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




2017 third baseman Jason Pineda is listed in the program at 6-foot, 215-pounds, and there’s absolutely no way. Standing at least 6-foot-2 and looking more like 230, Pineda looks like Yoenis Cedpedes in terms of build throughout his body, with excellent strength and athleticism filling out his frame from top to bottom. He’s immediately impressive as a hitter, with a loose, fluid swing highlighted by explosive hands and outstanding bat speed. He barrels up the ball with authority consistently showing power to all fields with easy plus power projection as well as good overall feel for the barrel and a quiet, simple approach to hitting. He plays third base well as well, showing smooth hands with a good first step, an above average arm and the overall athleticism to hold down the third base position with no problem at the next level.

Read Chris Garcia's feature on Pineda and the Bronx Bombers here.




2018 Parker Aquino (Las Vegas, Nev.) started for Game On Stealth on Tuesday afternoon, and the 6-foot-1, 160-pound righthander didn't disappoint. Touching as high as 88 with his fastball, Aquino worked comfortably in the 84-87 range, pounding it down to the glove side consistently with advanced fastball command. His delivery is deceptive, with a hip coil into a slight spine tilt, he drops and drives a bit towards home but retains some downhill plane and explodes through his delivery. He hides the ball very well up until release, making the 84-87 seem much faster to opposing hitters. He has good feel for his slider, thrown in the 75-78 range, with good spin and inconsistent two-plane break, as the pitch will occasionally get flat. The change is a very deceptive pitch, thrown with about 15 mph of velocity differential and thrown with serious tumbling action, the pitch just dies at the plate and sends hitters swinging over the top of it.

2017 second baseman Rashard Lucas (Panama City, Fla.) made the most consistent hard contact of anyone in the Game On game, squaring up the ball with a simple swing and an up-the-middle approach. Lucas was able to drive the ball back through the box in his first two at-bats, showing very quick hands with a balanced swing, consistently catching the ball out in front of the plate with more authority than his 5-foot-10, 160-pound frame would indicate.

2017 righthander Chase Patrick (Ellaville, Ga.) threw a short, one-inning stint in relief for Game On, and was very impressive in that one inning. With very good arm speed and a deceptive delivery highlighted by Huston Street-esque mechanics, Patrick’s fastball jumped out of his hand at 86-88 from a near over-the-top slot, pounding downhill with plane despite his size and showing excellent command of the pitch especially to the arm side.

Elite Squad Prime is no stranger to having seriously high-end talent regardless of their age classification, and their 15u team is no exception. He’s been mentioned before a few times in these writeups, but 2018 third baseman Cory Acton deserves mentioning yet again, as he continues to make a case for himself as the best pure hitter in the class of 2018. He’s very balanced and very simple at the plate, has an advanced approach with patience and an excellent idea of the zone, and combines all of that with innate bat-to-ball skills. His hands are excellent, quick and strong, and he generates excellent bat speed while nearly never taking a bad swing. As he continues to physically develop there is going to be serious power there as well, giving him one of the highest offensive upsides in the class.




2018 righthander Roberto Pena started for Elite Squad, and despite not having the results he wanted, showed very well as a prospect overall. With a loose, easy arm action and a fastball that touched as high as 87 in the first inning, Pena projects exceedingly well moving forward both physically and in terms of velocity.

He was relieved by 2018 righthander Patrick Crawley, a great-sized prospect with a good feel for pitching highlighted by a very heavy fastball. The fastball is very easy out of the hand and sat 81-83 with that late, heavy life, and he complemented it with a quality 12-to-6 curveball that showed good depth and spin. He has some trunk stiffness that causes him to struggle getting over his front side, making the ball stay up on him at times, but on the whole he showed quality stuff and projection late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.

Opposing Elite Squad was Marucci Forbes, who ended up winning the game by a score of 7-2. Starting on the mound for Marucci was James Parker, a 5-foot-11, 145-pound 2018 prospect from Alabaster, Ala. Parker did an outstanding job of keeping the Elite Squad hitters off balance throughout his outing, working consistently in the 80-82 mph range with his fastball and pounding to both sides of the plate. Working from a very tough low three-quarters arm slot, Parker’s fastball has very heavy arm-side life and sink, and he had no issue spotting his fastball nearly at will to wherever he wanted to throw it. He’s especially tough on righthanded hitters, getting in on their hands with the fastball and showing good feel for a slider that, given his slot, starts from nearly behind the righthanded hitters and breaks over the plate with mostly horizontal action at the plate.

2018 outfielder Anthony Stallcup (Shreveport, La.) took some of the best at-bats of the tournament on Tuesday night, showing the kind of advanced approach and overall feel for hitting that are not often seen in prospects just heading into their sophomore years. In his first at-bat, he jumped all over a first-pitch curveball and drove it into left field for a base hit. Then in his second at-bat he fouled off several two-strike pitches before eventually working a walk. He has hand quickness, an advanced approach and the type of overall on-base skills that are highly coveted in offensive prospects.

– Brian Sakowski




Joseph Charles (2019, Celebration, Fla.) hasn’t even attended a day of high school yet but there’s already some noise around his name due to his abilities on the mound. The overall physical projection is obvious as he already stands 6-foot-2, 170-pounds with long and loose limbs and is able to produce stuff on the mound that’s advanced beyond his grade.

Charles shows a low effort delivery on the mound, remaining loose and easy with his arm action after he breaks his hands before creating solid extension out front at release. Sitting comfortably in the 82-85 mph range through his five innings on the mound, Charles showed solid command of his fastball to either side of the plate, a pitch that leaves his hand with natural two-seam spin. Along with the extension Charles consistently work on top of the ball which in turn helps generate downhill plane on his fastball which cleanly leaves his right hand. Projecting on his fastball isn't hard to do given the ease of which he throws and with the subtle life to his arm side he’s able to induce consistent weak ground ball contact.

Pitching exclusively off his fastball the first time through the order, Charles was able to snap off a couple of quality breaking balls before the weather ultimately shut the book on his outing. After getting under or around on the first couple of curveballs Charles found his feel for the pitch and quickly began mixing while pounding to either side of the plate. Charles is able to create tight rotation on the 70-72 mph offering and as a result he’s able to create late bite and quality depth. His overall feel and ability to pound the strike zone is advanced for a player his age and it’s scary to think his stuff is only going to continue improving.

The last 48 hours have been solid for Sterling Hayes (2018, La Jolla, Calif.), a twitchy 6-foot-1, 175-pound shortstop who is also the most recent commit for Vanderbilt University. Hitting in the middle of the CBA Bulldogs order and starting up the middle, Hayes may not have filled up the box score but he put his abundance of tools on display. With a very balanced and easy set up at the plate, Hayes begins with an upright stance and shows a simple shift into contact while generating a fluid swing that projects moving forward. Hayes moves well defensively at shortstop showing quick and athletic actions with a short arm action on his throws across.

Hayes isn’t the only player on the CBA Bulldogs who has already decided on his college commitment as Clay Owens (2018, Corona, Calif.) has already verbaled to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A strongly built 6-foot-1, 185-pound third baseman, Owens showed plenty of fluidity and natural lift in his swing as he ripped a single into the right-center field gap to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.

Cade Hungate (2018, Abingdon, Va.) first caught my attention with his overall athleticism two days ago while playing third base and it didn’t shock me in the slightest to see him finding success on the mound. Listed at 6-foot-2, 170-pounds, Hungate looks the part on the mound with a high waist and broad shoulders that he’ll continue to grow into. Staying tall and balanced on his backside, Hungate ran his fastball up to 87 mph and sat in the 83-85 mph range rather comfortably throughout the duration of his start. With an over-the-top release and a quick arm, Hungate is able to generate downhill plane on his fastball while repeating his delivery and filling up the zone. Currently uncommitted, Hungate showed a feel for his slider as he tripled up on the 76 mph offering showing depth and late break to his glove side.

Landon Jordan (2018, Poplarville, Miss.) sets the tone for the Coast Titans offense from the leadoff spot and that’s exactly what he did yesterday as his team found itself down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the first. Jordan, a middle infielder, stands at 6-foot, 170-pounds with a physically impressive frame and present strength and swings the bat from the left side. He uses his strength well as he shifts into contact and generated solid bat speed through the zone as he connected for a loud triple to the opposite field gap to lead off the game.

One could say that Nick O’Day (2018, Coatesville, Pa.) is seeing the ball well and it would be nearly impossible to argue. Just two days after running his fastball into the low-90s and providing offense for himself with a three-run home run, the uncommitted O’Day hit not one but two home runs in his first two trips to the plate. A strongly built, broad-shouldered 5-foot-11, 180-pound athlete, O’Day shows really loose hands in the box which allow him to whip the barrel through the zone with natural lift and leverage at contact. His first home run of the afternoon landed just to the right of the scoreboard and as his second found its way into the protective netting in front of the scoreboard. O’Day has continued to take the next step to his overall game and has the chance to be an impact two-way player at the next level.




The overall raw velocity may not be the type that usually is read about in the recaps but if you sat and watched what Aaron Feld (2018, Christiana, Pa.) did on the mound you would have seen one of he better overall performances of the tournament. Appearing in just his second Perfect Game event, Feld has grown an inch and added about 20 pounds since last fall when he worked in the 75-77 mph range at the WWBA Freshman World Championship.

Jump to last night and the 6-foot-2, 155-pound Feld sat in the 80-83 mph range over the course of his complete game shutout, making his pitch time and time again. Staying short and loose with his arm action, Feld was able to continuously pound the strike zone with above average command to either side of the plate. Feld’s mechanics are rather simple and he does a nice job of repeating them along with his extended three-quarter arm slot that helps generate late running life with some sink to his arm side. He also hides the ball well, and though he pitched mostly off his fastball he was able to induced weak, off balance swings and plenty of swings and misses throughout his seven innings.

In total Feld struck out 11, including the side in the seventh, without issuing a free pass, a true testament to the type of command he possesses on the mound. The overall stuff projects very well as Feld continues to grow and physically develop and he also shows an advanced feel for pitching. He would drop in a curveball a few times each inning in the 67-69 mph range showing some 11-to-5 life and wasn’t afraid to double up on the pitch, giving the hitters a different look and throw off their timing.

Luke Bartnicki (2018, Marietta, Ga.) has the ability to draw your attention before even throwing a pitch as he stands 6-foot-2, 185-pounds (and he may be taller than listed) and more than looks the part. A lefthanded pitcher, Bartnicki ran his fastball up to 88 mph early in the game while showing a very loose and low effort arm action, making it easy to envision more velocity on the way especially as he continues to incorporate his lower half. His arm action is very quick and he uses his long arms well to get on top of the ball and pound it downhill while holding the 84-87 mph velocity on his fastball. He was able to miss an abundance of bats on just the strength of his fastball but Bartnicki also showed a slider in the mid-70s and a changeup in the low-70s.

The US Elite 2018’s have a solid core of position players who are able to impact a game on either side of the ball including Nic Kent (2018, Gordonsville, Va.), Troy LaNeve (2019, Gibsonia, Pa.) and Adam Hackenburg (2018, Palymra, Va.).

The team's starting shortstop, Kent shows smooth, athletic actions on his feet, getting behind the ball before funneling well and delivering a strike across the body.

LaNeve, who’s just entering his freshman year of high school, looks more like a rising junior or senior with a strong 5-foot-11, 175-pound build and he knows how to use his strength in his left-anded swing. With a short and quick path to the ball, LaNeve is able to generate solid bat speed with lift at contact and helped lift US Elite to a 1-0 victory with an RBI single late in the game.

Hackenburg is another strongly built 6-foot-1, 205-pound hitter situated in the middle of the order, and like LaNeve he’s able to impact a game with a single swing of the bat. Though he didn’t put a ball over the fence he did drive a ball to the fence showing a short yet powerful swing as he stayed compact to the ball with loud jump and carry to dead center field.

– Jheremy Brown