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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/23/2017

World Championship Day 4 Notes

Photo: Perfect Game

2017 WWBA World Championship: Daily Leaders | Stats | Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes | Day 3 Notes

One could certainly make the argument that among the pitchers in the class of 2018 who did the most for their draft stock over the course of this season, Justin Jarvis (2018, Mooresville, N.C.) did the most. A long, lean righthander committed to UNC-Wilmington, Jarvis took the mound for Canes National in their pool play deciding game vs. Iowa Select on Sunday morning.




Jarvis battled his command a bit more on Sunday than he has all season, but still threw five shutout innings for the Canes, striking out seven along the way. Jarvis is still highly projectable, with good room to fill out remaining through his frame. He worked up to 93 mph with his fastball on Sunday morning, showing the ability to consistently get over his front side well and drive downhill with steep plane and good extension. He’s a good athlete, repeating a moderately complex delivery with relative ease, generating solid life to the arm side with his fastball.

He shows the makings of an above average curveball as well, thrown in the mid-70s with general 11-to-5 shape, and once he found the release point for the pitch it had good two-plane break and depth. With the flashing of two above-average pitches along with good physical projection and a clean delivery, Jarvis has placed himself firmly on the draft radar heading into the spring, where he’ll be followed closely by scouts in the Carolinas.

Joe Gray, Jr. (2018, Hattiesburg, Miss.) has been on the radar for years, given his athleticism, loud tools, and physicality. Over the course of the past few weeks, be it at the MLB/PG Ways to Play event or here in Jupiter, Gray has taken a large step forward in terms of showing evaluators that his hit tool is catching up to his other collection of tools. Gray definitely looks like he’s got more flow to his hands in his load, getting rid of some of the rigidity that was involved previously, and the results have been spectacular. He’s driving balls all over the field now, putting his plus bat speed on display. His outs have even been loud this week, driving the ball into the air with authority and really doing consistent damage.

He’s been written about for years due to the uniqueness of his profile as a switch-pitcher and switch-hitter, but Anthony Seigler (2018, Cartersville, Ga.) has really come into his own in terms of what he is as a draft prospect: a switch-hitting catcher with some power to his profile. He’s done nothing but hit this weekend, fitting what he’s done all summer, generating good bat speed from both sides of the plate with feel to use the entire field, driving the ball up both gaps and essentially finding the barrel in nearly every at-bat. He’s also really developed as a catching prospect in what is a really good year for catchers in Georgia with Will Banfield and Georgia Tech’s Joey Bart. He’s got a good amount of twitch behind the plate, moving well to both sides to block balls in the dirt and overall be a very good defender back there, with lots of arm strength and the necessary athleticism to be explosive on his throw downs.

As the saying goes, a team goes when their leadoff hitter goes, and this weekend the Canes went as Xavier Edwards (2018, Wellington, Fla.) did. Edwards has been long-lauded as the ideal leadoff type of hitter, innately difficult to strike out with the ability to hit the ball to all fields from both sides of the plate, then be a menace on the basepaths with plus wheels and plus instincts. He’s in complete control whenever he’s on the field, be it in the box, in the field or on the bases. His hands are excellent defensively, as are his feet, and the combination of the two make him one of the premier defenders in the country at a premium position. He doesn’t have a plus arm, but the quickness and consistency of his release allow his arm to play up a grade or so, giving him the potential to stay at shortstop long term. He’s been a joy to watch play throughout his prep career.

In what was a preview for the 2019 draft, the Braves Scout Team took on the Central Florida Gators in what was a matchup of two of the top ’19 arms.

Hunter Barco (2019, Jacksonville, Fla.) got the start for the Braves Scout Team and was simply sensational. The long and lean lefthander worked up to 94 mph with his fastball, generating significant angle to the plate from an extended three-quarters slot, throwing consistent strikes with good arm-side life to the pitch and really being overpowering within the zone. The fastball, while impressive, wasn’t even the most impressive part of the profile, seeing as Barco showed flashes of two potentially plus secondary offerings in his slider and changeup. The slider was hellacious at times, thrown in the mid-80s with late, sharp break in and under the hands of righthanded hitters with the ability to throw it for strikes or as a chase pitch. His changeup was nasty as well, with ideal arm speed replication and big-time fading life down in the zone in conjunction with the deception. At this point, he certainly has staked his claim as one of the very best players in the class.

On the other side, Joseph Charles (2019, Celebration, Fla.) got the start for the Gators, and while he battled his command a bit, it’s still easy to see why he’s highly thought of. He’s got plus arm speed to go along with good present physicality, as his fastball worked 88-93 over the course of his 41-pitch outing, still reaching back for 93’s in the second inning when he wanted them. There’s some arm-side life to the pitch but he was too often up in the zone on this day. His curveball is excellent when spun correctly, easily having plus potential, thrown hard in the upper-70s with hard, late break and hammer depth. He’ll also show advanced feel for his changeup, with some fade to the arm side and good arm speed.




Later on Sunday afternoon the Canes sent Carter Lohman (2018, Fishers, Ind.) to the hill in their playoff matchup, and he was solid for two innings before his command left him a bit. Lohman is a solidly built lefthander long lauded for his advanced feel to pitch, and the Louisville commit can be as good as anyone in the class even without plus velocity. He worked up to 91 mph with his fastball, working more in the 88-90 mph range over his 34 pitches, showing the ability to work to both sides with the fastball. He has good balance and athleticism to his delivery and he demonstrates the ability to repeat consistently. His curveball worked in the mid-70s with good depth, showing above average potential with the ability to land it for strikes.

Adam Hackenberg (2018, Palmyra, Va.) had himself a week in Jupiter, consistently driving the baseball and even making loud outs consistently. He’s always been extremely advanced physically, with great strength and good defensive tools behind the plate, but he was most notable for his offensive performance this weekend. He consistently gets the ball into the air with leverage and the aforementioned strength, with easy home run power to all fields and the potential to be a truly impactful bat at Clemson for head coach Monte Lee. There are barrel skills there as well—he’s not just a masher—and he’s got a chance to be a special bat in the coming years.

Preston Hartsell (2018, Newport Coast, Calif.) has had an extremely loud weekend as well, really adding to an already lofty draft stock as the powerful lefthanded hitting outfielder took some steps forward this week in terms of bat-to-ball skills. He’s hit over .500 coming into championship day, with good power but really taking more and more competitive at-bats. He’s a good athlete with loud tools to his profile, showing plus run and plus arm tools at different times, and he has significant lefthanded power as well, as evidenced by him winning the Perfect Game All-American Classic home run derby a few months ago. The development of his hit tool in conjunction with the refinement of those other tools, similar to Joe Gray as mentioned above, has really helped his stock.

– Brian Sakowski


Righthander Connor Van Scoyoc (2018, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) looks like he's taken a long anticipated step forward over the past few months. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Iowa product has always had a very loose arm and easy, low effort release, along with the ability to change speeds and spin the ball. He threw six shutout innings Saturday morning in Jupiter in a 2-1 win over the Central Florida Gators, striking out nine without walking a hitter, although he ironically hit five batters, mostly with hard tailing fastballs. Van Scoyoc topped out at 91 mph on his fastball but his out pitch was a mid-70s curveball that consistently registered spin rates of around 2,800 rpm and was thrown for strikes. Van Scoyoc also showed good feel for his changeup and is a true three-pitch starter.

Southpaw Garrett McDaniels (2018, Nichols, S.C.) has a young face and young 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame that gives him huge amounts of projectability. He also has one of the better sliders in the 2018 class. The Coastal Carolina commit struck out nine hitters in four no-hit innings on Saturday morning, working in the 88-91 mph range with lots of late running life. He established early in the game that he could spot up his 78 mph slider low in the strike zone to both corners any time he wanted and picked up numerous called strike threes with the pitch. If McDaniels picks up strength during the offseason, like MacKenzie Gore – who hailed from the same part of the country – did last year, he could become a real factor in the 2018 draft.

There have been plenty of home runs hit in Jupiter this week, many of them helped by the steady winds coming off the ocean, but not all home runs are created equal. Reds Scout Team third baseman Luke Mann (2018, St. Louis, Mo.) put an exclamation point on that fact with a one out, two-run walk-off home run to give the Reds Scout Team a 5-3 win early on Saturday morning. Not only was it a game winner but Mann crushed the ball into the heavy wind and seemed to know right away that it was gone. Mann, who is a Missouri commit, first came to a PG showcase last year as a primary pitcher but it was obvious from a scouting perspective, even back then, that his lefthanded bat was potentially his best future tool. That's not to say that Mann still isn't a two-way standout, as he pitched a scoreless inning this week, topping out at 90 mph, and no doubt was slated for more innings if the Reds had advanced further in the playoffs.

North East Baseball righthander Michael Burrows (2018, Waterford, Conn.) threw four shutout innings to pick up a win over Scorpions Prime on Saturday to further solidify his credentials as one of the top prospects in New England. Burrows, who is a Connecticut commit, has a full four-pitch mix, including a fastball that worked in the 90-93 mph range. Burrows leaned heavily on a low-70s curveball at times even though that pitch graded out as perhaps his least impressive offering. His 82 mph slider had nice power and plenty of depth to it and his mid-80s changeup, although rarely used, showed the promise of being a pitch he could use more frequently in the future.

Righthander Victor Mederos (2020, Miami, Fla.) is currently the No. 3 ranked prospect in the PG 2020 class rankings. He threw 2 2/3 innings on Sunday morning, working in the 90-94 mph range with his fastball from a well-paced, directional delivery and a low effort release that maximized his ability to maintain his arm speed on all his pitches. Like Burrows, Mederos depended too heavily at times on his curveball, that, while a very good pitch with big power in the 77-81 mph range, was not his best pitch compared to his well commanded and lively ground ball inducing fastball. With all the ingredients in Mederos' arm strength and pitching mechanics, not to mention his age, there are lots of ingredients in place for him to keep improving over the next few years.

The Dirtbags quest for a repeat championship ended early in the playoffs with a 2-1 loss to Canes American, but lefthander Aaron Beasley (2018, Durham, N.C.) was solid in throwing four shutout innings to start the game. Beasley is the type of pitcher who throws nothing straight and nothing above the waist. He has a three-pitch mix with an upper-80s fastball that topped out at 90 mph, a running changeup and a breaking ball that he showed the ability to change the shape and velocity on. Beasley seemed to have the ability to reach back for something extra whenever he needed it but never lost the bottom edge of the strike zone regardless of the game situation. He's a Duke commit who is going to be an immediate contributor in the ACC.

– David Rawnsley



Georgia Tech commit Stephen Reid (2019, Colonia, N.J.) is a top righthanded bat who swings with a quality launch angle that creates consistent leverage on the baseball with a lot of strength in his swing. Reid has a large frame, with plenty of muscle and big arms that produce some quality bat speed and hard contact every time he hits the baseball. Reid hits with an upright stance with hands and front foot moving before the pitcher commits to home to get his hands and body going. He went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. He crushed his double to the center field wall and showed a great ability to consistently get under the baseball and hit the ball where it’s pitched as he crushed a pitch up in the zone that was in on his hands, but flashed solid bat speed and turned on the 82 mph fastball with ease. With his strength and quality launch angle, this is a bat that has some solid power potential in the future as he develops.

Mickey Maguire (2019, Acworth, Ga.) is an athletic, lean utility player who helped lead Nelson Baseball to victory in their 8 a.m. game. He swings with a spread stance and a toe tap trigger with a long, balanced swing and direct path to the baseball. Maguire is a tough hitter with two strikes, as he laced a line drive to right field on a changeup in the fifth inning and overall he went 2-for-2 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. He’s currently uncommitted, but would be a great addition to a solid D-I program.




Sean Burke (2018, Sutton, Mass.) was up to 93 on the mound Sunday with fast, downhill arm action with good life on his fastball. Burke had some command issues but the arm projects very well with a large frame. He has some solid upper body strength and a strong lower half that helps him maintain his velocity while getting good arm extension down towards the plate. He paired his fastball with a slider that had some good depth, with sweeping break and good tilt. While he didn’t have his best outing there’s no doubt that he has a quality arm and he drew a nice audience behind the backstop to watch him pitch.




One of the top performances of the day came from Chase Silseth (2018, Farmington, N.M.) of the Midland Redskins. Silseth has a large, thick upper body and big lower half that will turn in to muscle and fill out when he arrives at the University of Tennessee. He throws with a compact, short arm action and showed he has a good feel for pitching on the mound with repetition of his delivery and mechanics. He likes to change eye levels with his fastball, attacking the upper and lower halves of the strike zone. He was up to 93 with good life and arm-side run and had command as he threw three shutout innings and struck out six with just one walk.

Kameron Marshall (2018, Decatur, Ga.), who has a medium frame and plenty of room to grow, threw two solid shutout innings, striking out four for the MVP squad. He has a tight, compact arm action that produced a fastball that reached 88 mph with good life up in the zone and he also showed a feel for good command. Marshall paired his fastball with an above average curveball with big 11-to-5 depth and he did a great job of keeping low in the zone. He has a slow, easy-to-repeat delivery with good balance throughout his motion.




The Ohio Warhawks sent Jared Mack (2018, Missouri City, Texas) to the mound in their first playoff game and he had a quality start, throwing 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Mack has a lean, athletic frame and a strong lower half with a very quick over-the-top arm action. He creates great plane and hides the ball well with a release that looks like he’s throwing directly behind his head, which helps his fastball get on batters quickly.  His fastball has good life, with solid arm-side run that reached up to 91, but sat mostly at 86-90 mph. His slider had good tilt with tight, horizontal break in the first two innings, losing some of its tilt in his third and fourth innings of work. He flashed a solid change that had good fade and arm-side run away from lefties. He showed a good ability to move his fastball to both sides of the plate and should be an excellent arm for Lamar in 2018.

Harrison “Buddy” Floyd (2019, Marietta, Ga.) is an exciting player to watch and was excellent in the field and at the plate for the Ohio Warhawks on Saturday. Floyd displayed solid fielding actions as he made great reads on hops with soft hands and an excellent ability to field the ball out front to make every play at short. He takes sure, quick steps to the baseball and made accurate throws the entire game with the ability to throw from every arm angle. At the plate, he played a big part in the Ohio Warhawks’ win against Team Indiana in the first round of the playoffs as he was on fire and went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Floyd has a compact, hard swing with plenty of strength at the point of contact with a line drive, gap-to-gap approach. Floyd is a talented middle infielder who will do great things at the University of Georgia, where he has committed.

A talented outfielder with a solid frame and a strong lower half, Ryan Miller (2018, Atlanta, Ga.) consistently displayed a quality, hard and balanced swing, going 2-for-3 with the ability to barrel the baseball to produces hard contact when on time. He has long arms that get good extension and plate coverage and does a great job using his lower half to generate solid pop at the plate.




Jake Sweeney (2018, Hobart, Ind.) is a tall, strong lefthanded arm who threw some relief innings for Team Indiana. Sweeney is 6-foot-7, 200-pounds with a smooth, easy arm action which allows him to get good extension to home on his front side. Sweeney throws with a high three-quarters arm slot with a full arm action. Given his size there appears to be more in the tank velocity-wise, and it could simply be a matter of creating more downhill plane to accomplish that. His fastball sat mostly at 88 while flashing a slider with quality tilt and tight spin as well as a changeup with some fade and late arm-side run. Sweeney is headed to the University of Arkansas.

With a lean, athletic frame that has some strength in his upper body, Micah Bello (2018, Hilo, Hawaii.) is an athletic shortstop with a very quick, powerful swing that generates quality bat speed. He has a big leg kick and swings the bat as soon as his front foot lands, doing a great job of whipping his bat through the zone with a hard uppercut finish. He blasted a two-run home run in the third inning of BPA’s 8-4 win over North East Baseball in the first round of the playoffs.




In the win over NEB, Kyle Luckham (2018, Fullerton, Calif.) threw three shutout, no-hit innings for BPA while striking out four. He displayed some good footwork and athleticism on the mound as he has an interesting online delivery with a slow motion pause in the middle while creating great plane to the plate with a long, full arm action and great arm extension. He gets some quality life on his fastball as you can hear the spin on it when it’s thrown, sitting at 86-91 mph, with most of his fastball registering 89 with a spin rate in the 2,400s. He also threw a quality 11-to-5 curveball with great spin and big depth that produces a good amount of swings and misses. Luckham also was good at the plate hitting from the left side going 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI. Luckham has committed to Cal State Fullerton.

Jared Jones (2020, Whittier, Calif.), one of the top prospects in the high school class of 2020, was another quality arm on the mound for BPA who has a pretty bright future. He has a fast arm action with an over-the-top arm slot that creates good downhill plane with explosive life out of his hand. Jones throws a promising curveball with medium 11-to-5 depth and tight break that he showed a good feel for throwing. He locates both his fastball and curveball very well and has a high ceiling as he still has room to grow and put on muscle. Jones is a University of Southern California commit.

– Brandon Lowe



GBG Marucci’s Cole Roederer (2018, Acton, Calif.) put together a solid tournament in one of the toughest pools in the event. The 6-foot, 175-pound center fielder had a knack for finding the ball with his barrel throughout the event as the UCLA commit hit .400 in the four games GBG Marucci played and posted a .962 OPS. With present strength Roederer showed pull-side power and the ability to backspin the baseball. With some lift in his swing and solid pitch recognition he consistently provided punch at the top of the order throughout the tournament. He displayed solid reads in the outfield and a quick first step. His skill-set looks to be ready to step in and contribute for the Bruins next year.

Florida Burn Platinum lefthander Doug Nikhazy (2018, Winter Garden, Fla.) worked comfortably with a solid three-pitch mix on Sunday. The Ole Miss commit hurled his fastball with minimal effort from a high three-quarters arm slot in the 86-88 mph range and topped at 89. With arm-side fade and occasional slight sinking action, Nikhazy appears to be able to pitch off his well-located fastball. However, when he mixed in his 2-to-8 shaped curveball at 73-76 mph and a fading arm-side changeup that ranged from 77-79 mph, he showed how effective he can really be. Using the bottom half of the strike zone on both sides of the plate and mixing in his secondary pitches, Nikhazy punched out seven and allowed only one walk on the day.

Nikhazy’s Florida Burn teammate Orion Kerkering (2019, Nokomis, Fla.) is a young arm that shows the makings of something special. Standing 6-foot-2 and 170-pounds, He has a frame that can hold more weight as he continues to mature. Presently with a fastball that sits in the 88-90 mph range and possesses darting arm-side run, Kerkering showed the ability to command the game from the mound. He also flashed a powerful slider with hard biting downer action at 77-78 mph. His changeup is a solid offering and is thrown with good hand speed. The hard arm-side movement of the pitch only accentuates its deception and is thrown between 80-84 mph. Although he was used out of the bullpen, Kerkering shows that he has the type of stuff that will project into a starter moving forward.

GBG Marcucci righthander Tyrin Pacheco (2018, Hobbs, N.M.) had quite the debut on Sunday into the world of Perfect Game events. Pitching for the first time in Jupiter, he entered the contest with runners on base and needing a third out to escape a jam. Pacheco filled the role of stopper by getting a punchout with a sharp, late-breaking slider at 80 mph. The eastern New Mexico product used his true three-quarters arm slot to fire fastballs between 87-90 mph to fairly well located parts of the strike zone. Pacheco uses his lower half well in his delivery and creates a bit of deception with a high counter-turn at the top of his high leg lift. His first outing in Jupiter should be a memorable one as GBG Marucci was able to secure the victory and clinch the pool, in large part due to his effort on the mound.

East Coast Sox Select righthanded starter Connor Shamblin (2018, Lakeland, Tenn.) uses his physically stocky build, listed at 6-foot-1, 200-pounds, and a quick arm to generate a fastball that sits between 90-94 mph. With a high three-quarters arm slot and good direction to the plate, he showed the ability to keep the fastball on a solid downhill plane to the plate. The University of Alabama commit will underthrow his breaking ball, a shorter 11-to-5 shaped roller, but with increased hand speed it has a chance to be an above average offering. His changeup is a solid offering with arm-side fade and slight downer action. When the conviction and intent to his secondary offerings matches that of his fastball Shamblin will be in the draft conversation.

Banditos Scout Team righthander Oscar Moralez (2019, Baytown, Texas) is slender as he stands on the mound. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 185-pounds on the roster, he appears to be slightly under the printed weight. However, there is no issue with his quick arm that creates well-thrown fastballs to the lower parts of the zone both in and out. By working aggressively with his fastball in the 87-90 mph range, he created opportunities for a well-tunneled slider that has depth, as well as late hard biting action at 75-79 mph. The Louisiana Lafayette commit, was impressive on the mound as the ball jumps from his hand with life, and with added size and maturity scouts should expect the velocity to continue to increase.

– Britt Smith





Starting out the morning for the Canes Prospects team was talented righthander Jason Diaz (2019, Franklin Square, N.Y.) who showed pretty good stuff in an abbreviated outing. The Miami commit showed a pretty athletic frame at a listed 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame and room for strength to be added to the build. Diaz didn’t have his best start on the mound but the stuff was definitely what stood out and showed why he is the No. 92 ranked player in the class. The delivery is athletic and the arm action pretty compact and loose through the back and the point of release. The fastball is what stood out early on as the pitch worked 90-92 mph. The pitch had short life to the pitch and he would mix in a hard breaking ball up to 80 mph as well; the curveball had short break to the pitch and he could throw it for strikes to throw hitters off balance.

Helping to spark the run to the quarterfinals for the Canes Prospects was Tyler Kehoe (2019, Prospect Park, Pa.) who has had one of the stronger tournaments of the event thus far. The South Carolina commit has a strong overall profile with good athleticism and the ability to cover ground in center field. The power and bat-to-ball skills is what stood out on Sunday as Kehoe launched a home run to deep right field. The blast traveled an estimated 352 feet and he put barrel to ball throughout the day. He smoked a couple of hard hit balls throughout the day and also worked competitive at-bats to grind out a couple of walks.




The No. 3 ranked prospect in the 2019 class, Riley Greene (Oviedo, Fla.), has been the catalyst for the FTB offense during their run to the quarterfinals. The swing itself is pristine with natural loft, fluidity to the path, and tons of present bat speed to the profile. Greene notched a couple of hits over the course of the playoffs including a double in the round of 16. Greene is very balanced and comfortable in the box and every swing looks as fast and easy as the last. There is good power in the bat and frame, the Florida commit has shown off the raw power in the past, and his ability to tap into that power has been something he has shown over the past year. Greene is one of the best pure hitters, not only for his class, but in the entire country and he showed out again this weekend.

Greene’s teammate Raynel Delgado (2018, Miami Lakes, Fla.) put his switch-hitting tools on display all weekend and came into the quarterfinals with a .462 batting average. The hand quickness and shortness of the swing allow Delgado to have very good bat-to-ball skills and drive balls with authority to all fields. The Florida International commit has put up some impressive exit velocities this weekend and on Sunday he hit near the top of the lineup to be a constant offensive presence for FTB. The defense is also top notch for the Florida native with fluid and easy athletic actions in the infield with the chance to play shortstop at the next level.




Showing some pretty impressive stuff for Team Elite was southpaw Justin Wrobleski (2018, Canton, Ga.) whose stuff, and slider in particular, was working very well. The Clemson commit’s sharp slider has always been the go-to pitch and it was working again on Sunday afternoon. Particularly against lefthanded hitters, Wrobleski could command the pitch to either side of the plate very easily and got a good amount of swings and misses. The changeup was also a good offering at a hard 85 mph while showing some arm side fade. The fastball worked up to 91 mph and sat 89-91 mph in the first inning. Wrobleski has a pretty strong lefthanded profile, and although he got hit around a little bit toward the end of the outing, the stuff was as good as ever.

Providing one inning of relief for Tri-State Arsenal/Blackhawks National was Arizona commit Zachary Martinez (2019, Peoria, Ariz.) and he ran his fastball up to 93 mph during his performance. Martinez has a bit of a shorter frame at only 5-foot-9, but the arm speed was very good while pitching with intent and challenging hitters with his fastball. The pitch sat 90-92 mph with short life to it and he blew it by hitters up in the strike zone. The ball explodes out of the hand and he utilizes a drop and drive mechanic to get his lower half down the mound with good push off the rubber. The arm action was long through the back with a bit of upper half rotation at the gather point, however he was on time and got down the mound well. The slider was a very impressive pitch up to 84 mph with around a 2,500 rpm spin rate. The two-pitch combination was pretty remarkable and Martinez is definitely an impressive bullpen piece going forward.

The AZ Dbacks Scout Team advanced to the quarterfinals and two of the main contributors have been Brennen Davis (2018, Queen Creek, Ariz.) and Jonathan Ornelas (2018, Peoria, Ariz.).

Davis is a pretty raw prospect, he is a high level basketball player, but has legitimate tools and flashed those at times over the weekend. There is good raw present bat speed with the ability to find the barrel of the bat well. He drove a 96 mph double to the pull side gap and showed off his impressive speed during the process. Davis turned the bag at 4.54 seconds before getting called out in a rundown between second and third. The barrel skills are impressive and the athleticism too, as he continues to get more baseball reps there is a good amount of talent there for a Division I program.

Ornelas is a pretty good athlete who can play shortstop well for the Dbacks. He has fluid actions with athletic movements. The agility plays well laterally and he can range over and make a good amount of plays to either side of the bag. The offensive presence is strong as well with a compact swing that is fluid through the zone. Ornelas had a pretty mechanically sound approach with the ability to drive balls to the pull side and torques his hips well through the swing.




Turning out one of the best performances of the playoffs thus far was Christian Macleod (2018, Huntsville, Ala.) for the East Coast Sox. Coming in on relief, Macleod fired five shutout innings and ran his fastball up to 88-90 mph. The Mississippi State commit has an extra-large frame with room remaining to ad strength to the body. The delivery was compact and the effort level was pretty low.

Macleod attacked hitters with his off-speed pitches and would work in his fastball to sneak up on hitters. The changeup was an outstanding pitch for Macleod as it was up to 84 mph with very good sinking life to it. The arm speed was almost identical to the fastball and he also mixed in a breaking ball that showed good shape and break to it.

Two of the hitters who have been making very loud contact this weekend were Justyn-Henry Malloy (2018, Bergenfield, N.J.) and Wesley Clarke (2018, Forest, Va.). Henry-Malloy, a Vanderbilt commit, just missed a home run on Sunday night as the Dodgers Scout Team was eliminated. Malloy has very impressive strength with a longer swing path, however the power and home run potential is the draw to the profile. Clarke has been hitting pretty well over the course of the tournament with a home run earlier in the event and he showed off the tremendous strength again with a 105 mph double on Sunday night.

– Vinnie Cervino
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