Landon
Marceaux (2018, Destrehan, La.)
showed a lot of potential in leading his EvoShield Canes
Southeast team to victory on Sunday afternoon. Marceaux, just a
rising sophomore, is not a physically imposing pitcher, but the
righthander sure packs a lot of stuff into his athletic 6-foot,
180-pound frame. Bringing his hands over his head out of the windup,
Marceaux has a loose arm action with a clean arm stroke and works
from a high three-quarters arm slot. In the early going Marceaux ran
his fastball up to 88 mph, and generally sat in the 85-87 mph range
until the later innings. He did a solid job of staying online and
balanced throughout his delivery, although at times he showed some
more effort at release with an early frontside release and a body
lean to the first base side.
Regardless,
Marceaux did a good job of competing and battling back after a
laborious second inning to find a more consistent release point.
While he relied heavily on his fastball, which showed some arm-side
run and late life, he also mixed in a quality changeup. For a rising
sophomore he displayed advanced feel for the offering, doing a good
job of maintaining fastball arm speed and throwing the pitch with
confidence. The upper-70s pitch generated a couple of whiffs and kept
hitters off balance throughout the game. Additionally, Marceaux
flashed a developing low-70s curveball with 11-to-5 shape and decent
depth.
EvoShield
Canes Southeast shortstop Darren Willis
(2017, Elmwood, La.) was 1-for-3 with a walk, but he really
shined on the defensive side of the ball. At 5-foot-10, 175-pounds,
Willis is a compactly built athlete with good foot speed and strong
instincts. He displayed good range to both sides and also has smooth
actions and soft hands. The currently uncommitted middle infielder
made a number of difficult plays look routine on the afternoon.
Drew
Waters (2017, Woodstock, Ga.)
is an athletic, switch-hitting outfielder that is currently
committed to the University of Georgia. While he has some present
strength in his 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame, the broad-shouldered
Waters still has plenty of room to fill out and add further muscle to
his well-proportioned stature. He went 1-for-3 and was hit by a
pitch on Sunday, and while his timing has been a bit inconsistent
this week, there is no denying that he has intriguing hitting tools.
With an aggressive approach, Waters swings hard, has quick hands and
shows off good bat speed from both sides of the plate.
Another
switch-hitter on the 643 DP Cougars Sterling also showed good hitting
tools: Jared Miller. Miller
(2017, Marietta, Ga.) went 1-for-3 and was also hit by a pitch
on Sunday. In his first plate appearance, while hitting from the
left side, Miller ripped a double into right field and showed solid
foot speed by rounding first base at 4.35 seconds. While Miller did
not collect another hit on the day, he still showcased very good
hands and solid balance in the batter’s box from both sides of the
plate and stung a couple of balls with a hard flyout to right-center
field and a line out to second base. The uncommitted middle infielder
also has an athletic build with some present strength in his medium
frame, particularly in his lower half.
Skylar
McPhee (2017, Acworth, Ga.) is
a strong-bodied third baseman/righthanded pitcher that showed some
flashes on both sides of the ball this weekend. The 6-foot-3,
205-pounder has some easy, natural strength and he projects to add
more in the coming years as he currently has lean muscle mass on his
longer frame. While his swing is a bit longer, McPhee displayed solid
bat speed and plus strength with the ability to impact the baseball
when using the barrel. McPhee also took to the mound in relief work
on Sunday and the righty ran his fastball up to 86 mph.
Zach
Autin (2017, Harvey, La.)
also showed some potential in the batter’s box and on the mound.
The lefthander, first baseman and outfielder came on in relief of the
aforementioned Landon Marceaux and closed out the game with a quick,
painless inning. The southpaw has a dynamic delivery and creates some
deception and uncomfortable at-bats for opposing hitters with a big
knee lift and a high frontside. In his brief outing Autin ran his
fastball up to 87 mph, consistently sitting in the 83-86 mph range,
and worked in a low-70s curveball and changeup. At the plate Autin
went 1-for-3 and displayed solid bat speed and pitch recognition
skills.
Team
Elite South Blue 16u’s Steven Williams
(2017, Albany, Ga.) is an impressive, physical player that
shows tools from both sides of the plate. The Auburn commit is
listed at 6-foot-3, 190-pounds and he has a lean, well-proportioned
body with present strength in both his upper and lower body. He
moved well behind the plate, showing off lateral quickness and the
ability to consistently get into solid blocking position.
Additionally, Williams, who also plays the outfield at times, has a
strong arm (clocked as high as 85 mph off the mound at a Perfect Game
event last summer) and recorded a 1.9 pop time on a throw down to
second base. Although he didn’t record a hit on the day, the
lefthanded hitting Williams strung together some quality at-bats at
the plate and flashed good bat speed.
Brennan
Crooms (2017, Metter, Ga.) is
an uncommitted infielder that has some intriguing tools. Crooms, of
Team Elite South Blue, had two hits on the day, the first of which
was a double ripped down the left field line. The righthanded hitter
has nice, quick hands at the plate, solid bat speed, and a simple,
repeatable swing geared for line drives. He also displayed solid
athleticism and body control while on the basepaths when he avoided a
close tag play and slid head first into third base. Additionally,
Crooms showed very good hands and footwork around the second base bag
with a quick transfer on double play turns.