James Kirklin III (2016, Kennesaw, Ga) led his game off for the Triton Rays with a line drive double to the gap in right-center field and what caught my eye, aside from his line drive swing plane, was his speed around the bases. He ran a 4.36 second home to first base time with a turn and an inaccurate reading on my part as I hit my stopwatch later than Kirklin touched first, so it was faster than the 4.36 I had recorded. His patient approach is what the Triton Rays and Chattahoochee Valley, his JUCO that he has already played one year with, want in a leadoff hitter. He has a quick bat and hits for contact well.

Brandon Trammell (2017, Knoxville, Tenn) The 6-foot-5 220-pound outfielder started the day with a bang at the plate hitting a no doubt about it home run to right field that exited his bat at 100.3 mph and traveled 430 feet. The University of Tennessee commit has light tower power to pull side. He creates this power with a wide base. He then loads with a leg lift trigger and slight coil of his front leg. This creates torque and leverage that allows him to hit for power when on time.

Max Riemer (2018, Hixson, Tenn.) collected three hits in a tough loss today for Exposure 17U Prime. The lefthanded hitting catcher has a patient, confident approach that he uses to wait for his pitch and make bat to barrel contact to all fields. He has an open stance with a high back elbow with strength present. Riemer also stood out behind the plate with quick footwork, received well with a strong left wrist, and showed a 2.00 pop time.

Nolan Tressler (2017, Canton, Ga.) led off the game for the East Cobb Colt 45's 17U with a double to deep center field and continued his solid day with a triple down the right field line. The 5-foot-10 180-pound outfielder is committed to play at Georgia Southern University. He has a very confident approach to go along with his violent swing that is going to create hard contact mostly to his pull side. He has a narrow base and open stance with a high leg kick trigger that generates good bat speed. He does wrap his bat slightly towards the pitcher when getting his hands into a good hitting position, but his quick hands help him to be on time. He does a very good job of keeping his bat through the zone. All around good looking contact hitter.

Garrett Wade (2018, Hartselle, Ala.) The Auburn University commit is a 6-foot-2 180-pound lefthanded pitcher with a three-quarters delivery and a lot of upside. The southpaw has plenty of room to fill in his athletic frame. In his first two innings of work, his range was 88-90 mph on his fastball and 77 mph on his curveball that flashed potential to be his out pitch. He did have some command issues in his second inning, but was effective in getting hitters out when he needed to. His velocity range did drop a little as the game wore on as he sat 86-88 mph on his fastball until he was taken out for relief. He also flashed a slider at 83 mph that he should use more often. The slider was short breaking and made hitters chase when thrown late in counts.

CJ Abrams (2019, Alpharetta, Ga.) has elite speed and a confident approach. The 6-foot-1 175-pound middle infielder beat out an infield single today with an impressive 4.04 home to first base time. He also has soft, sure hands at second base with good range.

Hayden Milling (2018, Milton, Ga.) showed a compact swing with power to pull side. His day consisted of 2 doubles, both in the gap to deep right-center field.

Terris Meeks (2019, Memphis, Tenn.) is an interesting prospect. He caught my eye with his athletic and projectable frame by how relaxed he is at the plate. He has a narrow base with the bat rested on his shoulder, loads with a leg kick trigger and has very quick hands that creates good bat speed. 

Jake Gooch (2019, Cartersville, Ga.) has a projectable frame and a fluid stroke that is effortless. He bats with a wide base and open stance, his hands are up by his ear with a leg lift trigger that occasionally is lifted late and causes his timing to be off.

Andre Tarver (2019, Ringgold, Ga.) is a physical and athletic player. The 6-foot-2 lean, 190-pound outfielder did not get too many pitches to hit today, but when he did he made the most of it roping an opposite field ground rule double to the left-center field gap. Tarver has an exaggerated open stance with a wide base and a low leg lift trigger. He has very strong wrists with flick and a really high ceiling.

Steele Chambers (2019, Alpharetta, Ga.) is a filled out player with good speed. He has a narrow base and leg kick trigger that creates power. Chambers show he is a gap to gap hitter with some pop in his final at-bat that resulted in an inside-the-park home run to right field. 

Jackson Arnold (2019, Auburn, Ala.) came out of the bullpen for Home Plate Chili Dogs 16U Estrada/Austin firing 86-88 mph touching 90 with a curveball mixed in at 70 mph. A 5-foot-11 170-pound right-handed pitcher from Auburn was nothing short of impressive in his three innings of work as he showed command of his fastball inside and out as well elevating the fastball at times. The curveball is still a developing secondary pitch. 

Hunter Goodwin (2018, Sylvester, Ga.) is a University of Georgia commit that attacks hitters early in the count with fastballs from 87-89 touching 90 and occasional life. His arm works well with the ability to locate fastballs down in the strike zone, and he worked in a curveball that came in at the mid-70s.

This Thursday kicked off the Perfect Game East Cobb Invitational with action at the 18, 16 and 14 and under level. The Team Elite 16U Prime defeated the Atlanta Aces by a score of 12-0. Tyler Kehoe, Jonathan French, Zack Smith, and Kameron Guidry all had great days for Team Elite. Jonathan French (2019, Lilburn, Ga.), the Clemson commit, went 2-3 with a double, a run and two RBIs. French has an athletic, medium frame and displays excellent skills behind the plate. French displays a great ability to use a strong backside to generate pop with a great, balanced swing with some lift for his double in the fourth. Tyler Kehoe (2019, Prospect Park, Penn.) went 2-3, with a triple, a run and three RBIs. Kehoe has a rotational swing and makes consistent hard contact, he’s committed to the University of South Carolina. Zack Smith (2019, Winder, Ga.) crushed a 2 run Home Run that traveled 365 feet. Smith has to work on making plays with his backhand at third, but made every other routine play that was hit to him. Smith has a strong, medium frame who takes quality swings at the baseball with a great, balanced swing and looks to get under the ball to drive it to the outfield with power. Kameron Guidry (2019, Snellville, Ga.) makes all the plays at short and reads hop exceptionally well while being able to throw the ball to first with any arm angle. Guidry has a line drive swing, but has to work on effectively taking the ball the other way. He went 1-1 with two runs, an RBI and a walk, he’s committed to the University of South Carolina.

Team Elite 16U Select defeated the Golden Spikes 16U by a score of 5-4. Holden Dykes (2019, Mt. Olive, Miss.) play stuck out during Thursday’s game, he moves exceptionally well behind the plate and showcased his great ability to block the baseball. He has a medium, athletic frame and went 1-3 with a run and a RBI. Dykes swings with a closed stance, with his bat rested on his shoulder until the pitcher is set. He has a quiet, small load and swings the bat with a, compact, uppercut swing that can produce consistent line drives. Showed a great ability to hit lefties well.

Home Plate Chili Dogs 16U Estrada/Austin defeated the Hobgood Braves 16U by a score of 11-0. Ryan Dyal (2019, Senoia, Ga.) helped lead the Chili Dogs to victory going 2-3 with a double, two runs and three RBIs. Dyal is very agile behind the plate and also has excellent arm strength. At the plate he does a great job of extended his arms and using his upper body to drive the ball to outfield gaps. Dyal is committed to Auburn University.

At the 18U level, the East Cobb Colt 45s 17U won their matchup against the Bigstix Gamers 17U by a score of 4-1. Luke Bartnicki (2018, Marietta, Ga.) has a very high ceiling and showcased why he’ll be a big topic of discussion when the 2019 draft comes around. Bartnicki threw three scoreless innings in today’s contest while walking none and striking out six. Bartnicki has a smooth, balanced delivery where he curls right before committing to home plate which helps him disrupt timing of the batter by a hair and also helps him hide the ball. He throws with an easy, over the top arm angle and his fastball sat from 90-93 with good life and he located the ball low in the strike zone. Bartnicki throws a good, tight breaking slider, but did not need it that much for today’s game. Davis Sharpe (2018, Dacula, Ga.) also threw for the Colt 45s and showed a great ability to get hitters off balance and produce ground balls with a fastball that he has the ability to cut away from batters as well as throw a fastball with sink. Sharpe’s fastball sat from 86-89 and he topped out at 91. Sharpe is committed to Clemson. Connor Pavolony (2018, Woodstock, Ga.) was great behind the dish, throwing out his only would be base stealer with a pop time of 2.01 seconds. He has a great ability to make accurate throws with excellent arm strength. Pavolony is committed to the University of Tennessee. Jack Alexander (2018, Kennesaw Ga.) went 2-3 with two RBIs. Alexander is committed to the University of Notre Dame and does a great job of letting the baseball get deep and drives the baseball to the opposite field with solid contact. Alexander has a great approach at the plate and shows a great knowledge of understanding when to be aggressive at the plate with his 2 out RBI single in the first inning. Timmy Conway (2018, Decatur, Ga.) went 1-2 and displayed a great short, line drive swing. Conway does a great job of staying simple and staying inside the baseball to produce a great, high contact, compact swing that should lead to plenty of singles when he arrives at the College of Charleston. Georgia Tech commit Andrew Moore (2018, Flovilla, Ga.) threw for the Gamers. He has a large, strong, mature frame and throws a fastball with good life. In the first inning, his fastball sat from 87-90 then afterwards, sat from 84-87. Moore is very effective when pitching down in the strike zone and has a quality changeup that he should throw more as he progresses in his pitching career, it has great fade and runs in the low 80s.

Perhaps the most impressive performance on the evening belonged to that of Team Elite righthander Landon Sims (2019, Cumming, Ga.). The remarkably athletic two-way player has shown a very high ceiling both on the mound and at the plate in the past. Sims, who Perfect Game has recently seen up to 90 mph, did not have a pitch that registered below that mark indicating a big uptick in velocity. The Mississippi State commit sat 90-93 mph and topped out at 94 mph during his short outing. The fastball exploded out of Sims’ hand and showed occasional cutting life, although that might have been due to the throwing motion across his body. Sims attacked hitters primarily with the fastball and mixed in only a few breaking balls. He would miss to the glove side on occasion but worked the fastball effectively to both sides.

Righthander Bryce Melear (2019, Evans, Ga.) showed a very polished delivery and worked well for Team Georgia Gold. Melear has a vey lean and wiry frame with room to fill out despite being around six feet tall. The arm travels through a full arm circle, with some arm wrap around the back side, and the arm action itself is very long and loose. The uncommitted arm showed a strong two-pitch mix, with the fastball being a very impressive pitch. The fastball sat 84-86 mph and topped out at 87 mph early on. Melear’s command of the pitch was excellent as he was able to work it to both sides while the catcher’s mitt was barely moving. His fastball had very good, late arm side run and he was able to effectively back door righthanded hitters with the pitch on the outside corner all afternoon long. He showed a softer breaking pitch that showed solid tilt and occasional two-plane action. The break itself was short but it was an effective secondary offering. As the summer continues on, the crop of uncommitted future-junior arms continues to grow and Melear offers a very high ceiling. 

-Vincent Cervino