said. “But it used to be because I’m Hunter Pence’s nephew. And my uncle was a dog. But lately, it feels like it’s starting to turn into more of a Striker Pence thing than a Hunter Pence’s nephew thing. I’m finally making a name for myself.”
A day later, he proved it.
Pence delivered the most memorable outing of the 2025 WWBA World Championship, working two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out three. His fastball climbed to 101 mph and sat 97-99, generating eight whiffs in the brief appearance. He paired it with a biting mid-to-high-80s slider that showed late teeth and a split changeup that rounded out a repertoire evaluators already believe could feature three plus weapons.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” one evaluator told Baseball America. “I think it’s pretty safe to say he stands in a class of his own. We’ve seen velocity at the high school level before, but never this young. He has a chance to do historic things.”
Pence is used to people watching. It comes with the radar guns, the phones, the familiar murmur that starts when he begins to throw. But that attention cuts both ways.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “It feels like everything I do good is seen, but also the bad. It pushes me to be better.”
Pence has learned to live in that space—where awe meets expectation. It’s part of growing up as the nephew of an MLB all-star and World Series champion like Hunter Pence, but it’s also part of growing into himself. Even before the cameras showed up, he was the kid people whispered about.
By 15, Pence said he had already touched 90 mph. Then he experienced a massive growth spurt and began to throw like no one else his age ever has.
“I’ve always been the little guy who threw hard,” Pence said. “Then from 13 to now, I just shot up. I hit 90 at 15, then 95, and when I finally hit 100 at Area Codes this summer, it didn’t even feel real. Now it’s 101. Maybe one day, I break a record.”
Pence’s words come without arrogance. He grins, half-embarrassed, like someone still getting used to how others see him. Pence talks about pitching the same way most kids talk about video games—curious, self-aware and honest about what he doesn’t yet know.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “Every mile an hour after this gets harder.”
Pence acknowledges that there are still rough edges. His delivery can get tall, his timing can drift and every video that circulates online seems to come with a chorus of self-appointed analysts pointing it out.
He doesn’t disagree, though.
“There’s stuff I’ve got to clean up,” he said. “But I’m not trying to be perfect right now.”
Pence is in no rush to iron out every flaw. He reminds himself—and sometimes the adults watching—that he’s only 16, a sophomore in high school with years left to grow into his frame and refine his craft. What others see as imperfections, he views as part of his process.
“I know I’ve got time,” he said. “I just try to stay within myself, throw, hit, work out, keep getting better. If I do that, everything else will come.”
It’s an uncommon patience for someone already living under a spotlight this bright. Where others chase the next data point, the next viral clip, Pence seems intent on letting the game unfold at his pace, which has still been stunningly rapid.
“My dad always tells me to stay humble and do what I do,” Pence said. “That’s what I try to remember.”
Pence already belongs to one of baseball’s most exclusive fraternities as a member of the small group of high school pitchers who have reached triple digits.
Earlier this year, Baseball America compiled a list of every officially recorded 100 mph fastball thrown at the prep level. Only 17 names made it, with just nine ever touching 101 or harder:
| YEAR | player | state | max velo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Tyler Kolek | Texas | 102 |
| 2016 | Riley Pint | Kansas | 102 |
| 2017 | Hunter Greene | California | 102 |
| 2021 | Chase Petty | New Jersey | 102 |
| 2025 | Jack Bauer | Illinois | 102 |
| 2025 | Striker Pence | California | 101 |
| 2001 | Colt Griffin | Texas | 101 |
| 2011 | Archie Bradley | Oklahoma | 101 |
| 2021 | Roki Sasaki | Japan | 101 |
| 2023 | Travis Sykora | Texas | 101 |
| 2011 | Dylan Bundy | Oklahoma | 100 |
| 2012 | Shohei Ohtani | Japan | 100 |
| 2019 | Daniel Espino | Georgia | 100 |
| 2021 | Chase Burns | Tennessee | 100 |
| 2022 | Brock Porter | Michigan | 100 |
| 2022 | Nazier Mule | New Jersey | 100 |
| 2025 | Seth Hernandez | California | 100 |
| 2025 | Miguel Sime Jr. | New York | 100 |
Pence became the 18th member of that club this summer—and one of its youngest, too. With two full years of high school left, scouts believe he has a legitimate chance to be the first to reach at least 103 mph.
“He’s still so raw and, honestly, not that efficient mechanically,” one scout said. “He’s throwing 100-plus off sheer talent and natural power.”
For all the noise around him, Pence insists the goal hasn’t changed. He still wants to be the best player, teammate and person he can be. And he reminds himself often that no amount of velocity guarantees anything.
“I think it’s crazy, all of this,” he said. “I don’t know if I deserve it yet. I feel like I’ve still got more to prove.”
Pence talks like someone aware that the story being written about him is still in its early chapters. There will be more radar guns, more phones, more murmurs when he takes the mound again. That’s part of it now.
Pence laughs when asked if he ever reads what people say online.
“I’ve already learned—just don’t look at the comments,” he said. “I don’t care.”
That indifference feels like another advantage. He knows the spotlight will only get brighter, but he’s comfortable letting it shine where it may.
“I’m just another high school player until I make it to the big stage,” Pence said. “That’s when it really counts.”
The post Striker Pence Turns Heads In Jupiter With 101 MPH Fastball As A 16-Year-Old appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects – Baseball America.
