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Tournaments  | Story | 7/19/2016

16u BCS Finals Day 1 Scout Notes

Brandon Hohl


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Righthanded pitcher and member of Clutch Baseball, John Hoyle (2018, Austin, Texas) leads off the coverage of the 16u BCS Finals in Fort Myers. On the mound, John has a high leg kick and his hands come high above the head, sits in to the back leg then has a long stride, long and fast arm swing that bounces from the back pocket to a sudden over-the-top the top release point. I thought that he was able to hide the ball very well along with creating a large downward angle. Hoyle worked a fastball, changeup and curveball. The fastball was his go-to pitch early in the count working inside and also elevating it. The fastball set up his impressive 11-to-5 curveball which he used mainly as an out pitch. He did show a changeup in between innings but hardly threw it in the outing. Hoyle looked to still be developing some feel and maintaining a fastball arm speed with it. John finished with five innings pitched, nine strikeouts and no runs allowed.

Reed Beverly (2018, Austin, Texas) of Clutch Baseball stands at the plate with an open stance, hands shoulder height and rocks the barrel in front of his head for rhythm. He keeps the back leg torqued, using a quick leg lift to create a coiled front side as his stride separates to a strong launch position. He generates bat speed and showed good situational hitting by driving a low fastball in the air to center field for a sacrifice fly. Beverly showed advanced actions at the plate and is an intriguing athlete with seemingly more potential as he matures. His athletic profile seems to fit that of a corner outfielder or first basemen with the bat projecting to the middle of the order.

Matthew Maldonado (2018, Geronimo, Texas), also a member of Clutch, is a lefthanded hitter that keeps it really simple at the plate. His stance is set up in a strong position with his feet slightly wider than shoulder width and his hands high by the ear with the barrel at 45 degrees. He uses a short gather into his back leg and short stride, making the swing seem more rotational than it actually is. His back elbow drops and the barrel falls below the back shoulder creating a positive attack angle to the ball with bat speed. Maldonado singled hard with a line drive to right center field. Listed as a pitcher in his profile, he shows comfort and impressive actions at the plate.

Over on Field 4 of the 5-Plex, the aggressive offense of FTB Max Bats caught my attention, and standing out specifically was lefthanded hitter Christopher Vervoordt. Christopher is a tall, lean athlete that plays first base and hit third. At the plate he has a wide stance, keeping his hands high and back behind the shoulder. Vervoordt has simple actions at the plate starting with a short gather to his rear leg, then striding and landing early. He showed a good bat path as his body worked up to the ball and his lower half ended in a strong power-L with the lead leg locked out. I saw him double to right-center field on an inside fastball, running the bases well. Vervoordt is at least 6-foot-6 and still shows room to grow. He provides a great target at first base for the rest of his teammates.

Leo Passley (2018, St. Petersberg, Fla.) took the mound in relief for Chain National-McCrane, coming in from shortstop. He worked with clean mechanics beginning with a smooth leg lift, keeping his hands away from the body, raising his hands with leg lift and then striding forward with a long arm swing and whippy arm action with a low three-quarters release. Passley threw his fastball at 80 mph and showed arm-side run when working to the righthanded batters box. He could also throw it straight to his glove side, backing up lefthanded hitters. He mixed his fastball with a 10-to-5 slider at 70 mph with late sweeping movement. Passley finished two innings of work with one strikeout and no earned runs.

Kyle Yeoward (2019, Coral Springs, Fla.) of the HofFitz Legends showed impressive actions at the plate. The 15-year-old stands slightly open with his rear leg internally rotated, back knee in and hands high away from the shoulder. He begins his swing with a gather to the rear leg and his back knee goes out over his toes to create a torqued position, striding back to even landing high on the toe and a barrel tip to a low launch position. Yeoward’s body works up to the ball generating good bat speed, making good contact at the plate while showing potential for power.

Another 15-year-old that stood out for the HofFitz Legends was first baseman Andrew Jenner (2019, Coral Springs, Fla.). The lefthanded hitter starts his swing with an early leg kick, striding forward while the hands move back creating elastic tension. Jenner did simplify his mechanics with two strikes, choosing to stride and land early rather than continue the leg lift. He would simplify until he got back to even in the count or was anticipating a fastball. His barrel got behind the shoulder creating a positive path while his lower body worked up to the ball. Jenner gives himself a great chance to hit by keeping his barrel in the zone for a long period of time and he finished his day going 3-for-4 with a triple. I saw him work a deep count resulting in a single off the hands over the shortstop with a 4.69 turn.

Mark Townsend (2018, Sarasota, Fla.), with his lefthanded swing for the Florida Burn Platinum South really impressed at the plate. Townsend has an athletic stance with his feet slightly wider than shoulder width and his back knee bent in, hands set by his shoulder with the barrel at 45 degrees. His swing starts with knee-to-knee leg lift from his lead leg, striding forward as his hands separate loading up and back creating elastic tension. He lands in a torqued position swinging with bat speed and balance throughout the body. Townsend has a controlled finish with the rear leg in the power-L and a locked out lead leg with his torso over the plate. In his first at-bat he showed off his bat speed by lining out hard to center field.

Burn Platinum North righthanded pitcher Jonathon Simpson (2018, Plant City, Fla.) impressed with his funky and fast movements on the mound at 5-Plex Field 3. Simpson has high leg kick, leaning over his knee with his torso and his hands come up over the knee as he separates his throwing arm straight down. The arm bounces up out of his back pocket to an over-the-top release point. Simpson worked his straight fastball up to 85 mph and the deception added to the success with his fastball. Simpson created a lot of swing and misses along with jammed barrels with the fastball and he mixed in a sharp 67-69 mph curvebal. Mainly working early with his fastball and finishing with the curveball, Simpson finished with 6 1/3 innings pitched, scattering five hits while striking out three.

Pitching for Tampa Express was righthander Xavier Rodriquez (2017, Tampa, Fla.) who impressed with his velocity on his fastball. Touching 88 mph and sitting at a consistent 85-86, Rodriguez would attack hitters early with the fastball before showing a curveball with 12-to-6 movement at 71-74 mph. The most impressive pitch I thought Rodriguez had was his changeup that he threw consistently at 70 mph. He showed that he had advanced feel and confidence in the pitch, maintaining his fastball arm speed with arm-side run and depth out of the hand.
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