Luke Napleton named Atlantic League Player of the Month after June surge

Luke Napleton earned Atlantic League Player of the Month honors for June after a blistering stretch that took him from a .130 average on June 2 to one of the league’s most dangerous middle-order bats. The High Point catcher/outfielder led the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball with 11 home runs and 35 RBI in June, production that arrived just as second-half play began and High Point prepared to restart its push in the South Division.

The full line was as loud as the award. Napleton finished June with 32 hits in 108 at-bats, 10 doubles, 11 homers and 35 RBI, while hitting .356 for the month with a .833 slugging percentage and a 1.278 OPS. He added 10 multi-RBI games and two separate two-homer performances, a level of run production that forced opposing staffs to pitch around him even when High Point’s lineup around him was still settling in.

That surge mattered beyond the individual trophy. The Rockers are trying to climb in a South Division race that restarts with every series in the second half, and Napleton’s June gave the club a true centerpiece around which to build its offense. His power numbers were not just isolated blasts; the doubles, the multi-RBI nights and the volume of hits showed a hitter who was driving the ball consistently, not simply running into a hot week.

The award also underscored how far Napleton has come since joining High Point. The Rockers said the Minnesota Twins transferred his contract on May 9, 2025, after he opened that season hitting .571, going 12-for-21 with two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI. He arrived at High Point after four seasons at Quincy College in Illinois and a 2024 season at the University of Louisville, where he hit .320 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI.

Napleton shared the June monthly honor with Hagerstown pitcher Eddy Demurias, who helped the Flying Boxboxes clinch the North Division title. For High Point, the bigger story is what Napleton’s month signals now: a catcher who can produce from behind the plate and a bat that has already shown it can change the shape of a standings race. With games at Staten Island and then a home series against Hagerstown on the July schedule, the Rockers enter the second half with a hitter who has already turned one month into a statement.