Daily Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5




After an eye-opening performance a few nights ago, mammoth 2017 righthander Joe Boyle pitched again on Wednesday, albeit in a short relief appearance. Despite the short stint, Boyle showed again what has evaluators salivating at his future potential, working 88-89 and touching 90 with a loose, easy arm action and almost limitless velocity potential. He’s taken steps forward in his command in just the past few weeks alone, to the point where he throws strikes consistently and shows the ability to work side to side with his fastball. It may have been just an easy one inning for Boyle, but it was anything but to opposing hitters.

2017 righthander Caden Lemons, a very recent Ole Miss commitment, combined with Jacob Sears on a no-hitter for the Excel Blue Wave on Wednesday morning. Lemons is a 6-foot-6, 170-pound prospect with the kind of loose, easy athleticism and arm action that, when coupled with his obvious physical projection, makes it easy to dream on his potential. Touching as high as 88 and working in the mid-80s throughout his start, Lemons showed a very advanced feel for commanding the fastball to all four quadrants of the strike zone with relative ease while maintaining velocity throughout, a rare pairing for such a young prospect.




2017 shortstop/third baseman and Florida Gators commit Greg Lewandoski showed off the already well-known hit/power combination that made him such a highly sought-after prospect in the class of 2017. Playing at the cavernous Cartersville baseball complex, Lewandoski made it look very small early on in their Wednesday afternoon game, jumping on an elevated fastball at the letters and smashing it deep over the wall in left field. Lewandoski has always had advanced bat speed and overall hitting mechanics, but he’s really added strength to his swing as well, showcasing the plus power potential that will assuredly make him a dangerous threat in the middle of the Gators lineup in a few years.




Just a few days ago, 2017 shortstop Jacob Nesbit committed to Arkansas, and impressed not only the Arkansas coaches, but the Perfect Game scouting staff as well on Wednesday afternoon. Showing a very athletic, highly-projectable frame and overall physicality, Nesbit immediately stands out in the field with smooth actions with soft, sure hands and first-step quickness to both sides. He made an outstanding play up the middle, ranging far to his right before snagging a groundball at near full extension, then showing off his athleticism and body control by gathering himself well enough—while still on the run—to make a hard, accurate throw to nab the runner by a step. His arm strength is already solid with certainly more to come, along with the quick release and clean arm action that project him to stay on the left side of the infield for years to come.

At the plate he hits from a semi-crouched stance while a bit open with front hip, then loads back smoothly with a quick foot up-foot down timer, closing off the front hip as the front foot comes down and firing through online. His hands go back a bit towards the catcher in his load, but the barrel stays in a good spot and his advanced hand quickness and direct path allow him to get the barrel to the zone quickly and stay in the zone for a long time, with natural loft and excellent bat speed. There is very little wasted movement in his swing, and he already shows gap-to-gap power, driving a ball off the wall deep into the left-center field gap with backspin and impressive carry, and that present power will only turn into more as he continues to physically develop. He’s a very impressive prospect, both with the glove and with the bat.




During the first round of playoff action on Wednesday night, Chain National threw their ace, 2017 lefthander and Florida State commit D.L. Hall, a 6-foor-2, 170-pound prospect from Valdosta, Ga. Hall was impressive earlier this week, and was dominant yet again in this outing. Working 90-92 and touching 93 mph in the first inning, Hall’s fastball was explosive out of his hand and absolutely dominating to opposing hitters, with excellent life to the arm side with some deception out of his hand, as a result of his hiding the ball well up until actual release.

Hall’s velocity dipped a little bit from that point on, but was still 88-91 for the majority of his outing. His arm is very loose throughout, and though there is some effort there, he’s able to repeat his delivery very well and hold up over the course of multiple innings. He’s highly projectable with room to fill on his frame, as well as the athleticism to handle that additional weight/strength and maintain the looseness throughout his delivery and arm action.

He brought his hammer with him on Wednesday as well, showing a very sharp, legitimate swing-and-miss curveball that has power depth and very tight spin. He was able to throw it for strikes as well as throw it as a chase pitch down and out of the zone, eliciting several flailing hacks on it throughout the start. Commanding both his power fastball and power curveball, Hall was able to easily breeze through opposing hitters, racking up 11 strikeouts over his five innings on the mound. He has certainly entered his name into the conversation as far as the preeminent lefthanders in the class of 2017.

The most impressive, most physical swings of the day came from 2017 Golston Gillespie of Team Elite Louisville Slugger, who showed off the kind of raw hitting tools from both sides of the plate that are often unheard of for rising juniors. At 6-foot-4, 210-pounds, Gillespie already has plus strength, but it was the rest of the package that was downright incredible late Wednesday night. Showing lightning-fast bat speed with that already impressive strength, Gillespie impacts the ball harder than even some of the top prospects two years older than he is, and he does it from both sides. He drilled a home run from the left side and a double from the right, releasing big swing after big swing and impacting the ball better, more square, and harder with more consistency than anyone we’ve seen in a single game setting so far this tournament. With even more room to grow on his already well-built frame, Gillespie has a chance to be the marquee name when it comes to prep power by the time the 2017 MLB Draft rolls around in just under two years.

– Brian Sakowski


Connor Hamilton (2017, Forestport, N.Y.) is currently ranked 99th in the 2017 class according to Perfect Game as he’s hit the ball very hard from the right side ever since appearing in a PG tournament. Yesterday afternoon Hamilton not only showed off his strength but he displayed a strong feel for hitting as he generated solid extension out front and went with an outer-half pitch, driving it down into the right field corner for a double to put Syracuse up 1-0 early in the game.




He may have just finished his freshman year of high school but by looking at Dawson Barr’s raw stuff on the mound it’d be hard to tell. A 6-foot-1, 175-pound righthander, Barr climbed all he way up to No. 18 in the latest 2018 class rankings, and despite throwing earlier in the tournament he again turned in a solid performance to justify his lofty positioning.

Watching from behind during his pre-game bullpen allowed the college coaches a look at just how much his stuff moves even as he was warming up as he throws from a long and loose arm action before releasing from a low three-quarters slot. Barr topped out at 90 mph with his fastball early on and consistently lived in the 86-89 range but still projects given the looseness of his arm and the athleticism on the mound. The velocity is more than impressive for a 2018 graduate, but it’s the heavy, late sinking life that truly sets him apart. As one would imagine Barr is able to induce weak ground ball contact though he also has the ability to miss bats with three pitches.

Over the first two innings Barr worked exclusively off his fastball/slider combination and didn’t need much else to show much else, but he did. Thrown in the mid- to upper-70s, Barr’s slider shows true two-plane depth with tilt away from righthanded hitters giving him a second pitch that he can miss bats with. As the innings wore on Barr began to show another above average pitch, a changeup that came in at 80-81 mph. Maintaining his slot it’s easy to see why the changeup is as good as it was given the life on his fastball and he showed just as much feel for it, pulling the string whenever he needed to.




Not in the program for Elite Squad Prime, David Luethje (2018, Vero Beach, Fla.) had coaches looking for his name after the long and loose 6-foot-4, 170-pound righthander threw a couple of warmup pitches. Moving on into the game it looked as though Luethje was still just playing catch as he remained loose and fluid with his arm action and did so with relative ease.

Early on Luethje was up to 88 mph with his fastball and lived comfortably in the 84-87 range from his high three-quarters arm slot, showing cutting life to his glove side at times. As the innings wore on he began to get on top of the ball better which allowed him to work down in the zone while missing barrels with his fastball. Given his age and length Luethje did a nice job of controlling his long levers on the mound and he’s only going to throw harder as he continues to fill out his broad-shouldered frame.

He showed some strong pitchability as well for a player of his age as he featured three different off-speed pitches with his slider being the best of the group. Though he slows his arm action slightly on the 74 mph bender it already showed quality shape with some depth and will continue to develop into a true swing-and-miss pitch as he continues to throw it and maintain. Luethje’s changeup featured some diving action down in the zone from the same high three-quarters arm slot in the 77-79 mph range.

Though only going into his junior this upcoming spring righthander Weston Bizzle (2017, Memphis, Tenn.) is no stranger to throwing in high-level games as he already has 30 events listed in his profile. Already committed to Vanderbilt, Bizzle is one of the more consistent arms in the 2017 class as he consistently competes on the mound, fills up the zone with quality strikes and gives his team a chance to win every time he takes the ball.

Bizzle shows quality stuff on the mound but when the deception he creates in his delivery is added into the equation it makes for a difficult and uncomfortable at-bat. Working with an up-tempo, high energy delivery, Bizzle has a hip turn at the top of the delivery which helps hide the ball before showing a quick arm that produced a fastball upwards of 92 mph a time or two early in the outing. The future Commodore threw a total of five innings and in that time lived in the 86-90 mph rather comfortably from a high three-quarters arm slot. When he stayed on top of the ball he was able to generate solid downhill plane while locating to either side of the plate.

Combining his fastball life and command with his breaking ball Bizzle was able to strikeout 11 in just five innings. He shows very strong comfort with either breaking ball which allows him to consistently mix while keeping hitters guessing and off balance. Bizzle’s curveball shows big depth with 12-to-6 shape up to 76 mph, and though his slider came across at 75 mph it showed distinctly different shape with late sweeping life away from righthanded hitters. In his final inning of work Bizzle allowed his second, and final, hit of the game early in the frame before bearing down to strike out the next three hitters, one on a slider against a righthanded hitter and the next two on curveballs, one looking and one swinging.

Righthanders James Marinan (2017, Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Cameron Lauer (2017, Greenacres, Fla.) split the game for the Easton Rockets, and though the weren’t able to pull out the victory, each of the two showed interesting potential on the mound.

Marinan recently committed to the University of Miami and was handed the ball at the beginning of the game for the Rockets. Listed a 6-foot-4, 200-pounds, Marinan stands with long levers and a high waist with broad shoulders and plenty of room to still fill out. Just watching from a side angle you can tell Marinan can run it up on the radar guns given how quick his arm is on his stroke through the backside. Jump to behind the backstop and you would have seen readings on his fastball in the 86-89 mph range, touching 90 early on. Staying on top of the ball allows Marinan to generate some downhill plane though he’ll get across his body at release occasionally which actually plays to his advantage as he’s able to generate late cutting life on the ball. Marinan pitched mostly off his fastball throughout the night though he did show a short slider up to 81 mph and an 11-to-5 curveball in the mid-70s.

Lauer isn’t quite as tall as Marinan standing at 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, but he also shows long limbs with a high waist, making it easy to project him physically. Another similarity amongst the two righthanders is the quality stuff that leaves their hands as Lauer worked in the 84-88 mph range, peaking upwards of 89 mph just as he had earlier in the tournament. His arm action is quick coming through while staying short and at release he’s able to generate solid angle on his fastball. Already showing solid present velocity on his fastball Lauer projects for more given how cleanly the ball comes out while showing comfort in throwing his slider which was up to 74 mph.

Like Marinan above, center fielder Aldrich De Jongh (2016, Lake Worth, Fla.) is a recent collegiate commit to Florida Atlantic University, and though I was able to only see a single swing while walking from field to field during the playoffs, he showed plenty. A lefthanded hitter full of quick-twitch muscle, De Jongh may have connected for one of the louder hit balls of the tournament towards the end of the game as he squared up a pitch for an extremely hard hit double to dead-center field, showing both his strength and speed on the bases.

– Jheremy Brown