Righthanded pitcher Mason Hand (2017, Columbia, Ala.) started the tournament on the mound for Chain 18u and he impressed on the mound. Listed at 6-foot-4, 198-pounds Hand has an ideal pitcher’s frame with still some room to fill in with strength. He has a pretty tight arm action with a slight arm hook and a compact arm circle. Hand throws with intent and fired his hips a bit with an online delivery. From the three-quarter arm slot he delivered his fastball, which sat from 84-86 mph and topped out at 88 mph on the day. The pitch had some late life and he filled up the strike zone. Hand mixed in a couple of offspeed pitches including a hard changeup in the high 70s with some fade down and to the arm side. His breaking ball was a pitch that he used often and he could spin it tightly for some slider like movement and could throw it softer for truer curveball shape. He does a nice job at mixing in all of his pitches and could effectively throw his breaking ball for strikes and get hitters to chase outside of the zone. Hand was very efficient and threw six strong innings while striking out nine batters in only 77 pitches.
Hand’s teammate outfielder Cole Brannen (2017, Elko, Ga.) had a nice afternoon at the plate and especially on the base paths. The Perfect Game All-American has a very athletic frame and is lean at 6-foot-1, 188-pounds with a lot of room for maturity. At the plate Brannen has a wide base with a balanced stance and a high hand set and high back elbow. The Georgia Southern commit showed very good bat speed with solid incorporation of his hips to drive the ball. He has a more compact swing path with quick hands and he showed the ability to go to all fields. Brannen is extremely fast and was timed at 3.8 seconds to first base on a bunt. On the bases he terrorized opposing pitching. Once he reached first base, stealing second was almost assumed and he was in the head of the pitcher the entire time. Brannen oozes physical tools and will be fun to monitor as he puts all of the tools together.
Perfect Game’s no. 1 overall player for the class of 2018 Kumar Rocker (2018, Watkinsville, Ga.) was slotted in at cleanup for Team Elite 17s Prime and showed off his power and strength. The Vanderbilt commit has a very large, physical frame and is listed at 6-foot-4, 235-pounds with a lot of raw strength in the frame. Rocker has a high hand set and high back elbow with in-game power and plus bat speed. He has an elastic load with hip torque and solid drive through the back side. Rocker smoked a no-doubt homerun to right centerfield that came off the bat at 98 mph and traveled an estimated 367 feet per TrackMan Baseball. He recognizes pitches well and smokes baseballs off the barrel consistently generating backspin. Rocker continues to show why he is one of the top rated players in the class and remains to be the center of attention whether he is on the mound or at bat.
Rocker’s teammate Jacob Riordan (2017, Lilburn, Ga.) came on in relief and the righthander showed some high-level velocity. Riordan has a skinny frame and a very projectable body at 6-foot-3, 190-pounds. He has a pretty loose arm action with a long arm circle and throws from a high three-quarter arm slot. Riordan attacked hitters primarily with his fastball. The pitch sat from 87-89 mph on the day and came into the strike zone on an angle that made it tough to square up. Riordan’s fastball had some heaviness and was able to locate and command the pitch well on both sides. He incorporated a slider at 77-79 mph that was used as an effective offspeed pitch with some 10/4 shape. His changeup was used sparingly but it was a hard changeup at 81 and he slowed his arm speed a bit on the pitch. Riordan showcased a very strong fastball with two offspeed pitches that were effective and as he continues to grow and develop on the mound.
During the same timeslot, righthander Reese Olson (2018, Lula, Ga.) showed similar high velocity levels for Trojans Baseball. Olson has a smaller frame at 6-foot, 150-pounds and is very lean on the mound. Olson has a longer, more rigid arm action with a long arm circle and a three-quarter arm slot. He has a simple delivery with a slight leg life working from the first base side of the rubber. Presently, Olson has a quick arm with not much lower half drive. He delivers online and doesn’t have great finish and his arm strength is shown in his delivery as his arm snaps forward to release. Olson’s fastball sat from 85-87 mph on the day and topped out at 88 mph. The pitch had some late arm side run and he was able to command the pitch well on the arm side. Olson mixed in a curveball with 1/7 shape that showed good depth. The pitch was a strong weapon and he showed a feel to spin as it was used often. Olson has a strong two-pitch combination and will continue to get better as he develops physically and mechanically.
Another 2018 righthander who showed some promise was CJ Keckler (2018, Biloxi, Ms.) for the Triton Rays. Keckler has a medium build at 6-foot-2, 185-pounds with some projection on the frame. He throws with a lot of intent on the mound with a very tight arm action and compact arm circle. Pitching exclusively out of the stretch, Keckler turns toward second base on his leg lift and fires his hips forward. A small quirk of his motion is that as he seems to almost take a step toward the plate with his back leg to gain extension and drove well with the back side. Keckler primarily relied on his fastball which sat from 85-87 mph. The pitch was mostly straight and he did miss up above the zone at times with it. He mixed in a sharp curveball at 76 mph with some depth and 11/5 shape. Keckler is a primary catcher but displayed good tools on the mound and is a weapon to have on a pitching staff.
A pair of outfielders showcased their talents during the final time slot as Shota Barbeau (2017, Atlanta, Ga.) and Myles E. Deuett (2017, Atlanta, Ga.) helped contribute to a 6-0 win for the Ninth Inning Royals-Bartlewski. Barbeau has a smaller frame at 5-9, 150-pounds and is very skinny and athletic. At the plate he has a wide base with a high hand set and high back elbow from the right side. Barbeau has quick hands with good hip torque and consistently got the barrel head out in front of the plate. He squared up a couple of baseballs by getting his weight forward including a loud triple to the left centerfield gap late in the game. Speed is a weapon as he extended an extra base hit to a triple and stole a base in the game.
Deuett is a bit taller than Barbeau at 5-foot-11 and only just a bit heavier at 165-pounds on his lean, athletic frame. Similarly, Deuett is projectable with a lot of room to fill out his frame as he physically matures. He has an open stance with a high hand set and a high back elbow from the left side. Deuett has a small leg lift inward for a timing mechanism with some quick hands. He rotated his hips well with some weight transfer and got his bat in a good position to swing during his load. Speed also plays a part of Deuett’s game as he was timed at 4.35 seconds to first base and stole a base during the game. In right field Deuett showed good instincts by getting good first jumps on balls with good reads. He has some decent arm strength and his speed allows for solid range.
Team Demarini was the last team to secure a victory on Friday night and third baseman Cade Hungate (2018, Abingdon, Va.) showcased a variety of tools during the game. Hungate has an athletic, projectable frame at 6-foot-3 and 175-pounds and is very lean looking. He has a slightly open stance with a wide base and high hand set with a high back elbow from the right side. Hungate’s swing path is compact and quick with a line drive plane. He has a quick leg lift with active hands, balanced approach, and was very selective at the plate. The Florida State commit showed a quick bat with limited swings in the game due to his patience at the plate. Defensively Hungate looked strong at third base. He showed good range to his left and was athletic enough to make plays in and on the run as well. He is a smooth fielder with a slick glove and showed good arm strength at the hot corner. Hungate closed the game out on the mound and his arm strength was evident as he got up to 89 mph. A good two-way player, Hungate will be a player to monitor closely as he physically matures.
-Vincent Cervino