ELIMIRA,
N.Y. - Despite troublesome weather throughout the day, weather that
plagued the entire upstate New York region, the 2014 PGCBL All-Star
came off without a hitch, thanks in large part to tireless work from
the Elmira grounds crew at Dunn Field. The rain did put a damper on
some of the Scout Day activities, including on-field batting
practice, but the 60-yard dash and home run derby still went on as
planned, as the weather cleared late in the day.
60-Yard
Dash
It
was evident from the first runner that there was certainly some speed
in attendance at the 2014 PGCBL All-Star game. 17 players posted
times under seven seconds. These players are listed below. Times are
as announced by the PGCBL from the field.
John
Razzino - 6.40
Nick
Walker - 6.50
Luis
Silverio - 6.50
Josh
Gardiner - 6.50
T.J.
Dixon - 6.53
Jack
Gerstenmaier - 6.59
Chris
Kalousdian - 6.59
Cedric
Mullins - 6.63
Justin
Korenblatt - 6.70
JaVon
Shelby - 6.80
Mike
Carter - 6.81
Trey
Stover - 6.87
Chris
Gaetano - 6.90
Jayson
Sullivan - 6.91
Colin
Hawk - 6.94
Jonathan
Pryor - 6.94
Sean
Aspinall - 6.97
Home
Run Derby
In
the absence of on-field batting practice, more emphasis was placed by
the scouts in attendance on thoroughly evaluating the home run derby,
and there was plenty of raw power on display to be examined. With
that, without a batting practice that we would have broken down, we
take a look at the opening round of the home run derby at historic
Dunn Field.
Nick
Jewitt (Albany, IF, Trinity) showed off a compact stroke and lift
to his pull side, powering one long drive over the left-center field
fence in his home run derby round. He’s a line drive hitter, but
his strength in this performance was abundantly clear as well.
Willie
Martin (Watertown, IF, Mount Olive) showed off easy pull-side
power right away in his derby round, launching a loud home run well
over the left field fence on one of his first swings. Martin shows
very quick hands on the inner third and uses his hips very well to
drive the baseball. He has power that will clearly play well in game
action.
Jake
Salpietro (Amsterdam, OF, Fairfield) was among the most
comfortable hitters in home run derby action, working from a calm,
open approach and showing off extra quick hands. The ball seemed to
have an extra gear off his bat as he crushed four home runs in his
round. A couple of these were of the towering variety. On pure bat
speed alone, he was a standout for scouts in attendance.
Not
to be shutout, Zach Wall (Newark, IF, Young Harris) lined a
rocket over the left field fence with two outs two go in his round.
He gets excellent extension in his swing and has the swing path of an
effective gap hitter in game action.
A
physically imposing lefthanded hitter, Brennan Price (Glens
Fall, IF, Felician) looks the part in home run derby competition. He
keeps himself upright at the plate and generates good leverage in his
swing path. Price end up getting shutout, but not without narrowly
missing a home run high off the wall in right center field. He
certainly remains a power lefty bat to watch.
Corey
Lerche (Utica, IF, Gloucester C.C.) showed off a quick, powerful
righthanded stroke, staying inside the ball well and resisting the
temptation to get long in his swing path for the derby. The juice in
his bat is very noticeable.
Zach
Collett (Mohawk Valley, IF, New Haven) works from a quiet
approach, but made some of the day’s loudest contact, including a
laser over the left field wall on one of his first swings. Through a
slight forward bat tip, he gets his hands in an excellent position to
generate power, and the power appears to come very easily to him. He
slugged three home runs in his opening round.
Mark
Williams (Adirondack, IF, La Salle) was yet another hitter that
immediately looked the part as he stepped to the, working from a
powerful, slightly crouched position. He produced consistent, hard
line drives to his pull side with second gear carry that gave him his
one home run in the round. He followed with five home runs in his
second round, getting into a groove and using his good lift.
Zac
Bellinger (Elmira, IF, St. Rose) showed his comfort in the derby
competition right away, blasting a towering home run to right field
on his first swing. He uses his lower half very well to generate
power and is very aggressive with his hands. Bellinger has a clear
lefty power approach. He end up with six home runs, and produced
multiple deep drives that could have jockeyed for the day’s
longest, including his sixth and final homer. He followed
with a five spot in his second round. Continuing that momentum,
Bellinger finished with four home runs in the finals to clinch the
title. This is a power bat scouts will be keeping tabs on.
All-Star
Game Action
Bryson
Hough (Elmira, RHP, Bucknell) took the mound to start the game
for the West All-Stars, showing off an 86-88 mph fastball, flashing a
77-79 mph slider from a three-quarters arm slot. He proved to be
particularly tough on righty batters, showing good deception and
command of his fastball. He also flashed a 75-77 mph changeup with
late action.
Ryan
Clark (Amsterdam, RHP, UNC Greensboro) showed off a very live
fastball up to 91 mph, working mostly between 88-90. He has quick,
very clean arm action and a tall, projectable frame to go with it. He
also mixed a late biting 72 mph curveball with the potential to be a
big league average offering. Clark also flashed a changeup at 79 mph.
His heavy fastball and projection will keep him squarely on scouts’
radar screens moving forward.
Rollie
Lacey (Adirondack, RHP, Creighton) has an athletic, wiry frame, a
frame that could allow him to continue adding velocity. He worked
steadily at 87-88 mph on Tuesday night, showing off good of the
pitch. Lacey showed good confidence in a 74-75 mph changeup and a
short, tight 77-79 mph slider. He mixed in a bigger curveball at
74-76 mph as well.
Austin
Foote (Albany, LHP, Indiana) showed off good deception with his
three-quarters, shorter arm action, but it was his stuff that
impressed above all else. He lived at 86-87 mph with his fastball,
flashing late arm side running action. His best offering on Tuesday
was a sharp, two-plane 78-80 mph slider that he commanded to both
sides of the dish. He would occasionally subtract from this pitch to
throw more of a true curveball at 75 mph.
Jayson
Yano (Newark, RHP, Stevens) threw a mixed bag of pitches at
opposing hitters on Tuesday night. He generates big action at 83-86
mph on a two-seam fastball, and dialed it up to 87 when he needed it.
He adds and subtracts to his fastball, adding movement to induce
groundballs. Yano also shows good command of a late diving 78-79 mph
changeup that works consistently down in the zone with. He also
flashed a big 11-to-5 curveball at 71 mph.
E.J.
Ashworth (Amsterdam, RHP, Fairfield) gave hitters a lot to look
at on Tuesday night, showing a lot of arms, legs, and moving parts in
his delivery. He attacked with an 85-88 mph fastball, working fast
and showing off late sinking action down in the zone. Ashworth also
spotted a 76 mph curveball with good 11-to-5 shape.
Jake
Sale (Watertown, RHP, Parkland came in working from a high,
straight over the top arm slot and pounded his 88-90 mph fastball
down in the zone. He mixed a 74 mph curveball, but right now Sale
mostly pitches off of his fastball. He pitched aggressively in this
one, and induced weak swings on the fastball.
Ed
Lewicki (Mohawk Valley, RHP, Siena) was another of a number of
pitchers who gave hitters an uncomfortable at-bat on this night. He
came at hitters from an aggressive delivery and an over the top arm
slot, working mostly at 88-89 mph. Because of the moving parts to his
delivery, his velocity appeared to play up another tick or two. He
topped at 90 mph, working quickly, and attacking the zone with the
fastball. Lewicki also flashed a late biting 75 mph curveball and an
80 mph changeup.
Sam
Sinnen (Elmira, RHP, Old Dominion) came in pumping strikes at
85-86 mph with his fastball, showing off a repeatable delivery and
clean arm action. He also showed excellent command of his 73-74 mph
late breaking 11-to-5 curveball.
Taylor
Blatch (Amsterdam, RHP, Florida State) emerged from the bullpen
pumping his fastball and changing hitters’ eye levels. He worked at
88-92, topping at 93 mph with his fastball from an easy delivery.
And, he effectively mixed a 73-75 mph 10-to-4 sweeping curveball.
Blatch is a good athlete that projects to add more velocity.
Pat
Geraghty (Adirondack, RHP, Florida Tech) gave the game it’s
first submarine arm angle of the night, and giving righty batters
something very difficult to look at in the process. Geraghty threw a
76-79 mph sinking fastball with good late movement.
Kevin
Cowan (Glens Falls, RHP, William Patterson) showed a solid feel
for a sweeping 72 mph breaking ball and worked mostly at 84-86 mph
from a three-quarters arm slot. He also flashed a late diving 78-79
mph changeup.
Travis
Laitar (Newark, RHP, Cortland State) showed a long, clean over
the top arm action, working consistently around 84-86 mph with
occasional cutting action.
Nick
Petrella (Mohawk Valley, RHP, Skidmore) flashed an easy, clean
three-quarters arm action and a fastball that hovered around 85-88
mph. He mixed a 74 mph changeup with excellent arm speed and
location. It was his go to pitch in this outing. Petrella did a very
good of attacking the strike zone with his fastball. He also spun a
71 mph curveball to help combat righthanded batters.
Josh
Garran (Utica, RHP, Pace) came out of the pen showing off a quick
arm and a wiry, athletic frame. He also immediately flashed a good
feel for a sharp, biting 76-78 mph slider. Garran varied the speed of
this pitch and threw a couple at 74 mph. He touched 89 mph with his
fastball, working mostly between 86-88 with late life through the
zone.
Kyle
Zurak (Albany, RHP, Radford) opened eyes in the scout section
right away, touching 90 mph on the first pitch he threw and showing
good life from a high, over the top arm slot. He flashed a sharp
78-81 mph slider and worked mostly at 87-89 mph with his fastball
through most of his outing.
Thomas
Hackimer (Amsterdam, RHP, St. John’s) came on to relieve Zurak,
throwing a moving fastball from a low sidearm slot. He worked between
83-85 mph with his fastball with command down in the zone. He also
showed a feel for a frisbee breaking ball that he could backdoor to
lefty batters.
Jon
Escobar (Watertown, RHP, Holy Cross) came out of the bullpen
throwing as hard as anyone threw all night, touching 92 mph with the
first pitch out of his hand. He touched as high as 94 mph
consistently with a fairly clean arm action and excellent lower half
use. At 91-94 mph with a useable 72-74 mph curveball, Escobar has
certainly grabbed the attention of scouts with this All-Star outing.
He misses bats with his fastball and knows how to attack the zone.
Matt
Horton (Elmira, LHP, Cornell) goes at hitters with an aggressive,
funky, deception delivery and a high energy arm action. He worked
very quickly and pounded the zone with an 85-87 mph fastball, and
showed a good feel for a sharp 71 mph downer curveball.
Lucas
Godlewski (Mohawk Valley, RHP, Herkimer C.C.) was the final
pitcher of the night, showing an 84-86 mph fastball with a sound,
repeatable delivery.
Tuesday’s
game was almost completely dominated by pitching, but one of the
standouts in terms of tools was JaVon Shelby (Amsterdam, IF,
Kentucky). Shelby squared a ball hard in the seventh inning, hitting
a rope to center field. He also showed quick twitch, smooth defensive
actions and plus speed.
Also
squaring the ball hard twice was infielder Collin
Hawk (Mohawk Valley, IF,
Cincinnati), who earlier in the day ran a 6.94 60-yard dash. He was
even more impressive in the field, showing fluid, confident middle
infield actions. At the plate, he shows good life off his bat and
flashes pull side power potential.