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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/17/2018

LakePoint Scout Notes

Photo: Josh Shuler (Perfect Game)

The top-ranked Georgia outfielder in the 2020 class, Josh Shuler (2020, Suwanee, Ga.), certainly did not disappoint at the plate on Saturday. The lefty launched an offering from a same-handed pitcher out of the park to put his team in the lead. The two-run blast left the bat with an exit velocity of 93 mph and traveled an estimated 354 feet down the right field line. His very advanced plate approach is extremely sound, and he creates easy bat speed with a fluid swing. Shuler is uber-athletic at 6-foot-2 with a strong, muscular build, and looks as if he is simply playing in the wrong league, a total mismatch for the opposition. He finished the day a double short of the cycle, as he also knocked a triple off the wall (narrowly missing a second bomb) and a single, all three hits crushed with authority.

Not to be outdone, Shuler’s teammate Reuben Church (2020, Maryville, Tn.) jacked a home run of his own, lifting it deep to left and into the Emerson wilderness. This one came screaming off the bat at 99 mph and traveled 373 feet. Church generates good bat speed and does a nice job keeping his hands in and hitting with an efficient bat path. The right-handed masher should have no trouble hitting more home runs in the future with his big six-foot, one-inch, 195 pound frame. When matched with Shuler, Church gives the team an extremely enviable power combo, as he is ranked first among Tennessee third basemen in his class.

Setting the tone early in what turned out to be a decisive team victory, Patrick Boles (2020, Knoxville, Tenn.) made an outstanding diving catch in centerfield to take away, what appeared to be, a surefire hit with very low probability of being caught. Without much time to make the play, he reacted quickly with a good first step in and took an efficient route, his instincts evident as he snared the dying liner. When he wasn’t flashing the leather, he was displaying his grittiness elsewhere, such as when he hustled hard down the line on a routine ground ball to barely beat it out when the first baseman bobbled it. Despite pulling up lame after landing awkwardly on the bag, Boles remained in the game and came around to score. He made good contact at the dish, ending his day with an RBI double to his pull side. At 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, he may not be the biggest, most powerful guy, but Boles really seems like a winning player, playing the game hard with a lot of energy.

Colby Holcombe (2021, Florence, Ala.) was slinging it on the mound Saturday afternoon, displaying his power arm. He relied primarily on the fastball, which at times touched 87 mph and averaged around 83. He is a physically impressive figure at 6-foot-6, 230-pounds, a strong and durable presence on the hill. While Holcombe’s fastball certainly has juice, he doesn’t always know where it’s going, as seen in a first inning in which he issued three free passes and hit a batter. However, he settled down a bit control-wise after a shaky first and hitters weren’t really able to catch up to his heat and square anything up at all. Holcombe, who still has three years remaining in high school, has plenty of time left to refine his command and develop more confidence in a secondary pitch and, if he does so, will become an extremely exciting prospect to watch.

Greyson Linderman (2019, Rising Fawn, Ga.) filled the zone nicely with his 85-86 mph fastball, which touched 88 at times. The rising senior consistently got ahead in the count, attacking the zone with 69 percent of his pitches going for strikes. Linderman pitches with a simple arm path and a low-effort delivery that allow him to repeat his mechanics well. He features both a 74 mph slider and a 69 mph curveball in his pitch mix that drew some whiffs and kept hitters guessing. Even as he was around the zone, hitters weren’t doing much damage, as his only real trouble came in the third inning when a few soft-hit balls dropped in for hits. Even with this bit of bad luck in the third, he minimized the damage and limited the opposition to a single run despite being in a bases-loaded jam. Linderman, ranked 71st among Georgia righties in his class, finished his day with a stellar six-to-zero strikeout-to-walk ratio as he earned the victory while throwing an economical 59 pitches over five frames.

Will Huber (2018, Cordova, Tenn.) had to work a bit more to get his home run, hustling hard for an inside-the-park round tripper to add on to his team’s offensive barrage. He hit a rocket line drive over the first baseman and took full advantage of a fortunate hop off of the wall, displaying great speed as he beat the throw home. Huber is balanced at the plate and shows good selectivity with a discerning eye. He uses his loose hands to get the barrel to the ball consistently, seen again as he tacked on a well-hit RBI single in a two-strike count. Huber also showed astuteness on the basepaths as he snuck into second on the play when the cente rfielder threw to third.

Putting hitters on notice right away, Blake Renner (2019, Alpharetta, Ga.) came out firing and struck out the first hitter of the game on three consecutive pitches. He features an effective four-pitch mix with a fastball, changeup, curveball, slider combo. He maintained 84-87 mph on the fastball and was able to hit his spots throughout the game. However, there were a few instances where he may have caught too much of the plate when behind in the count, as he dodged a couple bullets with near-home runs. His changeup was probably his second-best pitch, an offering he used on lefties with good drop. Renner threw the curve with decent vertical break in the zone for strikes and buried the occasional slider in the dirt for swings and misses. All four pitches were usable and were thrown from a similar arm slot. Renner, a strong, muscular pitcher, currently stands as the 27th-ranked Georgia pitcher in the 2019 class and went three innings, striking out three and yielding a lone hit.

Graham Pauley (2019, Milton, Ga.) stood out for his hot-corner defense but showed strong potential in the batter’s box as well. The Duke commit made a nice diving stop to his left on a hard-hit grounder that seemed destined to be a single. Pauley, however, had other plans, as he got enough glove on the ball to stop it before quickly finding it, bare-handing it, and firing from the ground, not needing to bring the ball back to the glove as many third baseman do. He has a strong and accurate arm that makes him well suited for third base. At the plate, Pauley, the eighth-ranked Georgia third baseman in his class, displayed a strong approach from the left side, especially with two strikes as he grinded out a long AB against a tough lefty. He starts with an open stance and gets good extension on his swing and despite a lack of big results, he appears to have big potential as a power bat.

Highly touted arms Riley Bishop (2019, Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Cole Stupp (2019, Milton, Ga.) squared off in a pitcher’s duel on Father’s Day afternoon. Bishop, a KSU commit, showed very clean, repeatable mechanics from the left side and sat at 86-87 mph with the fastball, with which he displayed the ability to spot to both his arm and glove sides. Bishop’s main weapon proved to be a lethal slider with a fair amount of horizontal bend, most effective used as a backfoot pitch to righties, who were inept when it came to putting the pitch into play. Bishop, the 12th-ranked Georgia lefty in his class, is quite tall and lanky and should be able to add even more velocity with work in the weight room. He struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings.

Stupp, meanwhile, threw from the right side, dialing up the heater to 89 mph at times. The Kentucky commit throws with relatively little effort from an over-the-top release point and gets ahead of batters consistently. He showed good feel for a 72-74 mph curveball, able to consistently drop it in for strikes, especially to the glove side. This command allowed him to be unpredictable and occasionally pitch backwards, jumping ahead with the curve before finishing hitters with smoke. Stupp, ranked 37th in Georgia among righthanders, is also a projectable type at 6-foot-4 and likewise has room to add a little juice to his fastball in the coming years. He went 4 2/3 frames, fanning seven.

– Cameron Hines



Late Friday night, Caden Hare (2021, Phenix City, Ala.) turned in a dominant performance on the mound, striking out 12 batters in five innings of work. The 5-foot-11, 145-pound righthander was 84-86 with his fastball, topping out at 87. Hare also featured great feel for a mid-70’s slider and low-70’s curveball that could be thrown at any point. With a three-quarters arm slot, Hare used natural sink and run on his fastball to keep hitters chasing out of the zone. Hare comes across his body some at the release, but showed great body control in what was a very repeatable delivery. Hare is ranked as the ninth-best player in the state of Alabama, and will continue to develop velocity as his body fills out.

In Summer Showdown action, the 14u Championship featured a pair of powerful starting pitchers. For Titans Baseball, Garrett Goblish (2021, Woodstock, Ga.) turned in 4 and 2/3 solid innings. Goblish showcased a fastball up to 80, though he lived in the high-70’s for most of the day. Goblish was able to keep hitters off balance throughout, forcing soft contact early in counts to keep his pitch count down. Goblish struck out three batters and allowed just four hits.

In the other dugout, Dulins Dodgers starter Trent Hodgdon (2021, Smiths Station, Ala.) featured a heavy fastball that topped out at 83 mph. Hodgdon sat anywhere from 79-82 for most of his outing, and showcased very advanced feel for a good breaking ball. Standing a solid 6-foot, 170-pounds, Hodgdon uses his body well to get down the mound and work low in the zone. While command was shaky today with multiple glove side misses, Hodgdon shows the tools to become a high level pitching prospect as his career moves forward.

Preston Suter (2019, Woodstock, Ga.) made one of the more impressive outfield plays you will see during Saturday’s action. The 643 DP Coleman center fielder chased down a ball deep in the right-center field gap, making a sliding catch over his shoulder. Suter, who was a 5-foot-8, 140-pound frame, displayed plenty of athleticism and ability to track balls in the outfield all day. At the plate, Suter went 1-for-2 with a two-run double. He also drew a walk.

Corey Collins (2020, Suwanee, Ga.) delivered yet another strong day at the plate Saturday. In his second at-bat of the day, Collins turned on an inside fastball, driving well it over the wall in right for a home run. He followed that up with an impressive opposite field double in his third at-bat.  I was most impressed with Collins’ ability to get his hands through the zone quick and let them work to provide the power. His entire body stays loose through his swing, and the ball jumps off his barrel. He has a slightly open stance, and stands tall and athletic in the box. A primary catcher, Collins showed versatility on Saturday spending his day in right field. While he is currently ranked as the second best catcher in the state of Georgia, corner outfield is definitely a solid secondary option for Collins. The power and bat speed are there, and he has the arm strength to throw out runners as well.

– Nate Schweers
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