The Upperclass Pool B opener between BPA DeMarini and SGV Arsenal offered an exciting pitcher's duel. 2015 righthander Zach Barnes (San Jacinto, Calif.) and 2017 righthander Hagen Danner (Huntington Beach, Calif.) traded zeros for three innings until 2017 Nick Pratto (Huntington Beach, Calif.) drove in the game's first run with a fourth inning single. That RBI proved to be all Danner would need, as he fired a complete game shutout, allowing six hits and four walks while striking out 10.

As has been the routine for Danner in recent outings he sat in the upper-80s comfortably, reaching back for low-90s velocity when needed, peaking at 91 mph in this outing. That isn't news for Danner, but the developing feel and consistency for his hammer curveball is. He's shown the ability to spin the baseball well for as long as PG has had eyes on him, dating back to last summer in his pre-high school days when he worked in the low-80s while playing up to the 15u level with BPA.

But the strides he has made with the consistency and feel for that upper-70s hammer curveball in between the spring and now is very promising. It's clear that he has top shelf stuff, and the overall control tends to be advanced for his age already, so adding his weapon of a curveball takes him a step further towards realizing his upside.

It's still very early in the developmental process for Danner, and too early to say for certain that his future is on the mound and not behind the plate or in the outfield, but if he continues to make strides towards rounding out his pitching prospect profile it appears to be headed in that direction.




Barnes topped out at 86 mph and showed a deep breaking ball that kept BPA's talented lineup in check.

The standout position player prospect for the SGV Arsenal squad's three games (two upperclass, one underclass) was 2016 middle infielder Samad Taylor (Corona, Calif.), shown in the video above facing Danner. Although he didn't record a base hit against the flame-throwing Danner, he excelled defensively matching high level athleticism in the infield with advanced instincts. In particular, he displayed an excellent feel for how much time he has to make each play, when to rush and when to take his time.

Equally as impressive, after his teammates on the Aresnal's upperclass team finished up a doubleheader, he was offered a chance to play a third game of the day in the underclass division, and he jumped at the opportunity. He made the most of it by going 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and two stolen bases.

While he didn't light up the radar gun in the way that Hagen Danner did, 2016 lefthander Nick Lodolo (LeVerne, Calif.) was highly impressive in his brief, efficient outing, and has a silky smooth arm action. Lodolo worked 82-84 and touched 86 mph coming inside on a righthanded hitter to saw him off for a soft ground ball. The Arsenal coaching staff allotted him a maximum 30 pitches for the early fall start, and he breezed through two innings on just 21 pitches, throwing 14 of them for strikes.

Lodolo struck out a pair of batter in his two perfect frames, one with a changeup to a lefthander who wasn't expecting it, and the other on a well-placed fastball on the corner. His changeup features good diagonal tumble back towards the arm side, and he also flashed an upper-60s curveball with deep sweeping break. This was the first time that PG has seen Lodolo above 84 mph, and while he lacks plus present velocity, he's ranked among the top 200 prospects in the country because of his highly projectable arm action.




The most exciting moment of the Day 1 action came on a shocking turn of events at Maverick Field. The SGV Arsenal Upperclass's pitching staff had stifled a talented Trombly Nighthawks lineup for 20 outs before 2016 first baseman Connor Cannon (Temecula, Calif.) crushed a towering two-out, two-run walk-off home run to left field to lift the Nighthawks to a come from behind 2-1 victory. The PG staff member scoring and scouting the game via GameChanger blurted out as the ball was on it's way to the plate "this guy is danger...," only to be interrupted by the explosive sound at contact off Cannon's bat. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound slugger showed off his power with a long home run earlier last month as part of his first PG event at the 2014 PG/EvoShield National Upperclass Championship in Arizona, in addition to running his fastball up to 87 mph. So far it has been an impressive encore.

Several of Cannon's Nighthawks teammates opened eyes despite the limited run production. 2016 infielder Shane Martinez (Riverside, Calif.) is the highest ranked prospect of the group and although he had a quiet game, it was evident that he has tremendous upside as he has begun to add strength to this athletic frame which has led to added punch to his swing.

One relatively new prospect who stood out was 2015 outfielder Weston Ellis (Garden Grove, Calif.). Ellis certainly passes the eye test with flying colors at a chiseled 6-foot-3, 220-pounds, and he possesses average speed down the line and a strong arm from right field. His swing is fairly compact to begin with and he showed the ability to shorten up further in two-strike situations. Ellis has the ability to muscle the ball over the infield even when he doesn't square the ball up and likely can drive it a long way when he does. He also showed good instincts and hustle in right field, backing up a throw to first base that got away and promptly firing to second to nail the runner trying to advance on the play.




The other Nighthawks who stood out as prospects were 2015 shortstop Branden Becker (San Bernadino, Calif.) whose ability has been documented thoroughly in the past as a powerful lefthanded hitting infielder who is committed to Oregon.

The other is a bit more of a sleeper, but is interesting nonetheless, in 2015 righthander Jonah DiPoto (Colton, Calif.). DiPoto is the son of former big league closer Jerry, who pitched with the Indians, Rockies and Mets, and there are some striking resemblances in the delivery. DiPoto topped out at 84 mph, but he gets good extension out front and leverages the ball downhill to get some additional life on the fastball. His big league father went undrafted out of high school before becoming a third rounder out of Virginia Commonwealth in the late 1980s, and while that remarkable progress would be nearly impossible to repeat, there is enough arm speed and aptitude at present for the younger DiPoto to make significant strides over the next few years.

The morning time slot at USC's Dedeaux Field featured GBG Marucci and SoCal NTT. GBG Marucci has been winning seemingly every tournament played on the west coast all summer and fall long thus far, and coming off their PG/EvoShield National Championship it would have come as little surprise if they made a deep run at the inaugural California World Series. But they handed SoCal NTT several opportunities and SoCal NTT in turn made them pay for those mistakes.

A glaring example is SoCal NTT's talented two-hole hitting shortstop 2015 Dylan Doherty (Santa Ana, Calif.), who went 1-for-1 with two walks and three runs scored. Doherty is also a high level defensive shortstop, who not only showed the ability to make difficult plays look routine, but he also recovered nicely on a bobble, recovering his fumble and firing it quickly to complete the play in time.

His left side of the infield teammate 2015 third baseman Bobby Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.) who also stood out in this game, combining good carry on his throws and a loose swing at the plate. Fulkerson and the even more physically imposing 6-foot-2 215-pound 2015 first baseman Brennan McKenzie (Walnut, Calif.) combined to do some major damage in the middle of the order as SoCal NTT pulled away with a 10-2 victory in the opener.

Despite the loss, and being one-hit, 2015 middle infielder Jagger Rusconi (Valencia, Calif.) showed why he is one of the top ranked prospects in this tournament. He reached on an error in the first inning, and capitalized by stealing both second and third before scoring on a fielder's choice. He showed good instincts on the bases, picking his spots well while getting good jumps.

The one hit GBG got in the game was a double from 2015 shortstop Ethan Lopez (Whittier, Calif.).