Jeff
Dahn Day 5 feature: Nolan Kingham
FORT
MYERS, Fla. – For
lefthanded pitcher Kolby Allard and his dad Kenny, traveling to Fort
Myers has been well worth the cross-country flight.
“It’s
been fun, it’s been good,” Kenny Allard said about traveling from
Southern California to Fort Myers, Fla. “A little issues with some
of the weather here, it’s been hot and muggy, but it’s been
good.”
The
6-foot, 170-pound southpaw from San Clemente, Calif., is used to the
sunshine and sandy beaches. But participating in the 2014 Perfect
Game National Showcase has allowed Kolby to pitch with and against
the country’s best high school baseball players.
“It’s
good down in Southern California,” Allard said when asked to
compare the competition in Southern California to what he’s facing
at the National Showcase. “But it’s nothing like this, facing all
the best kids in the country. It’s a fun experience.”
The
lefty performed well when he entered the game Saturday night and
impressed PG scouts on hand. The
scouting report from a PG scout said:
Lefthander
Kolby Allard was the most pleasant surprise of this group, and made
pitching in the low-90’s incredibly easy. He displayed a very live
arm in producing 90-93 mph heat with a smooth and easy delivery,
spotting his fastball well to both sides of the plate. He also threw
a sharp 77 mph curveball and a promising 84-85 mph changeup.
Overall,
Allard was pleased with his outing.
“I
felt I threw really well yesterday. I mean hopefully I can pitch good
enough to make the All American game,” he said.
The
announcement for the Perfect Game All American Classic will
officially be announced July 20 with the game to be played on August
10 in San Diego at Petco Park.
For
Allard, he’s been training on his own to prepare for pitching
against the top baseball players in the country, and his performance
on the mound showed that training paid off.
“I’ve
worked hard the last couple months; I’ve hit the gym a lot, worked
on my mechanics, throwing a lot of bullpens. I mean I’ve worked
hard for this situation,” Allard said.
He
has put himself into a path that looks to be leading to a lot of
success, and for his dad watching his son pitch has allowed him to
see his son’s talent firsthand.
“He’s
actually doing very well and I’m very impressed with him,” Kenny
Allard said about his son’s performance on the mound. “His
performance out here was very good and he was pretty much at the top
of his game.
“He’s
very young, he’s only 16. So he kind of bloomed late, so he’s
just kind of now coming on the National Showcase circuit. I think
things are really looking up for him and I think he has a lot more
potential and a lot more growing to do. I’m very proud of him, he’s
done awesome”
As
a dad, Kenny has not only watched his son grow on the field, but off
it as well.
“I’d
say he’s grown up a lot in the last two years as far as his
dedication and work ethic,” Kenny Allard added. “He’s always
been really good. But then there comes a point and time when you’re
in high school that you have to work hard, it just doesn’t come
naturally. He’s definitely done really well as far as working hard.
“He’s
got a good attitude and he’s a good kid, stayed out of trouble and
made all the right decisions.”
One
decision that could be said was a right decision was picking which
college Kolby would commit to. Kenny said his son originally gave a
verbal commitment to Cal State Fullerton, but then reconsidered and
chose UCLA, something father and son are both happy about.
“It’s
a good school, I loved it, took a visit and fell in love with the
campus basically,” the younger Allard said. “The baseball team is
sick; they won the College World Series last year, so it’ll be fun.
I’d love to get a ring when I go there. We’ll see, hopefully we
can do it. We have a good recruiting class coming in.”
Allard
added that he also has some friends who have committed to UCLA,
including Kyle Molnar who had a good performance at the National
Showcase.
Allard's
father looks forward to watch his son grow as a player and a person
for the next four years just by taking a short drive to watch his son
play at UCLA.
“For
a parent, that’s a dream come true,” Kenny Allard said. “We’re
very happy. It’s a lot easier when you drive up the road to watch
your kid play opposed to hopping on an airplane and spend a lot of
money. So we’re very happy about that; very excited.”
– Chris
Real
Live
Streaming
For
the third straight year the Perfect Game National Showcase is
available for everyone to watch online. The live stream to all of the
workouts, batting practice sessions, and games, and the archives for
each if you couldn't watch them in real time, can be found on iHigh's
dedicated Perfect Game page:
www.ihigh.com/perfectgame
National
Impressions
Two
games were played on the fifth and final day of the 2014 National
Showcase, games 17 and 18 overall, with no skill workouts aside from
an individual catching workout for Ben Baggett, who missed the Day 4
drills since he pitched the first game on Sunday.
• Game
17 was highlighted by a pair of hard-hit doubles. Brendon Davis, a
tall and lean athlete ripped a ball down the third base line for a
double, although was thrown out at third trying to stretch an
additional base. Shane Potter, a big, physical specimen at 6-foot-5,
218-pounds, drove a ball hard to right field and probably could have
stretched the hit out to a triple if he had wanted to, but safely
stayed put at second.
• In
Game 18 Jonathan Engelmann roped a double of his own down the right
field line.
• Jonah
Davis put a very good swing on a fastball in the seventh inning,
driving it high and deep over the left fielder's head for an opposite
field double.
• There
were a handful of pitchers that took the mound in the final game of
the event that rewarded the scouts and recruiters that stuck around
until the final pitch.
Will
Neely was the first of such arms, and although he didn't offer a
particularly imposing stature, he was able to consistently sit at
90-91 mph with a really quick delivery to the plate. He also threw a
78-79 mph breaking ball.
Wesley
Rodriguez of the Vegas Gold squad raised a few eyebrows for the ease
in which he produced 91-93 mph heat and for how well he spun his
mid-70s curveball.
Andrew
Noviello offered a more conventional package than the first two
notable arms that pitched in Game 18, with an athletic 6-foot,
205-pound frame and very good arm speed that generated 90-91 mph
velocity. He worked really quickly, and breezed through his two
innings of work.
Following
in the form of Joe DeMers and Patrick Sandoval, who each were among
the very last pitchers to throw on Days 3 and 4, Ashe Russell took
the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning and proved to be more
than worth the wait. Russell's flight to Fort Myers landed after 2:00
a.m. early Monday morning, and he didn't show any signs of jet-lag or
fatigue in throwing a 93-95 mph fastball and an absolutely wicked
low-80s slider. With a broad shouldered 6-foot-4, 195-pound
high-waisted build, Russell's fast arm and deceptive low
three-quarters delivery made him nearly unhittable as the opposing
batters were consistently behind on his stuff. His last pitch
registered 94 mph in a very dominant two inning stint, ending the
event on a very high note.
Read
detailed reports from all 18 games played at the 2014 Perfect Game
National Showcase as well as the workout results in the scout blogs:
2014 PG National Showcase scout blog
We
at Perfect Game would like to share our deepest condolensces with the
family of and to those close to Tony Gwynn. When the news crossed of
his death there was a collective sigh of sadness throughout the press
box at JetBlue Park. Tony Gwynn was my personal favorite ballplayer
during his playing days, and I will always fondly remember him for
not only for the success he enjoyed as a ballplayer, but the manner
in which he carried himself on and off the field.
Thanks
to all of the players, parents and other family members, as well as
the scouts, recruiters and everyone one that attended the 2014
Perfect Game National Showcase and helped make it yet another
successful event.