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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/15/2016

17u BCS Finals Day 4 Scout Notes

Brandon Hohl     
Photo: Perfect Game


Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes | Day 3 Notes
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Florida commit and PG Jr. National standout Connor Scott (2018, Tampa, Fla.) of the Scorpions 2017 Prime had a nice first game at the plate. He has a really simple set up with an upright athletic stance, his hands set deep behind his shoulder and his bat is vertical. He uses a simple load and stride, landing early on a bent lead leg, which allows him to load his hips for a violent extension and tall finish. With Scott’s talent already as high as it is, his mechanics really set him up for success at the plate. Due to his barrel starting so deep it allows him to be on plane for a very long time, which creates an increased potential for contact. He finished the first game at CenturyLink 3-for-4 with a double to deep center field and two singles.

The No. 71 ranked player in the country, Brandon McCabe (2017, Boynton Beach, Fla.), pitched on Thursday for the Florida Stealth Red 17u and wowed in three innings of work. McCabe, with his high leg kick and long stride, maintains a bent arm throughout the arm swing, letting it gain speed on its way to a direct over-the-top release. McCabe worked out of the stretch for the entire outing and dominated with his power fastball sitting 90-92 mph (he was up to 95 mph at the PG National Showcase), causing a heavy amount of swing and misses. Not that he needed to, but McCabe also threw his sharp 12-to-6 curveball at 77-78 mph a handful of times. He also showed a changeup with arm-side run and depth at 81 mph. He finished with five strikeouts while facing 10 batters and allowed no hits.

Uncommited infield prospect Trent Sinkfield (2017, Sarasota, Fla.) of SWFL 2017 has garnered attention. At third base, Sinkfield plays shallow but shows his ability to read the ball off the bat, putting himself in a good position to get whatever hop he wants. He moves well to his right and left with good range and confident hands. At the plate, Trent has a wide stance with loose hands, uses a simple load in to rear leg, takes his hands back with the bat vertical to a strong launch position while striding forward, barrel falls below the shoulder on its way to plane. He stays on path a long time giving him an increased chance of contact. The most notable at-bat I’ve seen from him has so far is an RBI double to left-center field off a 93 mph fastball from Brian Morrell of the Tri-State Arsenal.

Another SWFL 2017 uncommitted prospect Cole Brutcher (2017, Lakeland, Fla.) has showed versatility in the field and success at the plate. The lefthanded hitting Brutcher has a first base/corner outfield profile and hits clean up behind Sinkfield for SWFL. He has a wide stance and keeps his feet in line with his hands slightly above the shoulder and bat back. He also uses simple movements at the plate, keeping the back leg braced with a small coil off the front side and lead leg, using a short stride forward creating elastic tension and generating bat speed. The 6-foot-4 Brutcher is hitting .375 in the BCS Finals with an impressive three-run home run that showed the type of power he’s capable of.

The EvoShield Canes Northeast offense continues to impress with contributions from Kentucky commit Luke Benoit (2017, Northboro, Mass.) and Maxwell Curran (2017, Needham, Mass.). Benoit has a slightly open, narrow stance with his hands high above the shoulder. His hands don’t move much from that spot while he leg lifts and strides forward, and they don’t really need to. Benoit’s hands are already in a strong launch position, so while some kind movement or separation is what I look for, it is not necessary in his case. Today, the Kentucky commit impressed with his ability to adjust to off-speed and still have hard contact. One at-bat comes to mind where he lined a single down the third base line off a hanging curveball. Another impressive attribute for Benoit is his running ability. His long strides and speed make the basepaths seem shorter.

The uncommitted Curran shows advanced movements at the plate as well. He holds his back elbow high, almost above the shoulder, with a wide stance. His load and stride are nothing out of the ordinary. Like Benoit he starts in a strong position and maintains it rather than going from a neutral position to a strong position. He keeps his back leg braced while he takes a short stride forward, landing on a bent lead leg the back elbow begins to drop, as he swings the barrel drops below the shoulder putting him in the zone early. Curran is currently batting .500 in the tournament with a double.

If the name Vanheyningen seems familiar, it’s because Jamil Vanheyningen was featured in the Day 3 Scout Notes and for the Thursday recap his brother Jermaine Vanheyningen (2017, West Orange, N.J.), makes an appearance. Sharing an almost identical body type to his brother and the same raw ability on the mound, Jermaine features a high leg lift with a fast, clean arm action, and a low three-quarters slot. Jermaine worked his fastball for the majority of the outing sitting 84-86 mph and touching 89. The extension he gets from his body’s length seemed to add some perceived velocity to his fastball. He flashed a developing curveball as well, and finished the game with five innings giving up one earned run while striking out three.

I wrote about the pitching performance of Chain National-Dobbs outfielder Josh Hatcher (2017, Albany, Ga.) yesterday. Today, it’s time to credit the outfielder at the plate. All Hatcher has done in the BCS Finals is hit the ball hard. On Wednesday while hitting for himself he tripled off the batter’s eye at the 5-Plex and he almost did the same thing Thursday morning had it not been for a nice play by the center fielder. Hatcher has a wide upright stance and rocks the barrel for rhythm, with his hands placed slightly above his shoulder. He has a simple load and stride although the stride is not linear, but a pick up and put down in the same spot. He still manages to create torque and bat speed working up to the ball. Josh is hitting .600 in the BCS Finals and went 1-for-3 in this game.

It’s time to give a Perfect Game All-American some well-deserved attention. Cole Brannen (2017, Elko, Ga.) of Chain National-Dobbs has been quietly hitting over .500 with a double, triple and six RBI. Hitting at the top of the lineup. Cole has an upright stance, keeping his hands slightly away from his shoulder and the bat is vertical. He has a quick stride synced with a quick barrel tip towards the pitcher. As he lands he sits in to his lead leg loading the hips so the lower half can extend to the pitch. He is always running hard on the field, as I was walking up he sprinted to first on an easy unassisted groundout to the first basemen. Later, on a single up the middle he registered a 4.63 turn to first base. This kind of performance from a player who was just given one of the highest accolades an amateur baseball player can get shows the type of player Brannen is.
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