Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

On the heels of one of the best offensive seasons in Polk County baseball history, junior Gunnar Alm has received an invitation to display his talents at a national level.

Alm has been chosen to represent North Carolina in the 18th Annual World Power Showcase, that event set for November 23-25 at Chase Field – home of the Arizona Diamondbacks – in Phoenix. The Power Showcase includes a home run hitting contest as well as an all-star game featuring players from across the nation and more than 20 countries.

Alm will travel to Arizona in November following a junior campaign that ranks among the best individual offensive seasons ever for a Polk County player. The North Carolina State commit set four single-season records, tied or broke six career records and ranked in the top 20 in several categories among all players across the state.

Alm’s highlights:

 

• Batting average: .544, breaking the old school record of .529 set by Joel Booker in 2011.
• On-base percentage: .699, breaking the old school record of .625 set by Joel Booker in 2011.
• Slugging percentage: 1.103, just missing the school record of 1.149 set by Holden Owens in 2018.
• Hits: 37, one short of the school record shared by Andre Overholt (2011) and Holden Owens (2018)
• Runs: 40, one short of the school record shared by Danny Fraga (2010) and Evan Rimer (2019).
• Walks: 30, breaking the former record of 23 shared by Daniel McEntyre (2005) and Danny Fraga (2009, 2010).
• Multi-hit games: 13, one short of the school record set by Joel Booker in 2011.
• Consecutive times on base: 11, accomplished over a span of four games from April 12-17. That broke the former school record of nine set in 2000 by Matt Bailey and Adam Johnson. In those 11 at-bats, Alm had four singles, two doubles, two homers and three walks.
• Doubles: 10
• Triples: 2
• Home runs: 8
• Stolen bases: 29.

With one season to go, Alm is now the Polk County career record holder in the following categories:

• Doubles (shared with Josh Hudson and Holden Owens)
• Home runs
• Stolen bases
• Walks
• Total bases
• Multi-hit games (shared with Brandon Jolley).

With one season to go, Alm is also tied for 11th for career stolen bases in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association record book. His total of 79 steals matches that of Wake Forest-Rolesville’s Steve Lowery (1984-87) and South Stanly’s Aaron Thompson (2004-07).

Ryan Clark, a senior at North Mecklenburg, set a new state record last month in the category. Clark finished his career with 115 steals, breaking the former mark of 110 set by Mike Cavisinni at North Meck in the 2002-05 seasons.