A pair of 2018 arms impressed in Team Elite 17s Prime opened the round of 32 with a victory early Saturday morning. Righthander Makenzie Stills (2018, Fayetteville, Ga.) and lefty Justin Wrobleski (2018, Canton, Ga.) teamed up to combine for a three hit shutout to help Team Elite advance.
Stills stands on the mound with a smaller frame at 5-foot-11 and 180-pounds but does a good job of using his entire body to get increased velocity. The Vanderbilt commit has a long arm circle with a pretty loose arm action and releases the baseball from a three-quarter arm slot. Stills works from the first base side of the rubber and coils his front leg up and inward to explode downhill and take advantage of his very quick arm speed. He has a crossfire element to his delivery and his hips fire well with lower half drive to propel himself down on the mound. Stills’ fastball sat from 87-89 mph on the day and topped out at 91 with some late run at times. As the outing wore on his velocity dipped down to the 84-86 mph range but was still able to ramp it up to the upper 80s late. Stills mixed in a hard change up at 78-79 mph with some fade and a breaking ball in the mid-70s. On the day Stills showed a good three-pitch mix with an explosive arm and showed why he is one of the top arms in the 2018 class.
Wrobleski is tall and skinny at 6-foot-2, 168-pounds with a lot of room for projection still left in the frame. He has a longer arm action coming from the three-quarter arm slot and whips his arm around on the delivery. Wrobleski is a good athlete and fielded his position well throughout the outing. He has a leg lift slightly above his waist with a pretty online delivery and he gets on top of the baseball upon delivery of the pitch. The pitching motion was fairly easy and he was able to sit in the upper 80s with an easy release. The Clemson commit relied primarily on his fastball to get hitters out. The pitch sat from 85-87 mph on the day and topped out at 89 mph early on. He lived in the lower third of the strike zone and although the pitch was fairly straight he was able to induce a lot of weak contact and ground ball outs with the pitch. Wrobleski mixed in two offspeed pitches: a changeup at 76-77 mph and a curveball in the mid-70s with 1/7 shape and some depth to the pitch. Wrobleski remains an intriguing two-way prospect with immediate futures both at the plate and on the mound.
Lefthander Luke Bartnicki (2018, Marietta, Ga.) toed the rubber for the East Cobb Colt .45s 17u and although he struggled a bit in his outing he still showed a top level arm. Bartnicki stands tall at 6-foot-3, 190-pounds with a lean frame and some room to fill out as well. He has a long, loose arm action with an easy delivery and throws from an extended three-quarter arm slot. The Georgia Tech commit does a good job at getting downhill and burying the fastball low on hitters. He has a very quick arm and fired his hips well while delivering the baseball online. When Bartnicki’s release point was consistent his fastball was nearly unhittable, however when he lost his release point he lost all command of the pitch as well. He worked both sides of the plate pretty well with the fastball but missed up often on the day. The fastball sat from 88-90 mph but his velocity did dip down as the outing got longer and the day hotter. Bartnicki mixed in a soft breaking ball with slider-like shape and some soft break. He is able to get easy velocity on his pitches with a simple delivery but today he could not overcome issues with his release point and consistency.
Outfielder Brandon Moore (2017, Atlanta, Ga.) hit leadoff for the East Cobb Colt .45s 18u early in the round of 32 and he showed some impressive tools. Moore has a very athletic frame with decent size, 6-foot-1 and 175-pounds. The weight seems a bit generous as he is very lean but presently that plays out well for one of his biggest assets: his speed. Moore is a plus runner and was very aggressive with taking extra bases and stealing bases. He was at times too aggressive as he was picked off once and should have been picked off again earlier but his speed allowed him to race to second base. Moore was timed at a very fast 4.27 seconds to first from the right side. At the plate Moore has a very simple stance with a wide base and medium hand set. He has a very small leg lift and has quick hands directly to the ball. Presently there isn’t much lower half drive or strength for in-game power but he has a line drive swing plane. As he fills out he can be a dangerous hitter with his speed complementing his overall offensive game.
Two position players who helped their team advance to the quarterfinals were Judson Ward (2017, Russellville, Ala.) and Zachary Daniels (2017, Stockbridge, Ga.) for East Cobb Baseball. Both players hit homeruns in the round of 32 and added overall contributions to help their team succeed and to standout. Ward has a medium, physical build at 6-foot-1 and 190-pounds. He is very strong and also very athletic as evidenced bu his plus speed, timed at 3.9 seconds to first base on a bunt. At the dish he stands slightly open with a wide, balanced base. Ward has a high hand set with a high back elbow and has good hand and bat speed. He can hit the ball with authority to all fields and is aggressive at the plate and on the base paths. The Auburn commit’s homerun came today when he was able to pull the ball over the right centerfield wall showcasing his strength and ability to drive the baseball. Ward’s aforementioned speed helps him on the bases, and defensively, but he has good instincts on the bases which help him to take extra bases and make savvy, split-second decisions.
Daniels has a similarly physical frame at 6-foot-1, 194-pounds and definitely showcases his athleticism as well. Daniels shows speed on the bases with a 4.40 second time to first base from the right side and is able to consistently make plays in the field. Daniels stands tall up to bat with a high hand set and a high back elbow. He has plus bat speed and a very compact swing path to the ball. Daniels flat out hits the ball extremely hard when his timing is correct and he gets the barrel head out in front. He generates good backspin on line drives and when he lifts the ball into the air it can travel a long way. This culminated early on Saturday with one of the most impressive homeruns of the tournament. The Tennessee commit launched a 3-2 pitch an estimated 387 feet away that came off the bat at 95 mph, per Trackman Baseball, for a no-doubter. Daniels is a player with a very high ceiling and as he develops and becomes more consistent he can be one of the more impressive players in the class.
Righthander Ethan Hankins (2018, Cumming, Ga.) pitched for the second time in as many weeks here in Georgia and looked dominant again on Saturday evening. Hankins stands tall at 6-foot-6 and remains very projectable with his lean 200-pound build. The Vanderbilt commit has very impressive arm speed with tight arm action and a compact arm circle. His delivery is very simple as he turns and swings his leg and fires downhill from a high three-quarter arm slot. Hankins has a crossfire element to his delivery and did a very good job at filling up the strike zone today. The big difference from his last outing was that he mixed in a lot more of his offspeed pitches today including a hard changeup that flashed plus. Last week a majority of his pitches were his fastball with maybe three or four offspeed. Today he was using the changeup effectively which came in from 80-82 mph with good fade and arm action. Hankins also showed more confidence in his slider which had soft break and 10/4 shape. His fastball sat from 90-92 mph consistently and topped out on the day at 93 mph.
Pitching in the round of 16, lefthander Ethan Lindow (2017, Locust Grove, GA.) put together a very dominant performance for Team Demarini. Lindow has a pretty standard, projectable pitcher’s frame at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds and has room to add more strength. He has a long arm action that’s pretty full through the back with a quick delivery. Lindow dips his back shoulder a bit but creates some drive in his lower half with his back leg and fires his hips forward reasonably well. He maintained velocity well throughout his outing with a fastball that sat from 86-88 mph. Lindow worked both sides of the plate with the pitch and often used it to set up entire at-bats and create an opportunity to mix in offspeed. Late in the game he was able to bump up the velocity in pressure situations. In the sixth inning alone he pumped out around five 90 mph fastballs when the opposing team was threatening. The UAB commit has a curveball with pretty true 12/6 shape and mixed it in often during at bats. He slowed his arm speed a bit on the pitch but it was effective nonetheless. Lindow showed the ability to go deep into pressure-filled games and was able to stay within himself. As he tired there were times that he left his arm behind but that was toward the end of his outing. Watching him on the mound it is clear that he has a game plan and does a fairly good job sticking to that plan.
Shortstop for the Upstate Mavericks, Gabriel Holt (2017, Bonaire, Ga.) was a key player in the round of 16 matchup and made several plays that showcased his tools at the plate and in the field. Holt has a smaller frame but is very athletic and is listed at 5-foot-11, 160-pounds. He uses his athleticism to make rangy plays in the infield and to put pressure on opposing defenses on the bases. Holt made an outstanding play early in the game which saw him range over to his right, slide and show off his arm strength to nail the runner at first. His transfer and release of the baseball was extremely quick and also a testament to his arm accuracy that he was able to make such a good throw. Holt had a key triple later on in the game which saw him drive the ball to the opposite field and one-hop the wall. At the plate Holt has some unorthodox mechanics from the left side with a wide base, high hand set, and a high back elbow. The swing mechanics display an exaggerated, elastic hand load with a big leg lift. He almost coils his body inward and explodes out onto the baseball as it approaches the hitting zone. The Texas Tech commit showed some bat speed on the swing and was able to put some carry on the baseball to the opposite field. Holt’s athleticism plays into a big part of his game and currently while the swing is very timing dependent it works well for him.
Righthander Myles McKisic (2017, Delray Beach, Fl.) put together a strong performance on the mound and displayed strong elements of a pitching future. McKisic has a tall and lean body at 6-foot-2, 175-pounds to go along with the athleticism he displays while playing the field. He throws from a higher three-quarter arm slot with a long arm action and a crossfire element to his landing. McKisic presently has a messy lower half and fights his front side at times but has some finish to his landing. He has a quick arm and does a good job getting on top of the ball to bear it down on hitters. The fastball sat from 86-88 mph early on and topped out at 89 mph, which he reached multiple times. The pitch has some late life to it and was able to locate the pitch pretty well on his glove side but did work both sides of the plate. McKisic is presently a two-pitch pitcher and mixed in a soft curveball with 11/5 shape as an offspeed pitch.