GBG
Marucci Navy attracted a large group of college coaches for their
first game against Mountain Lions and are sure to be one of the most
heavily scouted teams at the event. They didn't disappoint, putting
up a 12-run fourth inning to run rule the Lions 13-1 in a game that
was actually very competitive for three frames.
GBG's
third baseman Spencer Steer (2016, Long Beach, Calif.) was the
MVP of the EvoShield Upperclass Championships and the 39th ranked
player overall in the 2016 class. His raw bat speed stands out,
along with his very aggressive approach at the plate. There is no
mistake that the righthanded hitter is looking to drive the ball to
the pull side, especially early in the count. He had a quality
at-bat against Lions' righthander Tommy Lowe (2017, Glendale,
Ariz.) in his first at-bat, ending up flying out deep to left-center
field after fouling off several fastballs with big swings. Steer
walked on four pitches and was hit by the first pitch in his only two
other at-bats this game.
Shortstop
Ben Baird (2016, Agoura Hills, Calif.) was the hitting star for
GBG, going 3-for-3 with three RBI and showing some bat speed of his
own. Center fielder Jordan Prendiz (2016, Visalia, Calif.) did
his thing from the top of the order, knocking in a pair of runs with
a double, drawing a walk and running a 4.26-second home-to-first time
from the left side of the batter's box on a ground out to second
base. Prendiz is a UCLA commit with a slashing lefthanded swing that
has some gap power and a lead off hitter's ability to work counts and
see lots of pitches every at bat.
Lowe
was the reason the game stayed close for three innings and likely had
the attention of the 15-20 college coaches that were there the entire
time before he tired in the fourth and left early that inning. The
righthander is listed at 6-foot-1, 140-pounds and that looks like an
accurate listing. He has an unusual delivery with a full stop in the
middle of his windup and an arm that is loose and clean coming
through. Lowe pitched in the 81-84 mph range with his fastball with
lots of cutting action and worked the glove side corner well with
that cut. There were a few times when he could have picked up an
out, and possibly a broken bat, with a nice 4-seamer fastball on the
inside corner as he had hitter's leaning outside but he'll learn that
with experience and confidence. He also spun a rare breaking ball
pretty well, although from a slightly slower release point.
Righthander
Brandon Moore (2016, Whittier, Calif.) picked up the win for GBG
with three innings of good work featuring an 84-86 mph downhill
fastball from a long and loose over the top arm action. He's a big
and strong 6-foot-1, 190-pound athlete who should continue to pick up
velocity given his size and the looseness of his arm.
One
of the most interesting pitchers I saw all day is actually listed as
a primary third baseman. Southern California Bombers' Jacob
Castillo (2016, Glendora, CA) threw the first three innings of
the Bombers 9-0 win over the Slammers Asnicar and was very efficient
doing so, throwing only 36 pitches while striking out four hitters.
Castillo pitched in the 84-87 mph range and showed precise command of
his fastball to both sides of the plate. His 71-74 mph curveball had
hard tight spin and his 74 mph changeup had quality and life as well.
Hitters this age are really going to have a tough time with his
ability to mix three quality pitches in the strike zone.
Second
baseman and righthanded pitcher Cole Bellinger (2017,
Chandler, AZ) is the younger brother of Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers
fourth round pick in 2013 draft who hit .328-3-34 in the Pioneer
League this summer. Cole certainly has the young Bellinger build, as
he's listed at 6-foot, 160-pounds and looks tall and slender in his
uniform. Although he went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run and an RBI
in the SCBC Huskies 8-4 win over Lamorinda Showcase, Bellinger's
primary role was as a pitcher, as he threw five innings, allowing
only three hits and a single run. His arm is very loose and easy and
projects very well, with a fastball that was presently 78-81 mph to
go with a nice big breaking curveball.
Any
tournament with 80 teams is bound to have some interesting team names
and one that caught the eye immediately was Lasorda University, made
up of players from the Phoenix area. To no surprise veteran Dodgers
scout and executive Logan White organized the team in honor of
long-time Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda, and the team features
White's son Logan Jr. (2017, Gilbert, Ariz.), a catcher and
first baseman, on its 15-player roster. Lasorda U. went 0-1-1
yesterday, dropping its first game to Aggies Baseball 5-3 before
coming back to tie GBC Orange County later 4-4. White went 1-for-3
with a run scored in the first game and 0-for-1 with a pair of walks
in the second game.
The
biggest draw of the day at Camelback Ranch was the defending
champions SACSN National opening up pool play against the AZ Heat in
the first time slot of the tournament. SACSN flexed their muscle
early and rolled to a 10-0 mercy rule shortened opening victory to
start their title defense. The standout in their slugfest was 2016
shortstop Nick Quintana (Las Vegas, Nev.), who went 2-for-3
with a bases loaded double off the end of the bat to deep
right-center, and a hustle double on what would've otherwise been a
single to left-center. Quintana was arguably the top prospect to take
the field in any of the four time slots at Camelback Ranch featuring
a highly advanced offensive profile combined with high level
defensive tools including a plus arm at short. He has been covered
thoroughly on this site to date and will likely be discussed in this
space again as the tournament progresses.
The
game ended on a walk-off strike em out-throw em out double play with
2016 catcher Tyler Duval (Lebanon, Ohio) nailing a runner at
second base throwing from his knees. At the plate the Vanderbilt
commit went 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored and was also hit
by a pitch. 2016 catcher and righthanded pitcher Logan Boyer
(Chandler, Ariz.) got the start on the mound for SACSN and threw
three shutout innings, working 84-87 to earn the win while also going
1-for-3 with a two-run double at the plate, and he also scored a run.
The
pitching prospect who really opened eyes in the day's second time
slot at Camelback Ranch was 2017 righthander Zach Chalmers
(San Ramon, Calif.), who got the start for the North Coast Reds. The
young righthander worked 84-86 mph with good sink and showed decent
feel to each side of the plate and paired his fastball with a 12-to-6
curveball that sat 72-74 with good shape. Chalmers has added four mph
to his fastball over the course of the summer since playing a
significant role on the Reds' 16u WWBA West Memorial Day Championship
run on the same fields in late May.
The
final time slot of the day featured one of the favorites on paper to
contend for the 2014 title in CBA Marucci 2017. But as their matchup
with Warriors Baseball Academy 2018 proved, championships are won on
the field and not on paper. CBA was held in check by 2018 lefthander
Sasha Sneider (Peoria , Ariz.) who topped out at 83 mph and
worked upper-70s to low-80s with an idea how to pitch. CBA was
trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and a runner on
second until cleanup hitting outfielder and first baseman Aaron
Greenfield (2016, Los Angeles, Calif.) came through with a clutch
RBI triple (see the video below) to pull even, and ultimately allow
CBA to dodge an opening day loss.
Shortstop
Nick Allen (2017, Valhalla, Calif.) debuted prominently in the
recently release PG Class of 2017 prospect rankings, coming in at No.
13 in the country in the first edition of the class rankings. Like
the rest of his CBA Marucci 2017 teammates he had a fairly quiet day
at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a single, but he did make one
standout defensive play that he has become well known for.
Another
pitcher who stood out at Camelback Ranch was 2017 lefthander Cole
Farese (Tustin, Calif.) who is currently a slender 5-foot-11,
150-pounds and topped out at 82 mph, but his long loose arm action
and low effort delivery project well and his upper-60s curveball
showed good shape.
2017
catcher Blake Hunt (Costa Mesa, Calif.) has a long frame that
isn't typical of a catching prospect but he controls his levers well
and utilizes them to create leverage at the plate. He showed good all
around projection and is an interesting young under the radar player.