Malvern Prep’s Tague Davis trains with USA Baseball and showcases his two-way skills

Malvern Prep’s Tague Davis has developed a powerful swing over the years.

Behind the 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame, he trains at All-Star Baseball Academy in West Chester, hits regularly at the local fields in Chadds Ford, and chops “a lot of wood” at home on his family’s farm.

Davis, the son of Ben Davis, a former major league catcher who’s now the Phillies TV color analyst for Comcast SportsNet, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps of reaching the majors. The rising senior, a two-way threat as a first baseman and pitcher, participated last week in 18U national team training camp at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

While Tague wasn’t named to the final 20-man roster that will travel to Taiwan in September for the U-18 Baseball World Cup, his future is bright.

“Northeast, we always got a chip on our shoulder,” Tague told The Inquirer while at training camp Wednesday. “We can’t play all year-round. But I think I’m just coming out here and you can only control what you can control. I try to just be within myself and I want to show people who I am.”

The left-hander is committed to Louisville, where he plans to pitch and hit. This past year he started to make a name for himself as a slugger.

In the Area Code Games earlier this month in San Diego, Tague was named the home run derby champion after launching 27 home runs while using a wooden bat. He’s also a proponent of not using batting gloves or tape.

“My dad never did that when he was younger,” Tague said. “So I was like, ‘I’ll feel it out.’ But I loved it. I never really was a fan of the turf fields. I like dirt in my hands, kind of grab and just that natural feel. That’s what I like, I like to do that. It just feels good to me.”

Ben spent seven seasons in the majors, including four with the San Diego Padres. He also graduated from Malvern Prep, and the Padres selected him No. 2 overall in the 1995 draft.

Tague doesn’t like to compare himself to his father, but says he has been his main mentor. With Ben’s guidance, Tague hopes to leave a legacy of his own with the Friars.

“He always says, ‘The way you play, it’s always going to handle itself, but you just got to be a better person, too,’” Tague said. “I went to school every day, before I played in a game he goes, ‘Yes, please, no, thank you, don’t be [a jerk].’ That’s my go-to. That’s what he says, and it basically goes for everything.”