Daily Recaps: Day 1

CBA Bulldogs third baseman and cleanup hitter Clay Owens, a 2018 UNLV commit, showed some serious hitting tools and thunder in his bat on Saturday morning. Owens is a big, strong prospect, standing 6-foot-1 and weighing in around 185 pounds right now, and he’s not done growing and could end up even bigger. He hits from a traditional power hitter stance, crouched at the plate with weight shifted back pre-load, then comes through the zone with excellent natural loft (but without being an uppercut) and bat speed in his swing. His strength plays well in the swing already, showing the ability to muscle balls in on his hands out into the outfield, and he also already shows the natural ability to backspin balls into the gaps. Unlike most young power hitters, Owens’ approach is not that of a free swinger with only home runs on his mind. He has a quality overall approach already, not chasing out of the strike zone and for the most part being content to wait for a pitch he can really drive, something that is very advanced for a prospect his age.

The Houston Banditos Black brought one of the more star-studded rosters with them to Georgia for the 2015 15u WWBA National Championship, and it certainly shows in every facet of the game.




2018 righthander Brandon Broughton is a large-framed, well-built prospect with advanced size and strength for a prospect of his age. Despite potentially being close to his physical peak, Broughton’s overall potential on the mound is far from fully realized. With good arm speed and an overall loose, easy arm action, Broughton is already up to 85 mph, sitting 82-84 pretty consistently through his abbreviated outing on Saturday. The fastball shows solid running action to the arm side, and though he struggled to command the ball, he did show the ability to miss bats with the fastball in all parts of the zone, especially up. His arm works well with looseness and ease, and though there are some mechanical inconsistencies to shore up (which will help his command), overall Broughton is a very advanced pitching prospect for his age. With that kind of fastball as well as the feel to spin a sharp, 12-to-6 curveball, he projects very well moving forward.

2019 righthander Nolan Crisp had an even shorter outing than Broughton did on Saturday, thanks to the monstrous storm that rolled through Northern Georgia, killing the power at LakePoint and pushing this slot of games to later in the week. Crisp, despite being a 2019 prospect just getting ready to enter his freshman year of high school, showed advanced arm speed and strike-throwing ability, as well as climbing all the way to 87 with his fastball. That arm speed and present velocity project very well moving forward, and he’ll undoubtedly be one to keep an eye on in the next four years.

A trio of Banditos position players made their marks early during Saturday’s game, but that’s nothing new for prospects of their caliber. 2017 outfielder Alerick Soularie is an impressive athlete with excellent raw speed and on-base abilities to go along with an excellent overall feel to the play the outfield with a present above average arm. He’s a very quick-twitch athlete who projects exceedingly well moving forward.

2018 Hunter Watson has some of the best power of anyone in this event, not just in the 2018 class, from the left side with serious remaining projection as well. His approach can get a little pull and power-happy at times, but with that kind of thunder in his bat generated by excellent raw bat speed, it’s hard to ignore his potential.

2018 shortstop Jordan Groshans, a Texas recruit, has always shown loud, impressive offensive tools and continues to do so in this event. He has high-level bat speed to go along with strength and feel for the barrel, and has no problem barreling up nearly any pitch thrown within his general vicinity. With no-doubt infield tools, all that remains is to see just how good he can be.




2017 lefthander Jack Aldrich is no stranger to Perfect Game events, and we have seen him get incrementally better and better in every event he’s participated in. With a good sized frame and build, Alrich’s easy 80-83 mph fastball comes out of his hand clean and gets on hitters pretty quickly, showing excellent life on the pitch, though he did manipulate that movement. He showed the ability to cut the fastball as well as run it, without really losing any velocity as a result of the action. Commanded down in the zone well, the fastball was a pretty good weapon for him, showing the ability to miss barrels as well as get whiffs on the pitch. He flashed a quality breaking ball as well, with good depth and sharpness, he certainly continues to project well as a pitcher overall moving forward.

– Brian Sakowski


We at Perfect Game were first able to lay eyes on Tim Borden (2018, Sellersburg, Ind.) last fall at the WWBA Freshman World Championship last October playing for Miner League National. Just prior to the tournament Borden gave his verbal commitment to the Louisville Cardinals and his high-end tools have been on display ever since and most recently at the Perfect Game Junior National Showcase.

Borden has continued to physically develop, now listed at 6-foot, 155-pounds – as you’d expect from a player heading into his sophomore year of high school – but he continues to play the game at a high level and consistently perform. This week Borden is playing for Ironmen Baseball where he’s their starting shortstop and leadoff hitter, setting the tone for the rest of the lineup. He did just that as he reached base three times Saturday morning, first by drawing a walk before hitting the ball hard to his pull side twice. He does a nice job of staying short to the ball and finishing through his swing, and though he already shows solid present bat speed, he's going to get stronger as he continues to fill out his lean frame. Borden’s second hit of the game was his loudest, a hard line drive single into left field that plated two, again remaining short and quick to the ball.

They may be called the Central Florida Gators but Nolan Gorman (2018, Glendale, Ariz.) comes to the team via Arizona where he attends Sandra Day O’Connor High School. A lefthanded hitter, Gorman consistently found the barrel throughout day two and did so with authority driving the ball hard up the middle. Staying balanced throughout his swing the 5-foot-11, 180-pound shortstop twice lined the ball hard up the middle in the first game without getting the end result he wanted as they were hit on the screws right at a defender. In he Gators second game of the night however Gorman went from hitting the ball up the middle to hitting it to the right-center field gap where he picked up a well-struck double, driving in a run. Gorman started both games at shortstop for the Gators where he showed plenty of athleticism and fluidity in his actions, especially when charging in on a slow chopper and with his footwork around the second base bag.

Connor Ollio (Photo: Luke Liberatore)