One of the early 14u WWBA National Championship playoff games on Thursday morning featured two masterful pitching performances in a highly contested matchup between All-Out Pack’s Luke Vaks (2020, Mays Landing, N.J.) and Academy Select’s Luke Robertson (2021, Frisco, Tex.). Both pitchers were outstanding and Academy Select was able to come away with a 1-0 victory en route to a berth in the final four.
Vaks came out of the gate firing with a fastball that was up to 85 mph early on. The fastball itself was mostly 80-84 mph during the outing and Vaks athleticism allowed him to carry his velocity deep into the outing as the final pitch registered at 83 mph.
The New Jersey native is very athletic with a frame that is lean and has plenty of room to add strength to in the future. The arm action was very quick and whipped quickly through the arm path. Vaks did a good job at getting his lower half involved during the delivery as he drove down the mound following his gather.
The fastball was pretty true in terms of life but the pitch came out of the hand well and ran up on hitters all morning. Vaks racked up multiple swings and misses with the pitch and finished the afternoon with seven strikeouts. He also mixed in a breaking ball that he was able to manipulate the shape of to fool hitters with.
In terms of final stat lines, Robertson came away with the victory on Thurday morning as his complete game shutout, only two hits allowed and nine strikeouts, propelled Academy Select to victory. Robertson has an ideal frame of a starting pitcher at this age with a very lean and athletic build and is listed at 6-foot-2 while projecting very well, physically.
The fastball was not overpowering but he was able to work it in the 74-78 mph range and spot it up very well. While the arm was slightly hooked in the back he was able to get it through the arm circle and repeat his delivery extremely well which allowed him to control the fastball well.
When Robertson was up in the count he would go to his sharp curveball to pick up strikeouts. The pitch had late bite to it and came in with advanced shape and tightness, recorded around 2400 rpm via TrackMan on the day. The native Texan has been outstanding over the course of the event and his fantastic start is a big reason why Academy Select is still in the playoffs.
One of the more productive hitters for the Evoshield Canes had been infielder Josh Moylan (2020, Stoney Beach, Md.). The 6-foot-3, 205-pound lefthanded hitter has an advanced build with plenty of strength and physicality throughout his frame. Moylan hits near the middle of the lineup and sowed the ability to create leverage in his swing and has tremendous strength through the point of contact with the barrel. He is looking to drive the ball far into the air and during the tournament he knocked two triples, one of which left the bat at 89 mph and traveled an estimated 354 feet. Moylan fits the profile of a middle of the order bat with big power potential and whose power should play well in-game, specifically to the pull side.
Starting, and finishing, the decisive seventh game to lock up the pool for the Louisiana Tigers was tall righthander Brock Van Hoy (2021, Benton, La.). The lengthy and projectable arm, listed at 6-foot-5, has excellent rhythm and body control for someone oh his size and that ability allows him to replicate his delivery and be consistently on time.
Van Hoy has a long arm action with a slight wrap around the back side that travels through a full arm circle. The delivery itself is very easy with little effort upon release and he delivered from a high three-quarters arm slot. The Louisiana native showed three pitches but what stood out was the confidence in his curveball coupled with his feel to spin it.
The curveball highlighted Van Hoy’s pitchability on Wednesday as he was not afraid to go to the pitch in any count. He was able to throw it both for strikes and bury it in the dirt to induce swings and misses. Van Hoy showed three pitches overall and while the changeup is still developing in his arsenal, the fastball was very effective. The fastball sat 79-82 for the duration of his outing and he was able to generate good extension toward the plate to get it past hitters quickly. Van Hoy is an extremely high ceiling talent and will likely continue to improve as he continues his development.
Van Hoy’s teammates catcher Reese Smith (2021, Denham Springs, La.) and shortstop Rhett Rosevear (2020, Denham Springs, La.) have helped lead the Tigers to the final four of the event and both have distinct skill sets.
Smith has a smaller frame behind the plate but has displayed quality athleticism throughout the week. He has twitchy movements behind the plate and although the arm strength is still developing he releases the ball quickly from behind the plate. Smith at the plate has a quick, compact swing through the zone with a heavy line drive approach. There is advanced hand and bat speed throughout the swing and he gets his hands going early on in the load to help him get through the hand path quickly. The swing plane is naturally lofted and he is able to deposit line drives to all fields well. Smith has many hard hits this week and one of those was a three-run triple during the Tigers’ victory on Wednesday.
Shortstop Brian Fry (2021, Medina, N.Y.) showed interesting tools for Titans Baseball during his time in Emerson, Georgia. Fry has a very lean and projectable frame with long legs and projects well physically. Fry showed clean footwork around the base and actions over at shortstop with present athleticism to range to both sides. Fry got a hold of a fastball and drove it to the right centerfield gap for a triple on Wednesday. The swing is pretty loose through the zone and Fry showed strength through the point of contact to knock the ball into the gap and made it to first base in 4.68 seconds on the turn.
Jacob Orr (2021, Frederick, Md.) has been one of the most productive hitters in PG events for his age and this tournament has been no exception thus far. Orr has a younger frame but he is plenty athletic with good speed and instincts for the age. The swing is short and compact through the strike zone and he has advanced hand quickness to handle the barrel well. His handling of the barrel is what stood out on Thursday as it did not matter whether or not he was out in front as he was able make consistent hard contact. The line drive approach serves Orr well as the shortstop for the Dirtbags continues to be an offensive presence.
Offensive threat Blaze Jordan (2021, Southaven, Miss.) has continued his hard hitting ways through the playoffs. Jordan has excellent bat speed and strength through the point of contact and that showed on Wednesday night as he laced a triple to the pull side gap that left the bat at 96 mph. Jordan’s hitting exploits have been well-documented at this point but something that he showed this tournament was his arm strength and ability on the mound. Jordan is raw but the arm talent is absolutely there as he has been up to 89 mph this event. The arm action is short but he has sincere arm speed as he is able to fire fastballs across. He has been used primarily in the later innings to get his teams out of jams and close games out, however in the Dodgers’ first playoff game he was able to come in and hold off the opposition to allow his team to advance to the next round.
Two arms for the Dirtbags showed high level pitching tools despite the playoff loss in righthander Brandon Hudson (2021, Waxhaw, N.C.) and southpaw Joshua Hartle (2021, King, N.C.).
Hudson has impressed at PG events prior and has the confidence and poise on the mound of a front line pitcher. Hudson is a high-waisted athlete at 6-foot-3, 170-pounds that has excellent physical projection on the frame. The delivery is pretty easy with occasional head whack but overall very simple and easy to repeat. Hudson was able to generate heavy plane on his fastball in the lower third of the strike zone thanks to his height and his higher three-quarters arm slot. He battled against a tough SBA Canes team and was able to rack up two strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched. The arm action is long through the back with the requisite arm strength and speed to reach high velocities as his fastball sat in the 82-85 mph range for most of the afternoon.
Lefthander Hartle dominated early on in the tournament and the Dirtbags turned to him again in the playoffs. After firing four innings of one-run ball early in the event, Hartle was able to ramp up the velocity due to the nature of the game and was working his fastball in the 79-83 mph range while topping out at 84 mph. Hartle’s very lean 6-foot-3, 155-pound frame tells you that there is a whole lot more velocity coming, but Hartle is also a very polished pitcher in terms of command. He fought threw some command issues on Thursday but the fastball still showed quality life to it as he could generate run or cut to the pitch seemingly at will. Hartle’s arm action is very loose through the back and he slings the ball toward the plate from a lower three-quarters arm slot.
Tall righthander Trey Gibson (2020, Yorktown, Va.) toed the rubber yet again for the Richmond Braves and showed similar tools to when he started the opener of this event. Gibson’s extra-large frame allowed him to extend down the mound and allowed his fastball to play up. The velocity of the pitch was in a similar 80-84 mph range and the arm action was long through the back. Gibson’s fastball was effective at getting swings and misses as he racked up seven strikeouts in five innings against a talented GoWags team that he only conceded one run to during their playoff defeat.
– Vincent Cervino
Earlier in the tournament Cole Wagner (2021, Lewisberry, Pa.) delivered one of the more masterful performances on the mound with a six-inning effort against Elite Squad Prime. And while Wagner provided quality relief on the mound with a fastball up to 87 mph and an advanced feel for his cutter, Wagner was just as impressive with his lefthanded swing, a trait he’s become known for. With plenty of strength to both his frame and swing, Wagner understands the strike zone and knows how to hit as he showed the ability to stay on a changeup in a 2-2 count which he pulled through the three-hole for a single. He then showed a nice piece of backside hitting in his next at-bat as he powered a double in to the opposite field gap with solid jump off the barrel.
Izaac Pacheco (2021, Friendswood, Texas) continued to find his swing throughout the tournament and throughout the playoff round he was consistently finding the barrel, even if they didn’t fall for hits. Strongly built at 6-foot-2, 170-pounds, Pacheco is a lefthanded hitter who showed nice looseness and overall strength to his hands, creating some whip through the zone and ability to barrel balls to all parts of the field. The power will continue to develop as he matures in terms of physicality though he’s already able to impact the baseball.
He’s also the team’s starting shortstop and shows solid actions up the middle with soft hands and plenty of arm strength across, something he displayed on the mound as he was up to 84 mph as well in a relief appearance.
Mentioned earlier in the tournament, outfielder James Tibbs (2021, Marietta, Ga.) continued to show one of the looser and quicker swings on the East Cobb Astros 14U club. The bat speed is there, as is his ability to barrel up quality pitching as he spun on an 87 mph fastball for a two-bagger while also displaying comfort to go to the opposite field.
Ben Wieman (2021, Ellicott City, Md.) showed off nice tools on both sides of the ball for Evoshield Canes MD and is a player to monitor moving forward, especially as he continues to fill out his 5-foot-11, 150-pound frame. Starting at third base, Wieman made his presence felt defensively in my look at he made a nice diving play down the live, popped to his feet, and showed solid arm strength and carry across the diamond. On top of his defense, Wieman is also the club’s four-hole hitter and shows a short, quick path to the ball with a linear stroke and feel for the barrel.
Tyler Wiederstein (2020, Greensburg, Pa.) impressed in his first outing of the tournament as he ran his fastball up to 89 mph and again worked into the upper-80s in his follow up appearance, bumping 88 mph early on. Just as he showed earlier, the uncommitted righthander was able to generate the velocity with relative ease, generating the velocity with both plane and hard running life down in the zone.
His 6-foot, 160-pound frame projects well as he continues to mature physicality and on top of the standout velocity, Wiederstein also showed a feel for both a curveball and changeup. He maintains his slot well on the 75-76 mph changeup and flashed a short breaking in the 70-72 mph band for strikes as well.
It was a battle of the power armed relievers in the Team Citius-Roland and Banditos Scout Team as Gerardo Cuevas (2020, El Paso, Texas) and Nicholas Regalado (2020, Miami Lakes, Fla.) each ran their fastballs into the upper-80s for their respective clubs.
Cuevas has been detailed earlier in the tournament for his pitching prowess and once again showed a big arm, hitting 89 mph with his best fastball. He’s able to produce the velocity courtesy of a quick right arm and powerful build and generated solid plane to the bottom of the zone. Just as impressive as his performance on the mound was how he swung the bat from the right side as he showed the ability to recognize spin and sat on a curveball which he drove to the right-center field gap for a double off the barrel.
An early Miami commit, Regalado proved to be a quality option out of the ‘pen for the Banditos more than once throughout the tournament and showed his best velocity yesterday afternoon as he bumped 89 mph. He shows a balanced, tempo’d delivery on the mound complete with a quick right arm and though he didn’t pick up hordes of strikeouts, he managed to stay away from barrels with his ability to locate to both sides of the plate. He paired his fastball with a short 11-to-5 curveball in the upper-60s, helping get hitters off balance in the box.
It’s hard to top a six inning, nine strikeout performance in the same tournament, but lefthander Anthony Solometo (2021, Sicklerville, N.J.) was able to do just that with his second outing on day six of the tournament. He looks the part out on the mound and projects very well, standing at 6-foot-2, 155-pounds, though he already shows the arsenal and feel to miss bats right now. Up to 82 mph with his fastball in his second start, Solomento went on to punch out 11 batters over five innings, giving him 20 on the tournament in just 11 innings pitched with only one hit allowed in that span.
Two of the more dominating performances in the 14u playoffs yesterday morning came from Carter Bailey (2021, Snellville, Ga.) and Colin Husser (2021, Ponchatoula, La.) as each helped propel their respective teams into the Final Four.
Bailey started game one for Team Elite Prospects against West Georgia Warriors and he proved to be nearly perfect, losing that bid in the seventh but still managed to fire a no-hitter and complete game shutout. Up to 75 mph with his fastball, Bailey showed an understanding of how to pitch rather than just throw as he mixed in his curveball for strikes at will, whether first pitch in the at-bat or doubling up later in the count. Almost as impressive as the no-hitter was his ability to pound the strike zone and get quick outs, needing just 80 pitches to go the distance and in the process struck out seven.
Husser, who has nearly five inches on Bailey as he stands 6-foot-4, had to settle for a one-hit shutout of a very talented Banditos Scout Team squad as he surrendered his first hit of the day on the first pitch of the seventh inning. The projection with Husser is obviously in terms of physicality and his arsenal should continue to tick up.
Team Elite Nation pulled off the near impossible in the opening round of the playoffs as they entered the seventh inning down two runs. To make matters worse, the first two batters got out meaning Team Elite needed to not only plate two runs to tie, but do so without recording another out. Sure enough, one run comes in and with the bases loaded leadoff hitter Kenneth Mallory (2021, Lawrenceville, Ga.) came to the plate and delivered a single up the middle after fighting off pitches with two strikes, leading the Nation to the victory. And while he had the game winning hit, it’s also worth noting Mallory’s defense out in center field as he’s more than once tracked down balls to either gap with long, balanced strides.
Slate Alford (2021, Madison, Ala.) is another strong, physical bat in the Dulins Dodgers lineup and he put that strength on display in the playoffs with his righthanded swing. Listed at 6-foot-1, 205-pounds, Alford more than once impacted the baseball and his first hard piece came on a curveball that hung up in the zone. Alford showed the ability to recognize spin, sat back on the pitch and drove it to left field for extra bases before doing so again later in the contest, one-hopping the left field wall with big life off the bat.
Calvert Clark (2022, Charlotte, N.C.) won’t be entering high school for another full year but the young catcher already made his presence felt this tournament as he twice went deep, a very impressive feat for a rising eighth grader who’s swinging wood. The second home run came in the playoffs for Clark, who stands at a long and athletic 6-foot-2, 150-pounds, who showed a short and quick righthanded stroke as he drove the ball 352 feet per TrackMan with an exit velocity of 89 mph. Defensively behind the plate he’s shown no problem handling mid-80s fastball and bounces well behind the plate while showing the makings of nice catch and throw skills with solid arm strength down to second base.
– Jheremy Brown