3/29/2012 11:45:30 AM
On the last day of a full slate there was plenty of action. Championship games are set for Thursday and Friday. Wednesday saw several impressive arms on display.
ThunderRidge (CO) vs Pine Creek (CO)
These two Colorado 5A schools rarely ever meet, as Pine Creek hails from the Colorado Springs area and ThunderRidge is located in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch. They also bucked the recent trend at the Coach Bob Invitational of Colorado teams sending lefties to the hill, as both teams started quality right handers in this matchup.
-Pine Creek 2012 RHP Ryan Warner was the main attraction, drawing a medium sized gathering of MLB scouts, most of whom were getting their first look at the 6-foot-7 hurler of the spring. Warner is very tall and lanky, and as is common with pitchers with his build, he tends to struggle to maintain his balance through his delivery at times. It affected his timing, causing him to be up in the zone quite a bit, and let to several balls getting hit hard. But the scouts weren't here to see his present mechanics, especially this early in the season. What stood out most was the hard spin and big depth of his curveball (up to 76 mph). He also put up the requisite fastball velocities for a draft prospect, sitting 87-90 during the early innings and 86-88 as the game went along. He has a long fast arm and delivers the ball with a sharp downhill angle thanks to his long frame and high 3/4 arm slot. He used a few changeups at 76 as well, he doesn't have a lot of feel for the pitch at present but shows good fading life to the arm side and his feel for it is a bit ahead of most high school hurlers already. Overall, Warner is a very projectable pitching prospect that you can dream on, it's tough to get a feel for where he is at in such an early start and MLB scouts will take a few more looks at him as the spring progresses, but so far so good. Warner is committed to NC State.
Video of Warner:
-While Warner was the main attraction, it was ThunderRidge 2014 RHP AJ Jones who earned the win. The sophomore right hander sat 83-85, touching 86 several times early on. He would go on to throw a complete game in ThunderRidge's 6-5 victory, and handled it well when did give up runs (mostly late). In the early innings Young worked exclusively off of his fastball, and was surprisingly effective in doing so. He began going to his breaking ball, a solid 11-5 diagonal breaker with good spin rate and some depth to it, but more importantly he showed good feel for the pitch today. When Young gets out over his front side he showed good command, and he did so throughout much of the game. He's already got an idea how to pitch and as he gets stronger and adds more power to his repertoire he has a chance to develop into an interesting prospect. He is one to keep an eye on going forward.
Video of Jones:
-ThunderRidge 2014 SS Brady Westmoreland was another Grizzlies sophomores who made the most of his opportunity playing in front of the Four Corners area scouts, as he announced his presence immediately, driving an 89 mph fastball from Warner that was up in the zone out of dead center field for a solo Home Run in the first. It turned out to be his only official at bat of the game, as he would draw a pair of walks in his final two plate appearances, though he showed well working the count and continued to show off his good bat speed on the swings he did take. He also played a good shortstop for the Grizzlies. It seems that the Grizzlies could be a legitimate force in two years when Young and Westmoreland are seniors, should everything work for them.
-ThunderRidge 2012 OF Ryan Anderson would also homer for the Grizzlies as part of a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Other ThunderRidge standouts from this game include: 2013 C/INF Josh Newell and 2013 C Jake Hand.
-Pine Creek 2013 MIF CJ Krainock also got in on the offensive fireworks, launching two Home Runs to left field, including one no-doubter in the bottom of the third (the only run AJ Jones would allow in his first five innings). His first homer cut the lead to 4-1, and his three run shot in the seventh pulled the Eagles to within a run at 6-5.
-One day after impressing on the mound, Pine Creek 2013 LHP/1B Reagan Biechler showed well with the bat. Going 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Biechler drove a single that registered at 88 mph off the bat in the early going and had a popfly that posted a hangtime of 5.72 seconds.
-Pine Creek 2013 INF Brandon picked up another hit and continued to show interesting tools, with a popup hangtime of 5.87 seconds and a home to first time of 4.32 from the right side. He's now 5-for-9 on the trip, with a pair of doubles, three runs and three RBIs through three games.
Mt Vista (CO) vs Higley (AZ)
Thanks to the combination of scattered field locations and Phoenix traffic we weren't able to get to arrive until the third inning. But the 80 minute drive was necessary after getting a tip about 2013 RHP/SS Michael Klein. Klein did not disappoint, as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. From the third inning on he sat 84-88 with life on his fastball, it is quite possible that he touched a mile or two per hour higher in the early going, given his arm strength. He didn't got to his secondary stuff much until the fifth inning, and really didn't need to in this game. His fastball was dominating, as he was able to throw it for strikes and throw it by hitters. He backed it up with an upper 70s breaking ball and rare changeup. Kelin was equally impressive with the bat, stroking a bases loaded double in his first at bat after our arrival. It was an effortless swing on a fastball at the knees that carried well down the left field line to plate three runs. Klein has yet to make a college commitment, and is not as well known as he ought to be bacuse of his dual-sport football background, which prevents him from attending as many showcase events in the summer and especially the fall. He would lose his no-hitter in the 7th on a triple, and his shutout on a wild pitch, but would finish the game with 12 strikeouts in six innings plus.
Video of Klein:
Columbine (CO) vs Sheldon (OR)
The two pitchers that started for each team couldn't have been much more different from each other. 2013 LHP/OF Mike Ralston caught my eye because of his body size. We saw him on Tuesday step into the batters box and it made me not only double take, but triple take. This 6'4" 230 pound transfer has the body type of a big time player at the next level. He was much more polished on the mound than in the box. While he is a very solid 2 way guy, pitching was a real treat to see. He showed the ability to not only power past hitters, but he was also very in control with his 12-6 tight biting CB. He was still a little raw, but showed a ton of potential.
Columbine started a 2014 LHP, which seems to be the trend with the teams from Colorado. As stated before Columbine's Blake Weiman is a tall, lanky pitcher that tended to rely on his CB as opposed to a power FB. Weiman was not afraid to throw his CB in any count, a rare trait of such a young prospect. He had the ability to carve hitters up going inside and out with both his CB and FB. Weiman was not afraid to face any of the hitters in the Sheldon lineup. He had tons of confidence, even with things got a little shaky. Weiman had similiar attributes of a young Jamie Moyer.