3/25/2015 10:47:06 AM
Highlands Ranch (CO) vs. Beaverton (OR)
-The big draw here, obviously, is Highlands Ranch senior shortstop Nick Shumpert, the #5 overall player in the class of 2015 per Perfect Game. Shumpert delivered on the hype on Tuesday, at least defensively. He’s a plus quick-twitch athlete with excellent speed and general quickness/agility. He made at least two “plus range” plays on Tuesday, ranging far to his right to snare a groundball before seemingly turning on a dime and throwing a clothesline across the infield to nab the runner by a full step. It was an impressive display of lateral agility, footwork, athleticism, and arm strength—all of which Shumpert has in spades. He showed excellent bat speed at the plate, to go along with a swing that is highlighted by natural lift and lots of leverage. He expanded the zone a few times and chased high fastballs, coming up empty, but the potential of that swing with that bat speed is something that will keep pro scouts talking.
-Beaverton senior right-hander Sam Noyer, a 3 star quarterback prospect, was on the mound against Highlands Ranch. He has a good body and frame with good size, standing 6’3” and weighing in around 200 pounds. He’s a projectable prospect, with broad shoulders and long limbs, leading one to believe that he can add physical strength as he continues to mature. He was pretty good, working in the 83-86 game, touching 87 and 88 a few times each. Throws from an overtop slot and generates good plane when on top, and showed ability, though inconsistently, to cut his fastball with almost boring life in on the hands of left-handed hitters. Showed ability to command fastball, complementing it with a curveball and change, showing feel for both pitches.
Westview (OR) vs. O”Connor (AZ)
-Westview started junior righty Kenyon Yovan, a strong, well-built prospect standing in the 6’3” range and weighing around 200 pounds. He battled his command all day, but such rust should be expected seeing as this way his 1st or 2nd start of the season. He throws from an overtop slot, generated by slight drop and drive and big spine tilt, allowing him to get on top of the baseball but sacrificing down of the downward plane he would otherwise generate. He has legitimate arm strength, easily working in the 87-90 range for the entirety of his start, touching 91 several times early, and showing the overall potential stuff that had college coaches and pro scouts watching his start. His best secondary pitch is the curveball, an absolute hammer when he gets on top of it in the 72-74 range. It has 11/5 shape, very tight spin, and overall excellent bite. Over the course of his start, Yovan showed the ability to throw the pitch for strikes as well as a chase pitch, and despite the command and effectiveness being inconsistent, it was truly a weapon pitch. Flashed a CH with some fading action in the 79-80 range, but really could not get a feel for it on this day.
-Senior outfielder Colton Sakamoto had a good day as well, showing a short, quick stroke from the left side that is generated by quality hands and some strength. He took a Colby Wyatt 86 MPH fastball in on his hands and drove it the other way for a single. He’s a good-looking athlete with projection on his frame, he runs well, and on the whole seems to be a quality all-around prospect.
-O’Connor junior outfielder Bailin Markridge has grown on me over the past week or so (seeing as I’ve seen O’Connor about 6 times now). He’s a very good athlete with a highly projectable frame, standing 6’3” and weighing in at 170 with lots of room to fill out. He always takes impressive outfield pre-game, showing range and overall feel for the position during games. He can play any of the 3 OF positions, and showcases the defensively ability and raw arm strength in game as well. He’s an excellent runner, clocking consistent 4.0-4.1 dig times from the left side, and I don’t think I’ve seen him strike out yet. While he’s not driving the baseball yet, he makes consistent contact as well as the ability to draw walks, bunt, and bunt for base hits. He’s had a very good week in my eyes.
Grand Junction (CO) vs. Millennium (AZ)
-Millennium senior righty Grant Smith certainly looks the part of a pitcher, standing 6’6” and weighing around 200, with long limbs and projection throughout his frame. On Tuesday, his stuff (for the most part) backed up the first look. He worked 83-86 for the entire game, hitting 87 a few times and 88 twice, generating excellent downward plane from his high ¾ slot. The delivery is rotational and mostly upper body with some head whack, but Smith showed the ability to command his fastball down in the zone, where it’s highlighted by solid life to the arm side. The delivery, despite having some effort, is pretty well balanced and seems to work for him. His primary secondary pitch is a shorter slider, thrown at 71-74 and showing legitimate tilt, even if it’s a shorter break in general. He also flashed quality feel for a curveball, somewhere in between 12/6 and 11/5 break, thrown slower than the slider in the 66-68 range and showing good depth, but the command was a little loose on this day.
-Grand Junction junior righty Tyler Mantlo earns the “most consistent” award of the day, nearly throwing a complete game on Tuesday but holding the exact same velocity in the 7th that he did in the 1st. He’s a solid athlete on the mound, repeating a long-arm delivery with consistency, working 80-83 T 84 on the mound with decent arm side run, and pounding the zone for strikes. He kept the Millennium hitters off-balance all evening, and was very impressive in his ability to really get inside on right-handed hitters. If this were a wood bat tournament, he would have broken 2-3 bats easily.
-Brian Sakowski
After seeing Karsen Lindell and his West Linn teammates play Friday, I went back in hopes of seeing one of their younger arms throw out of the bullpen and while I was able to, it was the offense that caught my attention too. Looking like a completely different team in their second game, the Lions came out attacking the ball throughout the order and showing aggressiveness in every other phase of the game.
West Linn’s roster currently houses five players who have already committed to a Pac-12 school, with Lindell (University of Washington) being the only senior of the five.
The other Pac-12 arm and the one who I mentioned I was hoping to see is junior right-hander Daniel Ferrario. He may not be a household name yet but if he continues to throw the way he did yesterday, you’ll be sure to be hearing about him over the next two years. With a broad and strongly built 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame, Ferrario has long and loose limbs, which with his strength, is able to generate premium velocity on his fastball. The Oregon State commit didn’t disappoint working consistently in the 91-94 mph range with his fastball, throwing from a high three-quarter slot and did a nice job of getting the ball down in the zone. His heater showed occasional run to his arm side and flashed cutting action at other times, but one thing was consistent in his one inning of work and that was his command of the strike zone. Overall he struck out three and induced a weak fly ball (dropped third strike allowed runner to reach) and flashed a short breaking slider at 80 mph to pick up his second strikeout of the inning.
Though not an arm, fellow Oregon State commit, junior middle infielder Brayden Pene had a nice day at the plate picking up a couple hard base hits to all fields. Early in the game Pene showed off strength and speed, driving an outside pitch to the right-center field gap for what ended up being a standup triple. Later in the game Pene saved his energy and pulled a pitch down the left field line for a two-run home run.
Another player who picked up a home run yesterday had to exert a little more effort than Pene but it still counted all the same. Senior Parker Huffman connected for a hard line drive to deep centerfield that continued carrying and made its way over the centerfielder’s head. Seeing that, Huffman got out of the box well and didn’t stop running until he touched them all, coming across the plate for an inside the park home run.
Playing to the right of Pene in the infield is sophomore shortstop Tim Tawa, a Stanford commit who was mentioned in the blog yesterday. His tools were on display again yesterday and continued to show a consistent feel for his barrel, picking up a couple of well-struck singles through the left side. He also jumped on the mound for the seventh and worked consistently in the low-80s, showing a simple, athletic delivery and a quick arm action.
Look to the right of Tawa and you’ll find another Stanford commit, 6-foot-5 junior William Matthiessen who showed well on both sides of the ball yesterday. Starting with his defense, Matthiessen showed off his athleticism by controlling his long levers well while diving to his right before delivering an accurate throw across, preventing a run from scoring and ending the inning. With the bat Matthiessen also impressed, showing present strength and projects for a lot more, especially as he continues to add strength to his long frame. He does a nice job of staying short to the ball for the most part while creating natural leverage in his swing, evidenced by the hard RBI double down the left field line.
Continuing with the Stanford University theme, Pine Creek (CO.) senior shortstop Peter McEvoy showed solid athletic actions and impressed in Tuesday’s game. A lean, projectable 6-foot-4 frame, McEvoy shows athletic actions that should allow him to stay up the middle at the next level, showing quick footwork with range to either side and balanced actions while charging in on a slow chopper. In his third at-bat McEvoy drove a long double to the left centerfield gap.
One of Boulder Creek’s youngest players took the mound again this week and 6-foot-1 sophomore Mason Millett showed well early in the outing. With a young and lean 155-pound frame, Millett worked consistently in the 82-85 mph with his fastball, throwing from a quick and compact arm action. He gets to his glove side well and projects very well as he continues to incorporate his lower half into his delivery. Millett also showed off a strong feel for his 11-5 curveball in the mid-70s, showing late life and depth.
-Jheremy Brown