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Tournaments  | Story | 9/19/2016

PG Elite Underclass scout notes

Matt Czechanski
Vincent Cervino
Photo: Perfect Game


Championship Feature | Daily Leaders

A pair of catchers for the East Cobb Colt .45’s team that made the quarterfinal round stood out throughout the event. Jonathan French (2019, Lilburn, Ga.) impressed offensively with an inside out swing path and good present strength already in his frame. He’s listed at 5-foot-11, 185-pounds and starts from an open stance and utilizes a leg lift timing trigger. His hand load is a little stiff at times, but he comes through the ball well enough. His hands are his quickest attribute at the plate, working with a clean path to the ball. Once he begins to match plane, he’ll see his gap-to-gap approach turn into additional power.

Alternating with French behind the plate was Jake Gooch (2018, Cartersville, Ga.). Gooch stood out more for his work behind the plate with very strong receiving skills as well as catch and throw actions. He shows a short, compact throwing motion and gains ground well out of his stance. His swing at the plate is a bit behind his defensive skills, pulling off at times with inconsistent firing of his lower half, but it flashes. He has good bat speed and strength that allows for some power projection moving forward.

Next Level A’s 2018/17U reached the semifinal stage of the tournament behind a strong overall offensive weekend from shortstop Hagan Alberson (2018, Pelzer, S.C.). Alberson turned in hard contact throughout the weekend with a short, compact swing and consistent line drive swing plane. His hands worked very efficiently to the ball with good bat speed and showed an approach that got to all fields. He also showed a quick first step to the ball in the infield. His actions were clean, through rushed at times with an arm that will likely transition to the right side. Albreson’s footwork was quick around the bag and he got in a good position to throw when ranging to either side.

Righthanded pitcher Aaron Shiflet (2018, Mountain Brook, Ala.) offered a projectable arm on the mound for Team Elite West 17u, listed at 6-foot-1, 175-pounds. He worked an outing in relief showing off impressive arm strength up to 87 mph. He used a very short stride to the plate with an over the top arm slot. His arm action is very quick through the back and there is some effort at release, but he repeated well. He spins over a stiff front leg with a crossfire element. In his shorter stint on the mound he worked almost exclusively off of his fastball and showed one breaking ball in the low-70s. It will need further refinement, but it worked as a change of speeds in relief. He struck out two batters in less than two innings and offers an impressive young arm to work with.

Backing Shiflet up as well as the rest of the Team Elite West pitching staff was shortstop Liam Carbone (2018, Midland, Ga.). Carbone is listed at only 5-foot-7, 130-pounds but his athleticism stands out up the middle. He ranges very easily to both sides with a clean, quick transfer of the ball. He has a bit of flash to his game when ranging to his backhand or up the middle and showed the ability to make several out of zone plays. He ranged well past second base to spin and quickly release the ball in an effort to nail the runner at first. His arm strength will continue to develop as he does while adding some physical strength. His glove is ahead of his bat presently, but he showed the ability to get to the opposite field with a compact swing. He’s one to keep an eye on in the future with a strong glove that should stick up the middle.

The Triton Rays took a tough loss in their opening matchup that kept them out of the playoffs, but they did have a pair of arms that impressed in righthanders C.J. Keckler (2018, Biloxi, Miss.) and Isaiah Magwood (2018, Hazel Green, Ala.). Keckler was the first to throw of the projectable arms, listed at 6-foot-2, 185-pounds offers good room to keep filling out and adding on the mound. He started with a deeper hip turn and almost jumps off his back foot when driving towards the plate. He comes through the ball very well with near plus extension and low effort through release. He used a short, compact arm action and threw from a higher three-quarters arm slot. He showed slight cut to his fastball that worked 84-86 mph and topped out at 87 mph. His command is developing as he doesn’t complete his hip turn all the way through his delivery, causing his release point to change. He lowered his arm slot slightly for his curveball that still showed 11-to-5 shape up to 74 mph. He replicated his arm speed well for the pitch, but it showed average spin out of the hand with developing sharpness. He struck out three batters in his lone inning.

In their second game of their doubleheader on Saturday, they pitched Magwood who stands at an immensely projectable 6-foot-5, 185-pounds with incredibly long limbs and nearly endless room to continue to fill out physically. He started with a rocker step into his delivery with a very up-tempo delivery. His arm action was very long and loose through the back, showing power T traits before release. He threw from a high three-quarters arm slot and worked well through the ball with limited lower half drive. He’s more of a thrower at present, listed as a primary outfielder, but showed traits that offer high-end projection on the mound. His fastball came out clean with lower effort at 84-86 mph with occasional life. He fell off towards first base, but showed athletic actions off the mound and fielded his position well. Magwood showed very raw feel to spin on the mound as well, slowing his arm for his 11-to-5 mph curveball that floated out of his hand. It topped out at 71 mph, but as he replicates his arm speed it should aid the pitch’s deception and effectiveness. He also showed some hitter-ish qualities at the plate with a line drive swing plane and strength at the point of contact. As he adds strength to his very slender frame he’ll see both his power at the plate and on the mound continue to develop. He fired 4 1/3 shutout innings on the mound with five strikeouts.

Delivering some of the best power of the event for USA Showcase was third basemen Bryce Lawrence (2019, Dallas, Ga.). Lawrence stands at 5-foot-11, 180-pounds with a fairly smooth swing from the left side of the plate that led to a pair of home runs in crucial spots for his team. One was a walkoff in their first pool play game with the second coming in a wild 16-12 victory that pushed USA Showcase to the playoffs. His swing shows slight uppercut tendencies at times, but he does work up to the ball well with success. He has good strength in his frame and should be able to continue to add to it as he reaches physical maturity. Lawrence showing such power from the left side for his age makes him one to keep an eye on for future events.

– Matt Czechanski



Lefthander Mitchell Gross (2019, Gainesville, Ga.) impressed on Friday night for East Cobb Barrett as he tossed a solid outing. Gross has a medium build and frame with plenty of room for growth and projection. From the left side he has a long arm circle with some looseness to his arm action. He has a high leg lift and throws with intent but he does struggle at times to consistently repeat his release point. Gross attacked batters early on with his fastball which sat from 83-85 mph and topped out at 86 mph. The fastball didn’t have much movement to it but he was able to consistently locate the pitch. As he continues to mature he will be able to maintain velocity better later into outings as he lost a few ticks on his fastball as the game went on. Gross’ out pitch was his curveball. The pitch has 1-to-7 shape to it with sharp movement and flashed plus. When he maintained his release point on the curveball he made batters look foolish and the pitch was nearly unhittable.

Although he is listed as a primary catcher, righthander Zack Smith (2018, Carrollton, Ga.) attracted attention with his velocity readings from his fastball. Smith has a medium frame with decent height coming in at 6-foot-1. He has a very compact arm circle with a tight, mechanical arm action. Smith snaps his arm across his body with intent from the three-quarters arm slot. He does a good job at getting onto a downhill plane when he throws and primarily works from the first base side of the rubber. While his fastball velocity was inconsistent he sat from 84-86 mph in his first inning of work and touched 88 mph a couple of times. Smith has good arm side run to his fastball and he worked primarily on the inner half to righthanded hitters to try to jam them inside. He also used his fastball on the glove side to righthanders to try to back door them with his fastball movement. Smith showed a soft-breaking curveball with 11-to-5 shape that had okay depth. He didn’t use the pitch often but it as effective at being a nice change of pace from his upper-80s fastball.

The first baseman for the runner-up Georgia Bombers was Chayce Bryant (2018, Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Bryant drew crowds from his size alone. The Georgia State commit is listed at 6-foot-5 and 225-pounds and that might not even do him justice. Despite his large frame Bryant had underrated athleticism and made a couple of nice plays at first over the weekend. He showed above average arm strength and made a couple of rangy plays even when he was covering runners on. Offensively, Bryant stands in an open stance with a medium hand set. He has raw power and he had solid feel for getting the barrel onto the ball. Bryant has active hands at the plate and at the time his swing is very handsy with an inconsistent lower half. His power potential and bat speed alone should make him an interesting prospect to monitor over the next couple of years.

Bryant’s teammate and MV-Pitcher for the tournament Luc Scudellari (2018, Roswell, Ga.) had an impressive performance in the quarterfinals for the Bombers. Scudellari has a skinny frame with some height and room to fill out. He has a shorter arm circle and pitches from a high three-quarters arm slot. He works with a quick tempo and showed some drop and drive from his back side. Scudellari has a good fastball that sat 80-82 mph with good arm side run to it. He showed good command on the arm side with his fastball and wasn’t afraid to throw it inside to righthanded batters. Scudellari mixed in a curveball with some depth to it but his primary off-speed pitch was his changeup. The pitch had good downward fade to it, flashed plus at times, and showed the same arm speed as his fastball for solid deception.

A player who has been making waves during the fall season is Upstate Mavericks shortstop Myles Austin (2019, Smyrna, Ga.) and he continued his quality play this weekend. Austin is a very projectable player who oozes athleticism and is already 6-foot-2. He has good speed on the bases and was timed at a 4.5 seconds to first base on a turn. You would be hard-pressed to find a better defender at shortstop as Austin has a lot of the traits you look for in an elite shortstop. He has plus arm strength from the infield with a smooth transfer and release and solid range. One play in particular saw him make a sliding play up the middle which showed off all of his positive defensive attributes. At the dish Austin has a high hand set and high back elbow with a slightly open stance. He has an elastic load with a leg lift and good bat speed with a line drive swing plane to it. He also showed solid incorporation of the lower half with good hip rotation. Austin will definitely be a player to watch as he develops more strength over the next few years.

Another 2019 position player who showed off this weekend was Team Elite Nation center fielder Deion Walker (2019, Marietta, Ga.). Walker has a tall frame with a very projectable build and showcased all-around athleticism as well. He was timed at 4.6 seconds to first base on the turn which shows his good speed on the base paths. He has a balanced stance that is slightly open with a high hand set and high back elbow. Walker has a simple stride in with a mechanical load and gets very good extension on his swing on the point of impact. He showed the ability to drive the baseball with authority to all fields as he roped extra base hits to right, left, and center during the tournament (including a triple over the center fielder’s head that had an exit velocity of 91 mph and an estimated distance of 368 feet). Walker has a good first step in the outfield with excellent range as evidenced by a diving catch in left-center field. It’s rare for a player with his combination build and age to already be producing power but it looks as if the trajectory is only going up for Walker.

The biggest display of power during the entire tournament might have come off the bat of Phenom Georgia first baseman Daniel Mendoza (2018, Marietta, Ga.). Mendoza has a large frame and is listed at 6-foot, 252-pounds (although he looks leaner than that) with a lot of strength particularly in his upper body. He has an open stance with a high hand set and high back elbow at the plate. Mendoza has an inward step with a longer swing path but solid weight transfer and generated good hip torque. His calling card, however, is his easy righthanded power. Mendoza launched a home run deep into the night on Friday and just barely missed a homerun on Saturday as his double left the bat at 97 mph and traveled an estimated 368 feet. Most of his in-game power comes from his upper body and the bat speed that he generates as he has some lower half strength but it is inconsistent in the swing. As Mendoza continues to look to consistently find the barrel of the bat his power will never be in question.

– Vincent Cervino
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