Mars' Will Bednar delivers a pitch against Trinity during the WPIAL 5A playoffs this season. Bednar, who is entering his senior season with the Planets, is spending his summer getting better and getting noticed. He will compete in two prestigious high school baseball showcases next month.

ADAMS TWP — Will Bednar is a household name now in Western Pennsylvania.

A fastball that routinely touches the mid-90s will do that for a high school pitcher. So will a 0.69 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 51 innings.

Those gaudy numbers Bednar put up during his junior season at Mars has opened up other doors for the right-handed pitcher.

Bednar will compete in the East Coast Pro Showcase in Hoover, Ala., early next month. That showcase is run by Major League Baseball scouts and features the best high school players in the eastern part of the country.

Bednar, who has already committed to Ohio State, will be playing for the Royals, a team at the showcase run by one of Kansas City’s top scouts.

That’s the ultimate objective for Bednar this summer: get noticed on a national level and set himself up for the MLB draft next summer.

On the heels of his appearance at the East Coast Pro Showcase, which will be held Aug. 1-4, Bednar will take part in the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif.

The Area Code Games, which begin Aug. 6, feature 220 of the best high school baseball players in the country.

Bednar will be playing for the Yankees there.

“It’s just going to be great competing against the best players in the country,” Bednar said. “I’m really pumped up and looking forward to showing what I can do.”

Read the full story in Thursday’s Butler Eagle.