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Tournaments  | Story  | 3/17/2017

Showdown Academies Day 1 notes

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Perfect Game



2017 PG HS Showdown-Academies Event Page | Daily Leaders

Cheshire Academy squared off against the Ross Rams early on Thursday and one of the standouts was Cheshire starting pitcher Jake Randolph (2017, Exeter, N.H.). The southpaw stands very tall at 6-foot-6, 210-pounds with broad shoulders and a lot of room on the frame to fill out physically. He takes advantage of his size and generates excellent extension toward the plate that allows his stuff to play up. The North Carolina commit throws from a lower three-quarters arm slot with a high leg lift that in combination add some deception to the overall delivery. The arm action is pretty loose throughout although it will slow at times on some of his secondary pitches. Randolph showed a good feel for mixing speeds and pitch types from the onset of the game. He would mix in first pitch changeups and use his curveball for called strikes and bury it in the dirt on the next. He showed good command of the fastball, which sat 85-87 early on with good plane, and an advanced feel for his breaking balls. The curveball had tremendous depth to it and at times would tighten the spin on the pitch to give it more of a slider-like shape to it. Randolph used all his tools to orchestrate a dominant performance against Ross going five innings while allowing only one earned run and striking out ten batters.

Randolph’s teammate and shortstop Jay Devito (2017, Stamford, Conn.) showed off a slick glove during both games. Devito is has a strong frame while projecting well physically. He made a couple of difficult plays in and to his right that showed solid range and the ability to transfer the ball quickly from the glove to the throwing hand. The Central Connecticut State commit is not a blazing runner but his instincts and quick first step allow his range to play well and for him to reach balls deep in the hole. The arm strength is still developing but his transfers and releases are very quick allowing him to still get speedy runners out.




The highest fastball velocity of the day belongs to righthander Jack Hodgson (2017, Guilford, Conn.) of the Choate School. Hodgson is well built and has a strong lower half that allowed him to make it deep into the game while maintaining velocity relatively well. He has good arm speed with a soft stab in the back of his delivery. The Boston College commit is a power pitcher who attacked hitters with his fastball and allowed the offspeed stuff to play off that. He battled on the mound all afternoon and although his command wavered a bit in the early innings he showed good competitiveness and was able to work his way out of it. The fastball was 89-91 mph for the early portion of the game and settled into the 87-89 mph range. He topped out at 92 mph in the first inning and the most devastating aspect of the fastball was the amount of movement the pitch had. The late arm-side run on the pitch allowed pitches to be difficult to square up and he wasn’t afraid to run the pitch inside on righthanded hitters to try and jam them. The curveball was his go-to two-strike pitch. The pitch had tight spin with sharp break and 11-to-5 shape. The sharpness of the pitch and similar arm speed made it difficult to recognize out of his hand and buckled knees consistently. Hodgson had a bit of a stiff delivery but on the whole had a very strong outing. He finished with five innings of one-run baseball while striking out ten batters on Thursday and should make Boston College very excited.

Catcher and Air Force commit Bailey Hopkins (2017, Lilburn, Ga.) showed a strong overall collection of tools highlighted by his impressive defense from the backstop. He has very strong wrists and was a very subtle, quiet receiver that allowed him to frame pitches well. Very few pitches got behind Hopkins during his two games on Thursday, but his most impressive feat defensively was his catch-and-throw skills. He has an impressive arm with his throws sizzling to the targets and he is aggressive with his throws as well; early in game one he had a runner at second dead to rights on a backpick. Hopkins showed a quick release on his throws and posted an in-game pop time of 2.08. The offensive profile is a bit raw but he showed some fluidity in his swing with his hands in a good launch position to drive the ball out in front. His front side will leak early on occasion but the tools are there to provide production. Hopkins’ advanced defensive skillset makes him an asset to the East Cobb Academy moving forward.

Facing the East Cobb Academy and Hopkins for their second game of the afternoon was righthander Matt Mancino (2017, Larchmont, N.Y.) and the Cheshire Academy. Mancino has a loose arm action and threw from a lower three-quarters arm slot while getting downhill pretty consistently. There were times where he wouldn’t get over his front side but he showed a strong two-pitch mix that stifled East Cobb and allowed only one hit in three shutout innings. The fastball was true and was up to 87 mph in his first inning of work. The velo dropped as the outing went on but he mixed in his slider more often as that happened. The pitch had true slider-shape with short break. The pitch had two-plane movement to it and was effective at garnering swings and misses. The Clemson commit had a very successful outing on Thursday and should be an important piece for Cheshire moving forward in the tournament.

Michael Martinez (2017, Tampa, Fla.) pitched for only one inning during CBC Elite’s second game on Thursday but showed a high-velocity fastball. The pitch topped out at 89 mph and was consistently 86-88 mph during his one inning of work. He showed a long, mostly clean arm action on the mound and threw from a three-quarters arm slot. Martinez utilized a full arm circle and got downhill effectively. The fastball was mostly straight and he struggled with command of the pitch at times during the outing. The velocity allowed him to work the pitch past hitters and was still an effective option for Martinez. He mixed in a slider that he would bury low in the zone with two strikes.

Sophomore Hunter Macomber (Asheville, N.C.) started the final time slot of the night for the Christ School Greenies and showed an intriguing skillset. The righthander has a longer arm action with a slight hook that showcased some arm speed as well. He threw from a high three-quarters arm slot that allows him to create plane on his fastball. The pitch sat from 83-85 mph in the first inning that was mostly true. Macomber appeared to be a bit raw on the mound with some lower half inconsistencies but he battled during at-bats and was often effective. He finished his outing with a complete game shutout while striking out eight batters. The curveball was his go-to off-speed pitch and it had short break that flashed sharpness to it. A changeup would be an effective off-speed to consider adding to his repertoire but he allowed the Greenies to bounce back with impressive fashion finishing the day with a 1-1 split.

– Vincent Cervino



Heading into the 2017 edition of the High School Showdown-Academies event, the TNXL Ducks out of the central Florida area probably looked, on paper, to be one of the better teams in attendance. They started off their tournament run hot, winning both of their games on Thursday by a combined score of 16-2. 

Elijah Cabell (2018, Winter Park, Fla.) is ranked 10th overall in the absolutely loaded prep class of 2018, and continues to show high level hitting and power tools at any/all PG events he attends. He’s impressive as soon as he gets off the bus in terms of physicality, and that physicality translates into his offensive game in a big way. With tons of bat speed and continually evolving strength, Cabell is a threat to go deep pretty much whenever he strides into the box, and has shown the ability to put that power on display to all fields when given the chance. He smoked a double down the left field line that was eventually called back due to the dead ball rule on balks, then later in the game drove a high-arching home run to left field that he didn’t even get all of, but still managed to muscle out. He’s an average runner down the line who shows well defensively in center field too, with easy reads and instincts that play above his quantifiable speed. He’s a very high-end player who will continue to get better. 

After starting pitcher Tyler Jones had to leave the game after just two pitches due to some arm discomfort Ben Good (2017, Windermere, Fla.) came on and closed the door on TSD Black for five excellent innings. Though TNXL would end up winning the game 13-1, it was a 2-1 contest for quite awhile, making Good’s performance even more impressive. Good worked 84-87 mph for the majority of his 81-pitch outing, striking out eight hitters and allowing only a single run. He was able to get his fastball down in the zone and to both sides of the plate and complemented it with a slider that he was able to get some swings-and-misses off of.

Once the fifth inning rolled around, the TNXL bats woke up, scoring five in the fifth, and three more runs each in the sixth and seventh innings. The most impressive feat of the day, however, came in the seventh inning when Cabell, Brady Smith (2017, Niceville, Fla.) and Michael Largey (2017, Eustis, Fla.) went back-to-back-to-back hitting home runs. As a whole, the TNXL Ducks hammered out 10 hits, with eight of them coming for extra bases including four home runs. 




In their second game, a more closely-contested 3-1 victory, TNXL sent out Ryan Dease (2017, Altamonte Springs, Fla.), who ended up throwing five shutout innings, allowing only a single hit while walking zero with eight strikeouts. Dease is a long, lean righthander with a solid combination of strength and looseness to his build, with above-average arm speed and a pretty solid delivery. 

Dease came out working 90-91 mph with his fastball and held 88-90 mph for the duration of his 51-pitch outing, doing a very good job filling up the zone with the fastball. His arm stroke is quick and mostly compact with a moderate hook through the back, and he’s very crossfire in his delivery, which does add some deception. His best offspeed pitch was his changeup, though lacking plus action, is thrown with conviction and fastball arm speed, replicating his fastball release well and generating excellent deception on the pitch with very good velocity differential. He worked in a breaking ball as well that varied in shape but did get some swings and misses. It’ll work between a true slider and more of a slurve depending on the consistency of his release point; and it flashed as a quality pitch especially when thrown down under the hands of lefthanded hitters. 

Hudson Haskin (2018, Bronxville, N.Y.) of Avon Old Farms had one of the more statistically impressive days of the early 2017 season in Avon’s win over TSD Thursday afternoon, going 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. His second homer was an absolute monster, well over the left field fence and off of the roof of the maintenance building, an impressive shot at any age. He’s a well put together physical player with plenty of strength throughout his body, and that strength shows up in his swing in spades. His swing is ideally suited for power, with plenty of loft and bat speed, with the intent to consistently drive the baseball into the air and deep to all fields. 

In the later time slots, the Homeplate Citadels had a double header, the first game of which featured Makenzie Stills (2018, Fayetteville, Ga.) on the mound. Stills is a live-armed righthander who we at Perfect Game are very familiar with, seeing as he’s already played in over 30 PG events in his young career. He started game one for Homeplate, and while he didn’t have his usual sharp command, battled for five innings and definitely gave the Citadels a chance to win the game. His final stat line was five innings pitched, allowing three runs on four hits and seven walks with six strikeouts. His arm was it’s usual lightning-quick, working up to 91 mph early and holding 87-89 mph for the duration of his 108 pitches. His slider, while lacking command, was sharp and got several swings and misses when in the zone, as he was able to throw it away from righthanded hitters especially. 

Ivan Johnson (2017, Atlanta, Ga.) has been generating a moderate amount of draft buzz this spring as a switch-hitting shortstop prospect with advanced defensive actions and quality athleticism. He’s undoubtedly a very good defender with advanced hand actions and smooth footwork to both sides, and he plays with a solid average throwing arm capable of making all the throws from the shortstop position. Aforementioned as a switch-hitter, he does a solid job handling the barrel from both sides and is able to make consistent contact, going line-to-line with linear exits off the barrel for the most part, and his above average running speed helps his offensive game as well, allowing him to stretch usual singles into doubles and leg out infield hits. 
 
-Brian Sakowski
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