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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/13/2014

World Underclass Day 4 notes

David Rawnsley      Todd Gold      Frankie Piliere      Jheremy Brown     
Photo: Perfect Game

Elite Baseball Training righthander Drake Fellows (2016, Plainfield, Ill.) threw one of the best games of the tournament Sunday morning, finishing with a complete game five-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts in a 3-0 win over Knights Baseball. Fellows combines just about every positive aspect you can look for in a young pitching prospect. He's loose and projectable at 6-foot-5, 190-pounds, which makes his present stuff, including a fastball that topped out at 94 mph and was still hitting 90 in the seventh inning, even more impressive as it's just going to keep getting better.

Fellows also has a quality breaking ball at a young age, as his 79-82 mph slider is a potential plus pitch at the upper levels of the game. And as he showed Sunday, Fellows has a high degree of maturity and polish on the mound. He threw 68 percent of his 110 pitches for strikes, including starting off 20 of 25 hitters with first-pitch strikes. That is a combination that is going to put the Vanderbilt commit in the upper echelons of a 2016 class that is already overflowing with high level pitching prospects.

9ers Baseball Club 16u put together a nice tournament run, going 4-0-1 before losing to the Marucci Elite 6-2 in the round of 16 late Sunday afternoon. A key aspect of their success was that they kept running out starting pitchers throwing in the 82-85 mph range with very good pitching mechanics and outstanding command. None of these pitchers stood out in a Drake Fellows sense, but many of them are going to be solid college pitchers in a couple of years. Hunter Abdalla (2016, Upper Saddle River, N.J.), Stephen Bowley (2016, Medford, N.J.) and Juliano Kovachik (2016, New Hope, Pa.) are all young righthanders who fit the description perfectly. The 9ers pitching staff only walked nine hitters in 41 innings overall.

The 9ers best player, and one of this scout's favorite players of the week, was shortstop Johnny Zega (2016, Lincroft, N.J.). Zega made what might of been the defensive play of the tournament, reaching a ground ball up the middle he had no right to even get to, completing a full spin and firing a one-bounce strike to first base to get what was probably a stunned hitter. That got everyone's attention quickly, but what stood out from game to game was Zega's offensive potential. He has a very advanced approach at the plate with a very strong and balanced stance and direct and quick path to the ball. Zega had four doubles among his seven hits and drove them to all parts of the ball park with authority. He just barely missed either a fifth double or a potential home run against Marucci when his drive to left field was caught on the warning track.

Another shortstop who impressed all weekend and drew many positive comments from the Perfect Game field scouts was Chain Black's Tyler Daughtry (2016, Kathleen, Ga.). The Florida State commit has excellent range and very quick actions on defense and showed the ability to make difficult plays look easy. He also showed advanced contact skills at the plate from the left side while going 6-for-16 with six runs scored.

Continuing the shortstop theme but in another direction, two of the most projectable pitchers to throw Sunday at Terry Park were primary shortstops whose futures may be on the mound.

The Florida Burn 2016 Pennant's Nick Long (2016, Sarasota, FL) is already ranked 169th in the 2016 PG Class Rankings as a shortstop but might have more long-term potential on the mound. He struck out 10 hitters in five innings Sunday without issuing a walk while showing an 86-89 mph fastball and a hard spinning 74-77 mph curveball with very good depth. Long's athleticism is evident is his delivery and mechanics, which are smooth and low effort and very repeatable. Long is a verbal commit to Florida, which has shown absolutely no hesitance in using players in a two-way role over the past several years.

A less polished version of Long also plays with the Burn organization, in this case the Burn 2016 Navy, in Trevor Holloway (2016, Venice, Fla.). Holloway isn't even listed as a secondary pitcher on the rosters but has a long and loose pitcher's build at 6-foot-2, 180-pounds. He has the same easy, low-tension arm stroke as Long showed and threw his fastball 87-88 mph with very good spin and bite on his 76 mph curveball. Holloway's lack of experience on the mound showed when he was forced to work from the stretch and his mechanics broke down, but the potential is there for him to be a top level pitching prospect.

Center fielder Clayton Keyes (2016, Calgary, Alberta) from Pony Express Baseball hails from Canada but looked like he had a football body that belonged on the gridiron down in Texas or Florida. The 6-foot, 210-pound athlete's best present tool, though, was his speed, which he showed off several times chasing down deep fly balls in center field.

A professional scout working at Terry Park compared Team DeMarini southpaw Graeme Stinson (2016, Norcorss, Ga.) to former big league "El Sid" Fernandez, while pointing out that the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Duke commit was a size or two larger than Fernandez. The comparison held most true in Stinson's cross-body delivery and easy, smooth arm action coming through. Stinson, who is currently ranked 93rd in PG's 2016 high school player rankings and topped out at 91 mph this summer, worked in the 87-89 mph range with a big 72 mph curveball and a low-80s change up.

– David Rawnsley


Gabriel Holt (2017, Bonaire, Ga.) showed a solid feel for the ball, hitting a hard ground ball single and later picking up a hard hit RBI double into center field. His bat speed stands out and he has proven disciplined by laying off pitches out of the zone. He’s an outstanding athlete that is already showing an advanced idea at the plate.

Michael Amditis (2016, Boca Raton, Fla.) is a masher in the making. We saw him put together an outstanding Junior National Showcase, and he’s proving he has no problem performing in game action against good pitching. He consistently shows plus bat speed and lift to his pull side, and he’s disciplined enough to carry his power into games. He picked up four RBI in his first two at-bats on Sunday, coming off a double and rocket line drive single to left field. He creates a different sound off his bat and the ball carries very differently as well.

Jacinto Arredondo (2016, Center Hill, Fla.) flashed a powerful fastball that topped out at 90 mph in his first inning of work. His velocity dropped precipitously after the first inning, but as he learns to repeat his delivery more from the stretch and finish his pitches he should be able to work more consistently at 85-89 mph with his fastball as he did in the first inning. He flashed a 68-71 mph curveball as well as a 73 mph changeup with solid feel.

Hunter Perdue (2017, Chesapeake, Va.) was one of the more intriguing 2017 arms we’ve seen this week, showing off a long, lean frame and projectable velocity in his JetBlue Stadium outing on Sunday. He pitched on Day 2 as well, also impressing in that outing. He has a short arm, repeatable three-quarters arm action and he worked with his fastball at 84-87 mph, topping as high as 88 with good life. He showed good feel for his 73-75 mph slider with tight rotation and pitched down in the zone.

Ian McEachern (2016, Washington, D.C.) may not have had his peak velocity on Sunday that we’ve seen in the past, but still showed very interesting upside given his lanky 6-foot-4 frame and low effort arm action. He has topped at 88 mph in the past, but lived mostly around 84-85 mph in his short outing, showing good two-seam action through the zone. The present velocity is not what scouts should be looking at with McEachern right now as there is plenty more in the tank and the downhill delivery and fast arm bodes very well for his future.

Just before McEachern entered the game, we got a short look at a big 2017 arm that emerged late in the summer as one of the premium pitchers in the class. Big righty Joseph Perez (2017, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) did not top out at 91 mph the way we saw him during the summer, but he threw an extra heavy 85-88 mph fastball in the early part of his outing. He clearly has more velocity in the tank and shows a short, repeatable arm action. He also mixed in a short, sharp 11-to-5 curveball around 70 mph. The command and and consistency will need to come around, but he’s obviously still very young and is going to continue adding strength to his already powerful 6-foot-2, prototypical pitcher’s frame.

Jeremy Arocho (2017, Glen Burnie, Md.) was one of the more intriguing young position players on display on Sunday, showing good bat speed and a line drive approach. He’s a switch-hitter that we saw from the right side in Sunday’s action, and he has a stroke that produces consistent, hard line drive contact. He’s an above average runner with athleticism, but his feel for the bat head at such a young age is what is going to be make him attractive to talent evaluators.

Todd Peterson (2016, Lake Mary, Fla.) continued to impress in tournament play, starting on two days rest for the Scorpions 16u Prime, Peterson followed up his strong opening night outing with another outing in which he looked crisp, projectable and had good life on his fastball. He came out of the gate working around 89-90 mph and saw that climb to 92 mph as the game wore on. He throws a very heavy ball and generates an outstanding downhill plane, utilizing his powerful 6-foot-5 frame effectively.

It took him some time to find his curveball, but when he did he snapped off a couple hard, above average downers with 12-to-6 break at 76-77 mph. The big life through the zone is the separator for Peterson, and it says a lot that he carried that life and raw velocity into this outing on just a couple days rest. Peterson put together a masterful performance in the Scorpions playoff victory, tossing seven shutout innings on just 65 pitches. Working quickly and efficiently, Peterson was a groundball machine on Sunday afternoon.

Drew Mendoza (2016, Lake Minneola, Fla.) simply continues to look like one of the sweet-swinging pure hitters in the nation. A player that you just have to see consistently in game action to fully appreciate, Mendoza never looks in over his head at the plate. In his first at-bat, Mendoza smoked a rocket into the left-center field gap on a sinking fastball down and away. It’s an easy swing path that should allow him to adapt well to more advanced pitching, as he allows the ball to track deep and uses his hands well.

Speaking of hitters that need to be seen consistently in game action, Carlos Cortes (2016, Oviedo, Fla.) has the look of a blossoming star from the left side of the plate. Cortes possesses eye opening bat speed and gets on his back leg consistently to use his leg kick trigger. He has a big sound off his bat, which was more than evident when he hit an absolute bullet line drive to center field in his second at-bat of his Sunday afternoon playoff game for the Scorpions. He followed that with another rocket just to the left side of second base in his third bat-bat. Cortes has next level type bat speed and he creates a lethal middle-of-the-order combination for the young Scorpions.

– Frankie Piliere


Sunday's playoffs featured many of the tournament's elite arms making their second appearance, as the strategy employed by many teams who played on Thursday was to throw their ace in an abbreviated appearance in the opener in order to keep him available to come back on three days rest for Sunday's playoffs.

One such ace was Marucci Elite righthander Easton McGee (2016, Hopkinsville, Ky.) who got the start in Marucci's second round playoff matchup. Just as was the case on Thursday, he topped out at 90 mph and sat comfortably in the upper-80s, living mostly at 88 mph and maintained it throughout the course of his six innings. He has a highly projectable frame at 6-foot-6, 170-pounds, with a high waist and extremely long legs. His delivery is smooth and frequently features good downhill extension out front when he keeps his front shoulder closed, though is not consistent yet. When he extends out front his fastball features late juking action sharply back to the arm side with heavy sink.

Though there were many misfires where his arm came through late as a result of his front side pulling open early, and he'd leave the ball up on the arm side, that is quite common among pitchers with the combination of his height and age. McGee's slider flashed sharpness in the mid- to upper-70s and he also had a big, slow curveball that he'd drop in as well and flashed on 77 mph changeup. He's shown some development in harnessing his raw stuff since the summer, and while he still has a ways to go, there is a lot of upside and he will be followed very closely between now and June 2016.




McGee's teammate, outfielder Brock Anderson (2016, Huntsville, Ala.), made a lot of noise offensively for Marucci during their three game playoff run on Sunday. The lefthanded hitter features plenty of power potential and went 2-for-4 with a walk in their two game run at the Twins Spring Training complex, including a two-run triple in his first at-bat of the day.




During the same time slot as McGee's playoff start there was a very similarly projectable 6-foot-6 righthander throwing on an adjacent field at the Twins complex, as Noah Murdock (2016, Colonial Heights, Va.) got the ball to start the Virginia Cardinals' playoff game. Murdock is fairly well coordinated for his size and age and worked 84-87 in the early innings and the ball comes out of his hand easily. He tends to drop his slot a touch on his curveball, causing him to come around the side of it a bit, creating a sweeping slurvy break in the low- to mid-70s. However, with the kind of spin rate it has it projects well as he learns to get over the top of it and extended out front on the release of it.

Murdock allowed a run in the first inning as he settled in and would yield two over four innings. When he'd leave the ball up in the zone Ohio Elite's hitters would punish him, but when he was on top of the ball he was nearly unhittable. The life he generated on his 87 mph fastball to close out the second inning with a called third strike that tailed back over the outside corner to a righthander was a flash of brilliance, and may become a more frequent occurrence over the next couple of years for the Virginia commit.




Murdock's teammate, third baseman Justin Sorokowski (2016, Mechanicsville, Va.), drove in the tying run in extra innings with a sacrifice fly as the Cardinals pulled out the thriller over Ohio Elite and then followed it up with a 2-for-4 effort in the third round victory. He features good extension through contact with lift and power potential as he continues to mature. He moves well at third base showing good coordination to throw on the run and is a very interesting all around prospect.




As the 200 plus team field has become whittled down to double digits, what has stood out is the number of power bats still left in the tournament's later playoff rounds, as would be expected of the teams that are winning playoff games. In the third round playoff matchup between Elite Baseball Training 2016 and the EvoShield Canes 2017 Prospects, physically imposing first baseman John VanDeMark (Lodi, N.J.) stepped to the plate with runners on second and third. There was some confusion in the Canes' dugout about whether or not they wanted to intentionally walk him with first base open and the score at 0-0 in the first inning. Ultimately they decided to pitch to him, and were made to regret that decision as he smashed the first pitch off the fence in right-center. VanDeMark would go 3-for-4 on the game, with his only out coming on a loud flyout to right field, and pairs good hand-eye coordination with strength generated bat speed and also played a solid defensive first base.



– Todd Gold


With a physically built 6-foot-1, 220-pound frame, Connor Hamilton (2017, Forestport, N.Y.) shows a short, compact swing and uses his strength to generate big-time bat speed in his righthanded swing. His swing mechanics are sound and simple with no pre-pitch movement in his upper or lower halves, and showed a nice feel for the barrel, going with the pitch and picking up a single to both sides of the field. A primary catcher, Hamilton is very athletic, which is recognized by his coaches who had him start in center field for their fourth game.

The feel and pitchability that Douglas Nikhazy (2018, Ocoee, Fla.) displayed on Sunday is well beyond his years, especially given the fact he has yet to pitch in a high school game. After a long summer of pitching, the young Nikhazy didn’t quite show the mid-80s fastball he has, working comfortably in the 81 to 83 mph range with his fastball. The velocity is in there and given his build and long limbs Nikhazy will continue to develop over the next four years.

Nikhazy remains balanced very well throughout his delivery, staying compact and online with mechanics, which he repeated very well over his four innings of work. Throwing from a high three-quarters arm slot, Nikhazy is able to create nice angle on his fastball and pounded the strike zone for his last three innings of work, settling in nicely after the first. Despite being only a freshman, Nikhazy showed an advanced feel for all three of his pitches, throwing a combination of fastball, curveball, changeup whenever he wanted and would double, even triple up on off-speed pitches.

His curveball showed deep, 1-to-7 life and consistently spotted it to the back foot of righthanded hitters, up to 71 mph. The pitch leaves his hand just as his fastball does, and when he mixes in a mid-70s changeup from the same arm slot, the lefthander is very hard to square up. At present Nikhazy slows his arm action down a bit on his changeup but the feel for the pitch developed throughout the outing and showed fading life to his arm side.

Relieving Nikhazy was another young arm, as righthander Lyon Richardson (2018, Jensen Beach, Fla.) took the ball. Like Nikhazy, Richardson has shown bigger velocity earlier in the summer, but still showed impressive arm strength for a freshman. Though his mechanics aren't quite as polished as Nikhazy's, there is no denying the arm strength and potential of Richardson on the mound, especially with the incorporation of his lower half into his delivery. Throwing with a short arm action and a high three-quarters arm action, Richardson topped out at 85 mph and worked down in the zone, mixing in an 11-to-5 curveball in the upper-60s.

Working out of the bullpen for the USA Elite Baseball 2016’s National team, Wyatt Tyson (2016, Red Lion, Penn.) came in working his fastball in the 83-86 mph range, topping out at 87. Showing a short, quick arm action, Tyson did a nice job of getting on top of the ball and worked down in the zone with his fastball, showing occasional life to his arm side. Although his front hip opens early, the uncommitted Tyson was able to fill up the strike zone and flashed a sweeping slider in the low-70s.

Jordan Butler (2017, Tampa, Fla.) is no stranger for being in the daily recaps, especially in the edition that is published the day after he takes the mound, just as he was two days ago. This time, however, Butler has been included for his abilities with the bat from the left side. Stepping up to the plate three times, the University of Florida commit reached base safely all three times, picking up two line drive singles to first base and a bunt single in his first at-bat. His approach is geared to pulling the ball, but Butler shows a short, quick swing along with a nice feel for the barrel of the bat.

Graham Hoffman (2017, Clearwater, Fla.) and Shane Shifflett (2017, Venice, Fla.) are two middle infield prospects who will be building blocks for the future Burn teams for years to come. Each are ranked within the top 70 prospects in the 2017 class and showed well with the bat in yesterday’s consolation game.

Hoffman is a long, lean middle infielder who projects well with added strength to his 6-foot-2 frame. A righthanded hitter, Hoffman showed a sound approach at the plate, fouling off numerous pitches that were close to both sides, pitches most young players would either take for a called third strike or swing over the top of it. Ultimately, he didn’t win the battle but he showed an advanced feel in the box, fouling off five straight pitches showing quick hands, and picked up a line drive single in his final at-bat.

Having batted the entire tournament righthanded, the young UCF commit Shifflett showed a fluid stroke in his only at-bat of the day. Collecting a base hit and showing a feel for the barrel is nothing new, but this line drive single came while standing in the lefthanded batters box. For taking a majority of his reps at the plate righthanded, Shifflett showed a very nice, balanced swing and looked as though he swings from the left side more frequently than he has in this tournament. The swing path to the ball was smooth and easy with the ball coming off the barrel with a loud sound.

– Jheremy Brown
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