Football season may be only just over a week away, but Auburn’s baseball program made headlines on Monday after Baseball America released its 2025 Top 50 High Schoolers To Get To Campus List.
One of the most recognizable college baseball databases in the country, Baseball America tabbed three incoming Auburn freshmen among their top 50 newcomers, as outfielder [autotag]D’Marion Terell[/autotag] (12), along with pitchers [autotag]Connor Gatwood[/autotag] (15) and [autotag]Christian Chatterton[/autotag] (36) received spots on the list.
A 19th-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2024 MLB Draft, D’Marion Terell is set to come to the Plains after declining to go pro earlier this summer. The Alabaster Ala. native was a two-way star for Thompson High School, finishing his senior season with a 2.12 ERA on the mound and a .429 batting average in the box. Much like fellow Thompson-two-way star Auburn football commit [autotag]Jared Smith[/autotag], Terell is likely to give up his duties on the defensive side of the ball once he arrives on the Plains. The 2024 Shelby County Hitter of the Year will likely be a fixture atop head coach Butch Thompson’s batting order in 2025.
Right-hander Connor Gatwood is just as likely to receive a major role for the Tigers in 2025. Injuries plagued the 6-foot-5 righty throughout his senior season at Baker High School, but he possessed “one of the best combinations of velocity and projection in the entire 2024 prep class” according to MLB’s Pre-Draft Rankings. That combination, which includes a 98 MPH fastball and a mid-80s slider, was enough for the Angels to select him in the 19th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Gatwood declined to join the Halos, and now projects to be a potential weekend starter for Auburn in 2025.
The lowest-ranked prospect of the trio, Christian Chatterton was the second-ranked right-handed pitcher from the state of Alabama in the 2025 cycle, behind only Gatwood. The 6-foot, 200-pound hard thrower is not as physically imposing as his fellow top 50 freshman, but Chatterton could also get the opportunity to start games for Butch Thompson’s Tigers in 2025.
Auburn’s top 10 2025 recruiting class along with a consensus top 5 transfer class should bode well for Butch Thompson’s chances of bouncing back from a rough season in 2024. If the Tigers can compete for an SEC title as soon as next year, the three aforementioned freshmen will be a major reason why.
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