3 Less Than Famous High School Pitchers Making Big Noise

Perfect Game Staff

PG had four scouts covering the San Diego Lions Tournament, but obviously we missed much of the action. This is one of the largest tournaments in the country, played at various sites in the San Diego area. The event was loaded with good prospects. There were many standouts and top ranked high school players. Here’s a report on three pitchers who were not so well known nationally until we saw them in San Diego. All three are top 100 in the nation types! Our guys also took a trip to see Mater Dei and Bishop Amat play. Sergio Santos, Jordan Swaydan, Adam Simon, etc. Perhaps we will get to that report later.

1. Cole Hamels , LHP, 6’3/180, Rancho Bernardo
Perhaps, the #1 prospect and biggest surprise was LHP Cole Hamels. He is listed at 6-foot-3/180 and definitely looked every bit like a potential first round draft prospect. He has the body type, tall and strong with broad shoulders. He could easily add 30 lbs to that frame. His arm action is outstanding and he appears to be very athletic. He also showed the ability to pitch with finesse, in fact he’s crafty. Hamels was 91 to 94 in the first couple innings and pretty much 90 to 92 in the middle innings. In the late innings he was still touching 90 with his fastball. The heater showed excellent life out of a high three-quarter slot with no tension. In fact, from the side his arm action looked even better… faster and smoother. He showed a nasty breaking ball around 80-81 and a very good changeup around 80 mph. He was able to spot all three pitches. Hamel’s has some medical background as he sat out most of his junior year. However, there is absolutely nothing that we saw that would indicate a problem. Add it up… Plus fastball velocity and life. Plus breaking ball, plus changeup. Three plus pitches with command! Great body, Great arm action and outstanding pitchability. Move him up in the rankings!

2. Jesse English, LHP, 6’3/208, Rancho Buena Vista
Wow! English is another big surprise that belongs among the top 100 prospects in high school baseball. He showed a loose easy arm action and has a big, strong 6-foot-3 frame with broad shoulders, big hands and arms that look like they scrape the ground. He looks every bit like a major league pitcher in the bull pen and even better yet in the game. English has a good balanced delivery and the ball comes out of his hand fast. His fastball explodes at the plate! He threw four pitches 91 mph in the 7th inning. In fact he just kept getting stronger the more he threw. He showed a plus changeup with serious run and sink. His curve ball started out below average, but out of nowhere it showed MLB average late in the game. English will get a lot of interest this coming June.

3. Joel Zumaya, RHP, 6’2/195, Bonita Vista
We still are not positive if his name is spelled Zumaya or Zumaye, but either way we have known about him for quite awhile. On this day he showed 90-93 velocity with a pretty good breaking ball and a decent changeup. His command was outstanding for 7 innings. Actually he and English hooked up in a scoreless 7 inning duel. Joel throws three-quarter with kind of a short arm. He gets good extension and his arm is lightening quick. He does show a little violence in that arm, but it seems to work very well. He definitely looked like another of the top 100 in the nation prospects. A few other players who showed TOP PROSPECT ability

Seniors
Jake Blalock, 3B, 6’3/185, Rancho Bernardo (possible high draft)
Hayden Penn, RHP, 6’3/185, Santana HS (possible high draft)
Fernando Pacheco, 1B, 6’2/195, Montgomery HS (possible good draft)
Tyler Coon, P/1B, 6’3/205, Silverado HS (NV) (possible good draft)
Scott Lonergan, RHP, 6’4/200, Poway HS (possible good draft)
Tyler Wightman, 3B, 6’3/190, Poway HS (possible good draft)
Josh Womack, OF, 6’1/185, Crawford HS (possible good draft)
Robert Andrews, OF, 6’0/200, Rancho Buena Vista HS (possible draft)
Juan Velazquez, RHP, 6’4/190, Montgomery HS (possible draft)
Matt Elliott, RHP, 6’0/175, Basic HS (NV) (possible draft)
Baron Frost, C, 6’0/185, St Augustine HS (possible draft)
Marcos Villezcas, SS, 5’10/160, Montgomery HS (possible draft)
Mike Lomba, P/1B, 6'5/215, Elk Grove HS (possible draft)

Juniors
John Peabody, OF/P, 6’4/215, Rancho Bernardo (a top 03)
Eddie Solis, 3B, 5’11/190, Eastlake HS (a top 03)
Sean Murphy, RHP, 6’0/205, San Marcos HS (good 03)
Brock Ungright, C, 5’10/180, Mission Bay HS (yet another good 03)
Brant Rustich, 1B/P, 6'6/230, Grossmont (top 03)
Jared Suwyn, P/1B, 6'1/235 Mission Bay (good 03)

Sophomores
Matt Bush, SS, 5’10/160, Mission Bay HS (Remember this 04)
Mitch Einertson, OF, 5’11/175, Rancho Buena Vista (another top 04)
Casey Coon, SS, 5’11/170, Silverado HS (another top 04)
Roberto Lopez, 3B, 6'0/180, Rancho Bernardo (yet another top 04)

*There were many more including Paul Oseguera who did not pitch.

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