Coach Bob National Invitational | March 16-28, 2015
The
2015 edition of the Coach Bob National Invitational marks the seventh
time the tournament will be played since the first pitch of the event
was thrown back in 2009. Each year in the middle of March, high
school fields all over the state of Arizona welcome teams from all
over the country, mostly from the western half of the country, and
invite them to play against high-level competition while soaking up
the Arizona sun.
The
tournament is named after legendary high school coach Bob Weinheimer,
who wrapped up his illustrious 44-year coaching career at Boulder
Creek High School, one of the main sites for the tournament. Boulder
Creek’s current coach, Joe McDonald, has a done a tremendous job of
inviting quality talent to the tournament, growing yet again in
numbers as there are 114 teams in 2015, up from 105 last spring.
Of
the six different sub-divisions within the tournament – All-Star,
National, American, AAA, Premier, and Classic – five champions
return and look to capture another title in 2015. It won’t be easy
as teams come from all over, representing 13 states, including
Florida, all of whom have a championship on their minds.
One
change that is occurring for the first time this year in the National
Division of the tournament is the introduction of bracket play.
Whoever comes out on top will truly deserve the title of “Champion”
as the field is loaded with big-time arms, well-rounded teams and
potent bats that are capable of changing a game with a single swing.
Amidst
the talent set to take the field are three Perfect Game
All-Americans, one from Oregon and two others from Colorado.
Parker
Kelly is one of several Division I commits on a talented Westview
(Ore.) team and has begun to make the transition to catcher after
taking a majority of his reps at third base. Highlands Ranch (Colo.)
shortstop Nick Shumpert is one of the top players in the 2015 high
school class and was first seen by a PG staff member playing for
Heritage High School at Coach Bob during Shumpert’s freshman year.
Rounding out the All-American trio is Legend (Colo.) outfielder Greg
Pickett who shows as much strength and power potential as any other
player in the entire class.
Talented
players are far from scarce as shown below with several players
committed to prominent colleges, some of which are nationally ranked
per the Perfect Game Collegiate Staff. While on the topic of
nationally ranked clubs, Fayetteville East in Arkansas is the lone
high school team heading into the tournament as a top 50 ranked team
according to PG's high school team rankings, though several
teams have the talent to make a run throughout the spring.
Here
is a list of the top prospects that will be in attendance broken down
by class along with their college commitments:
2015:
Nick
Shumpert, SS, Highlands Ranch (Colo.) – Kentucky
Greg
Pickett, OF, Legend (Colo.) – Mississippi State
Tyler
Williams, OF, Kellis (Ariz.) – Arizona State
Parker
Kelly, 3B/C, Westview (Ore.) – Oregon
Andy
Pagnozzi, RHP, Fayetteville (Ark.) – Mississippi
Karsen
Lindell, RHP, West Linn (Ore.) – Washington
Jonas
Wyatt, RHP, Quartz Hill (Calif.) – San Diego State
Jordan
Stephens, SS, Legend (Colo.) – Dallas Baptist
Jacob
Bennett, RHP, Tualatin (Ore.) – Oregon
Tyler
Wyatt, SS/RHP, Liberty (Ariz.) –
Grand Canyon
Rudy
Karre, SS, Liberty (Ariz.) –
Kansas
Peyton
Remy, RHP, Legend (Colo.) – New
Mexico
Zak
Taylor, C, Sherwood (Ore.) –
Oregon State
Giovanni
Lopez, SS/RHP, Millennium (Ariz.) –
uncommitted
Colton
Sakamoto, OF, Westview (Ore.) – Oregon
Terrence
Robertson, OF, Valley Vista (Ariz.) – uncommitted
Grant
Smith, RHP, Millennium (Ariz.) – Utah
Cody
Davenport, RHP, Fayetteville (Ark.) – Central Arkansas
Drew
Tyler, SS, Fayetteville (Ark.) – Arkansas
Grant
Koch, C, Fayetteville (Ark.) – Arkansas
Walker
Powell, RHP, Fayetteville (Ark.) – Southern Mississippi
2016:
Gregory
Veliz, RHP/SS, Key West (Fla.) –
Miami
Maverick
Handley, C, Mullen (Colo.) –
Stanford
Wyatt
Featherston, OF, Green Mountain (Colo.)
– uncommitted
Kenyon
Yovan, RHP/3B, Westview (Ore.) –
Oregon
Cameron
Cannon, SS, Mountain Ridge (Ariz.)
– uncommitted
Paul
Tillotson, RHP, Lewis-Palmer (Colo.)
– Nebraska
Adley
Rutschman, RHP, Sherwood (Ore.) –
Oregon State
Tommy
Gillman, SS, Columbine (Colo.) –
Texas A&M
Kasey
Ford, RHP, Bentonville (Ark.) –
Kansas State
Justin
Williams, 3B, Kellis (Ariz.) –
uncommitted
Jordan
Williams, OF, Kellis (Ariz.) –
uncommitted
Mitchell
Allen, RHP, Boulder Creek (Ariz.) –
San Diego State
2017:
Boyd
Vander Kooi, RHP, Skyline (Ariz.) –
Oregon
Matt
Schroer, RHP, Arcardia (Ariz.) –
Louisiana State
Tim
Tawa, OF, West Linn (Ore.) –
Stanford
Jordan
Mambaje, C, Sandy (Ore.) – Oregon
State
Four Teams to Watch:
Fayetteville
East, Arkansas
Fayetteville
East made a deep run into the state playoffs last spring with a
roster full of mostly juniors, all of whom return for their senior
year and look to make another run with a different result. Leading
the team is senior righthander Andy Pagnozzi, an Ole Miss commit, who
shows as good of pitchability and command of a full arsenal as
anybody in the country. The supporting staff amongst pitchers is just
as impressive as they feature righthanders Cody Davenport (Central
Arkansas commit), Walker Powell (Southern Mississippi) and Joey
Boushelle (Kansas State) as well as junior lefthander Joey Savin
(uncommitted). The offense features a few University of Arkansas
commits in senior catcher Grant Koch and senior shortstop Drew Tyler.
Koch is a solid receiver behind the plate and moves well on his feet,
and like Tyler, shows strength and carry off the barrel from the
right side.
Read these Jeff Dahn features on Fayetteville East from last fall and at least year's Coach Bob National Invitational.
Legend,
Colorado
Legend
is ready to take the next step forward in 2015 as senior outfielder
Greg Pickett will be with them for a full spring after having to sit
out the first half of last year after transferring into Legend. Once
he jumped in the lineup last spring though Pickett was nearly
impossible to get out, hitting five home runs with another three
extra-base hits in the 10 games he was allowed to participate in.
Jordan Stephens is a quick-twitch senior shortstop who is committed
to Dallas Baptist and will set the tempo for the offense at the top
of the order while providing solid defense up the middle. Senior
righthander Peyton Remy, a New Mexico commit, rounds out Legend’s
three seniors who are ranked amongst the top five players in the
state. Remy has a projectable 6-foot-2 frame and has run his fastball
up to 91 mph, looking to lead a staff that features other players
committed to play at the next level.
Read Jeff Dahn's recent feature on Legend High School as part of Perfect Game's 2015 high school baseball preview content.
West
Linn, Oregon and Westview, Oregon
The
Beaver state sends out a large amount of teams for the Coach Bob
tournament, many of which have big-time talent on the field. Of the
24 Oregon teams heading south, both West Linn and Westview feature
two solid teams and are full of talent committed to play at the next
level. Westview will need that talent firing on all cylinders as they
are in the bracket play of the National Division, while West Linn is
one of eight members in the All-Star Division.
West
Linn will be led by senior Karsen Lindell, a University of Washington
commit who impressed last summer at the Area Code Games, and early
reports have been superb on the righthander. Junior righty Daniel
Ferrario shows big arm strength and is also a Division I commit,
choosing to attend Oregon State, while fellow junior righty Trevor
Wells shows a quick arm with a fastball that gets into the upper-80s.
Both junior first baseman/righthanded pitcher Will Matthiessen and
sophomore outfielder Tim Tawa are committed to Stanford and bring
different strengths offensively. Tawa has big speed and looks to set
the table at the top of the lineup while the 6-foot-4 Matthiessen
shows big strength from the right side and will also spend time on
the mound.
Like
West Linn, Westview High School has a plethora of players committed
to play at the Division I level. Both senior catcher/third baseman
Parker Kelly and senior outfielder Colton Sakamoto are committed to
the University of Oregon and will be relied upon for their abilities
on the field and with the bat. Junior Kenyon Yovan will have to wait
another year before joining his teammates at the University of Oregon
but will be a big arm with a low-90s fastball as well as a power bat
in the middle of the lineup. Joining Yovan on the mound is senior
righthander Teagan Lind, a Washington State commit, and 6-foot-6
senior lefty Mark Finkelnburg, a Loyola Marymount commit, providing
both depth and experience on the mound.
Read Jeff Dahn's recent feature on Westview High School as part of Perfect Game's 2015 high school baseball preview content.