The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior shortstop and right-handed pitcher led the Jaguars (24-5) to the Class 6A tournament quarterfinals this past season. Peterson batted .535, ripping 19 doubles to go with two triples, three home runs and 37 RBI to compile a 1.536 OPS. He also stole 26 bases in 29 attempts, scored 37 runs, struck out only five times vs. 28 walks in 120 plate appearances, producing an on-base percentage of .650. Ranked as Baseball America’s No. 54 overall prospect in July’s Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, Peterson went 2-0 in his first 12 innings on the mound this spring, posting a 0.00 ERA and fanning 20 batters without issuing a walk before a hamate bone injury derailed his season on the mound; he finished 2-2. He had a .985 fielding percentage at shortstop. Ranked as the nation’s No. 11 high school prospect in his class by Prep Baseball Report, he led Mill Valley to the 6A East Regional title earlier this spring and won the MLB Home Run Derby contest last summer.
Peterson has maintained a 3.18 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play baseball at the University of Texas this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in the MLB Draft.
Peterson is a devoted parishioner of the Westside Family Church and has participated for the past two years in goodwill visits to a children’s hospital in Fort Myers, Florida, in association with Children’s Mercy and Perfect Game Select. He has also volunteered locally as an instructor at Mill Valley Baseball camps in addition to donating his time on behalf of fundraising efforts to cure brain cancer and Leukemia/Lymphoma. He has served as a youth baseball umpire as well.
