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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/29/2017

PG World Series Day 5 Notes

Photo: Perfect Game

Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes | Day 3 Notes | Day 4 Notes
14u PG World Series: Daily Leaders | Player Stats
15u PG World Series: Daily Leaders | Player Stats
16u PG World Series: Daily Leaders | Player Stats

Playoff day for the 15u World Series started off in the pouring rain, however after about a 10 minute delay the teams were back out and Top Tier’s Hunter Mink (2019, Palm Harbor, Fla.) could get back to carving up hitters. The righthander was outstanding during the first round of the playoffs as Mink struck out seven batters over six innings while not allowing a run.




The Florida commit is a very athletic 6-foot-1, 180-pounds with a lean frame to add continued strength to the frame. The arm action is full through the back with solid arm speed and he ran into some timing issues early but he got into cruise control through the middle innings. The delivery itself is pretty polished as he stays tall through the back with a clean follow through on an open-toed landing.

The stuff was very impressive throughout as Mink worked 88-91 mph in the early portion of the game and settled in the upper-80s as the game went on. He went to his secondaries on occasion, but he mostly used the fastball, particularly with command of the pitch to the glove side. The slider was Mink’s go-to secondary pitch and the pitch had short life to it and flashed two-plane action.

Derek Crum (2019, Tampa, Fla.) has been detailed in previous notes from this week, however his offensive potential again showed up for Top Tier and he showed very intriguing tools on the mound to close out game one. The strength and athleticism throughout the frame allow him to play a quality center field and he showed the ability to lift and drive the ball with a very long hit off the wall in right field; the hit ended up only being a single because of the runner tagging, however. Crum also came in to close the game where he showed off his arm strength by touching 89 mph. The profile on the mound is very appealing, as lefties touching 89 mph don’t come around very often, and projects very well; Crum warrants further looks at the position and is a strong two-way player at this present stage.

The Banditos advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon after an extra-inning affair with LVR that saw touted rising sophomore Brandon Fields (2020, Orlando, Fla.) come away as the hero. Fields is a dynamic athlete and who’s skill set oozes tools and the one that stood out on Friday was the power potential. In the top of the eighth inning, Fields absolutely crushed a ball deep over the left field wall; the blast left the bat at 96 mph and traveled an estimated 374 feet. The bat speed is real and Fields has shown during this tournament and in past events that he can impact the ball with some of the most strength and jump in the class.

The Georgia Jackets had a big day with two victories to advance to the semifinals and both Corey Collins (2020, Suwanee, Ga.) and Hudson Sapp (2020, Dawsonville, Ga.) had big roles to play. Both hitters have been producing well throughout the summer and it showed again on Friday as Collins showed off his fluid, lofted swing by producing some more 90-plus mph shots to the pull-side gap. Collins has shown to be one of the better hitters on the summer circuit and has shown excellent barrel awareness throughout; he remains one of the top uncommitted hitters for the class. Sapp also showed off an easy swing and pulled a ball 90-plus to the gap himself. The Mississippi commit also hopped on the mound late in game two with a quick arm that traveled through a full path. Sapp was up to around 86 mph and pounded strikes throughout.

Keeping with the theme of the 15u playoffs, Team Elite advanced to the semifinals and Austin Hendrick (2020, Oakdale, Penn.) played one of the bigger roles during the victory. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect has excellent twitch-athleticism and projects extremely well across the board. Hendrick showed off a little bit of everything as he collected two hits, stole a base, and closed out the game on the mound. The draw on the profile is the bat, and, judging by his No. 3 overall ranking, it is looking like tops in the class at this stage. There is tremendous fluidity and bat speed throughout and he is capable of impacting the ball extremely hard. One hit that jumps was the double he recorded: Hendrick pulled a pitch that was about six inches off the outside and the ball left the bat at 97 mph and soared over the head of the rightfielder. Hendrick topped out at 88 mph on the mound and his explosiveness and arm speed project very well on the mound, especially with such advanced velocity.

Transitioning over to the final day of 16u pool play, the 643 DP Cougars had a big run rule to win their final pool play game and both Luke Boynton (2019, Marietta, Ga.) and catcher Caden Smith (2019, Roswell, Ga.) stood out. Boynton has tremendous size and present strength, listed at a very physical 6-foot-5, 220-pounds. The bat is lofted well and he gets it through the zone with tremendous leverage and is looking to drive the ball in the air. He impacts the ball with tremendous strength through the point of contact and did so again on Friday as he launched a 100 mph double into the pull side gap. Smith has also shown sound tools at the plate with a pretty smooth swing from the left side. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound catcher has an extremely physically projectable frame with a swing path that could be geared for power as he continues to add strength and fill out. He also showed good tools behind the plate with good athleticism and popped times around the 2.0-2.1 range in between innings.

Two talented arms squared off during some of the evening slots as lefthander Nolan Hudi (2019, Safety Harbor, Fla.) squared off against Ryan Hawks (2019, Bowling Green, Ky.) as both starters showed very solid tools.

Hudi is the epitome of excellent pitchability as he will throw almost everything in his arsenal, including varying looks, at the hitters. The Texas Christian commit worked in the low- to mid 80s, up to 86 mph, but the fastball had short life to it and the higher release point allowed for Hudi to create a really difficult angle to opposing hitters. The delivery itself creates good deception with a shorter, quick arm action and he hides the ball very well. He threw around four different pitches, including the rare knuckleball, but the highlight of his secondary pitches was his changeup. The pitch had very similar arm speed and action to the fastball and just fell off down and to the arm side once it reached the batter. The pitch racked up swings and misses and although Hudi battled through some command issues early on, he settled in and finished five-plus innings of work.

Hawks was just as, if not more, impressive than Hudi as he turned in a complete game shutout while striking out five batters. The Louisville commit has an advanced physical frame with a very short arm stroke through the back. The ball comes out very clean and he is able to create very short arm side run on the pitch. The most impressive aspect of Hawks’ performance on Friday was his ability to pound strikes and work to either side of the plate at will. There wasn’t a ton of effort in the delivery so Hawks was able to repeat well and command the pitch well from corner to corner. His feel to spin was also pretty solid as he mixed in a slurve that had tremendous break and got a lot of chases from batters of the same handedness.

Another strong pitching matchup came later on in the night as Tyler Jarrett (2018, Danville, Va.) and Cody Benton (2019, Cerro Gordo, N.C.) traded blows.




Jarrett, a Cornell commit, showed outstanding raw stuff that was highlighted by his arsenal and the arm speed. He is listed at 6-foot, 170-pounds with quality athleticism that allows him to add an element of explosiveness to his overall delivery as he gets good pus off his backside as well. The arm wraps around the back some which led to some command issues, however the fastball was very impressive as it worked 89-92 mph in the first inning with very heavy run to the arm side. The velocity tampered down to the upper-80s, however the run still caused issues for batters with the same handedness. The overall breaking ball was a bit inconsistent, but the life and explosiveness of the fastball in general make him a very intriguing prospect.

Benton is a very physical righthander, listed at 6-foot-3 and 210-pounds, with some projection remaining on the frame. He was impressive at the PG Junior National Showcase back in June and showed a similar profile with a long arm stroke through the back and a very heavy fastball that he used to get weak ground ball outs. The East Carolina commit worked very well throughout the game and showed a good overall rhythm to the delivery. The changeup worked well for Benton as well, however, he attacked primarily with the fastball and it worked well as the Dirtbags ended up victorious.

– Vinnie Cervino


Kip Fougerousse (2020, Linton, Ind.) is a young Indiana commit with a mature and strong frame with solid power potential as he slugged a grand slam en route to the Indiana Prospects 10-2 win in their Friday Morning contest. The ball traveled a distance of 355 feet over the left field fence and had an exit velocity of 92 mph. Kip is listed at 6-foot-3, 205-pounds and uses every bit of his frame in his swing. He hits with a slightly open stance and slight lift of the front foot for a trigger and has a long, hard swing producing power with his upper body and hands.

Jake Smith (2019, Roswell, Ga.) received the save today for the 16u Georgia Bombers as he throws a hard fastball, with good life that sat consistently at 87-88. He paired it with a solid slider, with good depth and solid horizontal break in the mid-70s. He came in the game ready and displayed solid mound presence and poise and got his team out of a jam to win their game. He has several top schools currently interested in him.

Mason Kearney (2019, Roswell, Ga.) is a talented two-way athlete with a stocky frame and displays strong athleticism in his delivery. Kearney was up to 88 today on the mound and threw a curveball that flashes some potential with decent 12-to-6 break and good depth that he likes to release with a high over the top release point. He throws his fastball with good, long arm action from the high three-quarters arm slot. He has an above average change up that has good armside run into righties to produce weak groundball swings. Kearney is currently uncommitted, but has plenty of good schools currently interested in him.

Christian Delashmit (2019, Covington, Tenn.) was excellent in his Friday afternoon start, as he threw a complete game shutout and allowed only three hits and one walk, while striking out eleven. His curveball was working very well today. Delashmit has a solid delivery and throws from the three-quarters arm slot, and slightly throws across his body which makes his curveball look as if it’s coming right at righthanded hitters heads, then has sharp late break that freezes batters for strike three. His fastball was up to 87, but he mostly worked from 83-85. Delashmit is a University of Tennessee commit.

Carlos Lequerica (2018, Miami, Fla.) is a talented righthanded pitcher with an above average curveball, that produced a spin rate as in the high 2800s. it has medium depth, and very fast 12-to-6 break that disappears as it reaches the plate. He produced a lot of swings and misses with this quality pitch. He gave up zero runs in his outing while striking out six and his fastball was up to 87. He is a very good student and currently has some top and prestigious schools looking at him.

– Brandon Lowe



Geoffrey Gilbert (2019, Charleston, S.C.) came in in relief for the Canes in Friday’s contest and the lefthander did everything to impress. In his second inning of work, Gilbert struck out the side in order. Gilbert throws from an over the top arm angle that creates occasional life to armside. Gilbert’s fastball sat 85-88 and touched 89 once. Gilbert also showed feel for a 12-to-6 curveball in the low-70s. The Clemson commit showed the ability to pound the zone to both sides of the plate.

Sam Wibbels (2019, Hastings, Neb.) had a performance he, and those watching it, will not soon forget. The 6-foot-2 195-pound righthander was just short of his pitch limit through six innings pitched while striking out fifteen, allowing no hits and just one walk. Wibbels’s first pitch of the game was 93 mph and after that Wibbels worked in the low-90s early and 88-91 for the duration of the start. His fastball showed occasional arm-side life from a three-quarters arm angle that he would drop to a low three-quarters angle on multiple occurrences.

The uncommitted righthander throws with intent with an explosive fastball that jumps out of his hand. His delivery is very powerful and deceptive in hiding the ball making it harder for hitters to make solid contact. Wibbels found out early on that his curveball was his go-to pitch and he showed great feel for the breaker. The curveball is very tight with late bite in the low- to mid-70s. The curveball had an average spin rate around 2,400 rpm with his best being a tick over 2,600 rpm. He also flashed a changeup that showed deception in the mid-80s.

Recent High Point commit, Caleb Reis (2019, Marietta, Ga.) took the mound for the East Cobb Astros and, although he was hit a little, he showed good stuff and a fastball that peaked at 90 mph. Reis has short arm action from a low three-quarters arm slot and really quick arm. His fastball worked 87-90 mph with arm-side run and was thrown for lots of strikes, too many at times. Reis has a quick and slight crossfire delivery. He also showed a long-breaking slider in the mid-70s. Reis has some upside with physicality and 6-foot-2 190-pound frame.

Reis’s two teammates both showed big tools with the bat in the contest as well. Spencer Keefe (2019, Canton, Ga.) ripped a single in his first at-bat and made consistent hard contact all over the field. Keefe also just missed a home run down the left field line that just hooked foul. The University of Georgia commit also showed excellent tools in the middle infield. Taj Bradley (2018, Stone Mountain, Ga.) showed off his loud tools at the plate as well connecting on a 97-mph off-the-barrel, 346-foot home run to left-center field that just missed a truck that was driving by. Bradley is an extremely physical 6-foot-2 195-poumd outfielder with lots of athleticism.

Ethan Collick (2018, Saline, Mich.) has impressed with the bat in this 16u Perfect Game World Series batting .400 through his team’s first four games. Collick squared up a triple into the pull side gap off of an 88-mph fastball in a crucial point in the game for The D Las Vegas. His team was down one run when he led off the inning with the aforementioned triple. Collick bats lefthanded and displayed his speed around the bases as well with a 4.32-second turn from home to first base.

The son of a former Major League pitcher, Al, Jack Leiter (2019, Summit, N.J.) showed lots to like in Friday night’s start. The uncommitted righthander struck out the side in the first inning touching 91 mph with his fastball. Leiter threw four innings striking out five and allowing just one hit. His fastball worked 87-90 mph for the duration of four-inning start. His delivery is very clean with loose arm action and quickness. The 6-foot 180-pound righthander works quickly with good extension. Leiter showed a three-pitch mix that included a curveball and a changeup. The curveball showed tight spin and 11-to-5 shape. The changeup had sink in the low-80s. Leiter has lots of room to fill physically with plenty more in the tank.

– Gregory Gerard
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