THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,444 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,444 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
High School  | General | 3/21/2018

High School Notebook: March 21

Steve Fiorindo
Photo: Perfect Game

The high school notebook is designed to share notes and video on players that stand out during the high school season and new features will be released regularly. This will include in-game looks, reports, analysis and video from Perfect Game's scouting staff. If you have news on a player in your area that is performing at a high level that we should have eyes on please reach out to Vinnie Cervino at vincent@perfectgame.org. Also feel free to share your video highlights on Twitter @vcervinopg.

High School Notebook: March 7


Matt McLain, SS, Beckman (Calif.)

One of the stronger and more physical prospects in the region, pound-for-pound, is Matt McLain. The strength and physical advancement stand out despite the height, however McLain is one of the more polished offensive prospects in the region with an impressive offensive resume tacked up during his high school career. In a recent look, McLain crushed a hard hit single and launched a home run to left centerfield that was a no-doubt shot. He works the count well and looks to drive the ball to all fields; also he showed off his range on a play up the middle where he fielded cleanly, spun around, and made an accurate throw across. The defensive versatility stands out for McLain as he is a good enough athlete to play all around the infield and the outfield in various looks. He has outstanding instincts on a baseball field and gets out of the box well too posting run times in the 4.15-4.25 second range. McLain should make an immediate impact if he makes it to campus at UCLA, but is also a very polished draft prospect in his own right. 


Gabe Briones, C, Martin Luther King (Calif.)

A 2019 Southern California commit, Briones already shows some of the more advanced defensive skills out of anyone in the class. He's an extremely strong and physical prospect with lots of strength and size throughout the lower half of the frame. The arm strength plays well as he is aggressive with keeping baserunners at bay with multiple backpicks to first base. Briones also popped a 1.89 second time in game to nail a runner easily trying to advance and he shows good flexibility and athleticism behind the dish. The offensive skills flash with a patient approach and barreled a hard hit ball during this look. 





Jacob Billiu, RHP, Martin Luther King (Calif.)

A loose-armed righthanded pitching prospect who plays on Briones' team, the projectable arm flashed an intriguing four-pitch mix during this look. The uncommitted prospect stands at around 6-feet tall with lots of room ont eh frame for additional strength. He worked in the 86-88 mph range with the fastball and topped out at 89 mph early on while mixing in two distinct breaking balls: a curveball in the low-70s and a slider in the 74-76 mph range. The slider is the better pitch currently, with tighter rotation and a little bit better feel for it than the curveball. Billiu flashed a changeup with some action to it at 79 mph, only flashed it but did rack up a strikeout on the pitch. There's still lots of projection and room for strength on the frame and the arm speed and looseness of the arm action indicate he'll be throwing harder in the near future.


Trevor Cadd, OF, Martin Luther King (Calif.)

Trevor Cadd is a pretty physical prospect with good size, 6-foot-3 and 170-pounds, with lots of strength and size to be added to the frame. The Cal State Fullerton commit has solid tools across the board. He plays centerfield for his high school team but projects as a corner profile draft-wise. Cadd looks to drive the ball with authority but will work the oppo gap as well. Most of the strength comes to the pull side and will have more to come upon physical maturation. Cadd currently possesses above average arm strength and could develop into a nice right field profile if he gets to school for Fullerton. 


Chandler Champlain, RHP, Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.)

Creating some early buzz in the Southern California region is Chandler Champlain, who has quickly established himself as one of the top pitching prospects in the area for the 2018 draft. Champlain is a Southern California commit with a large frame and lots of strength and physicality to the build. He gives you a Roger Clemens vibe in terms of body size and delivery. Champlain has a lively fastball, which worked up to 95 mph in the first inning and sat mostly 89-92 mph for the duration of the outing. The velocity dips just a hair from the stretch and gets life on the fastball when working to either side; flashes arm side run when working arm side and gets cut on the fastball when working to the glove side. Champlain goes to the curveball often with traditional 12/6 shape. The pitch is very sharp and is a swing-and-miss offering. The pitch was up to 78 mph with lots of tilt and depth; Champlain also flashed a changeup to a lefthanded hitter with slight sink and fading action. This look was during a lightly misted day, which could have affected his velocity, however it was a strong showing nonetheless. 


Kyle Luckham, RHP, El Dorado (Calif.)

One of the early risers in terms of draft stock has been Kyle Luckham who, after missing some of the bigger national events during the Summer circuit, has gained some helium early this spring. He has a projectable pitcher's frame with room to add strength with an already very strong lower half. The delivery works well as he can repeat the mechanics and he has a very quick arm. The Cal State Fullerton commit attacks hitters with a three pitch mix. The fastball worked in the 89-92 mph range and he bumped a couple of 93s and 94s. The fastball has exceptional life, with lots of arm side run and sink which allows the fastball to play even better than the velocity. He controls the fastball well, but could perhaps improve the command with a bit more balance. The breaking ball varies from a slurve-like offering to a big slider. He wears out the arm side corner with the pitch and expands effectively for chases. The changeup is a pretty good pitch too and he throws it often for a high school pitcher and really trusts it. Luckham keeps the changeup low with fading and sinking life and repeats his arm action well on the pitch. He has a true three pitch mix and this was an extremely good look at the righthander. 


Victor Vodnik, RHP, Rialto (Calif.)

A Cal State Northridge commit, Vodnik previously opened a lot of eyes at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter and looks to take that draft momentum into the spring. Vodnik is around 6-foot, but very well-proportioned with good strength on the frame. The arm is big, has been seen up to 96 mph in the past, but powered through the competition very well. Vodnik struck out eleven batters in five innings while allowing no hits. He works more on the first base side with a direct stride to the plate. He loads the lower half well with a short arm stroke through the back. The fastball worked primarily in the 88-91 mph range while bumping a couple of 92s and 93s on the gun. Vodnik mixed in a curveball up to 80 mph with short downer action and flashed a changeup at 83 mph. 




Brandon Dieter, SS/RHP, South Hills (Calif.)

PG All-American Brandon Dieter is one of the more polished and accomplished high school pitchers in the country. The fastball worked in the 87-89 mph range and he touched 90 and 91 mph with good arm side run to the pitch. He moved the fastball all over the four quadrants, running the pitch in on both left and righthanded hitters. Dieter used the fastball well to change the eye level and set up his offspeed pitches, especially the changeup. The pitch is a plus offering with fade and sink in the 79-81 mph range. The Stanford commit throws the changeup with confidence to both righthanded and lefthanded hitters and doubles up on the pitch often to rack up a lot of swing and miss. The curveball worked mostly in the low-70s and settled in to be a weapon, both as getting it over the plate for strikes and utilizing it as a swing and miss offering. Lots of competitive energy and likely one of the few guys you would want to have the ball for your team in a big game. Dieter had a quiet day at the plate, but is a legitimate draft prospect as a shortstop as well when he is not pitching for South Hills. 


Ethan Rivera, IF/C, Ayala (Calif.)

The one mistake from Dieter came to Ethan Rivera and he launched a home run deep to the pull side. He has a solid, athletic build and his future home is likely behind the plate although he is buried a bit on the depth chart. Rivera gets high praise for his receiving skills and arm strength, pretty advanced for a 2020 graduate. The righthanded hitter played first base during this look and shows a knack for barreling baseballs. Rivera's pop also showed as he was able to take a high fastball deep and should continue to get looks from high-level colleges. 


Joseph Naranjo, 1B/LHP, Ayala (Calif.)

A junior and Cal State Fullerton commit, Joe Naranjo has a physical build with a strong foundation. He DH'd during this look and has a very polished, advanced approach at the plate. Naranjo has slective aggression and can turn hard on baseballs. The pitch recognition and approach are very professional, as he showed a solid adjustment mid-at-bat to barrel a changeup and pull another one for a hit to the pull side. There are some similarities to former Southern California stand out Nick Pratto in the field and at the plate while moving around the bag well and shows the ability to pick the ball in the dirt. Quiet at the plate with a smooth, leveraged swing to bring about big power. 
Give us your feedback
High School | General | 5/18/2026

High School Notebook: May 18
Jordan Gates
Article Image
‘27 RHP Grant Slater (@BoydCoBaseball) gets his 1st start of the year (3rd appearance) as he works his way back. FB opened 89-92 w/ ride & was still up to 91 in the 5th (run rule), while touching 93 in the 3rd. CT worked in the mid 8s & breaking ball in mid 7s (sweep). Big summer… pic.twitter.com/w9EXl6Jmrx — Perfect Game Ohio Valley (@PG_OhioValley) May 8, 2026 Grant Slater, 2027, RHP, Boyd Co (KY) Slater made his full start of the year back on May 7th. He had appeared in a few games in relief roles prior as he has come back from a few injury bugs. The Alabama commit went five strong innings, in a complete game fashion (run rule), only allowed a couple hits, one walk, and struck out 13 batters. Slater is beginning to ramp up at the right time with postseason right around the corner. Slater’s fastball peaked at 93 mph a few times, held velocity in the...
Read More
College | Rankings | 5/20/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 20

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
There is a reason the preseason pick to win it all rarely does. College baseball's postseason is a gauntlet — double elimination, best-of-three’s, then a full World Series format — and the team that looks unbeatable in February has to prove it again in May against opponents who have had just as long to get ready. Plenty of programs have entered the tournament as the obvious favorite and gone home early. It happens every year. Nobody should be shocked when it does. Top-ranked teams flaming out in regional weekends happens so many times it has become its own genre of schadenfreude Which makes this particular moment worth noting. The Perfect Game preseason picks to win the NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III national titles — Tennessee Wesleyan, UT Tyler, and the University of Lynchburg — are all still alive heading into the final rounds. All three...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 5/19/2026

Best of the Best Event Preview

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
In simplistic terms, the Best of The Best tournament is an absolute gauntlet as seemingly every game brings a playoff game atmosphere. Coaches must strategically map out their pitching to ensure they can get through Pool Play while also making sure they have arms to make a deep playoff run. Each and every age group is loaded with the best teams, composed of some of the best players that travel baseball has to offer. The 9u & 10u age groups will respectively have 9 out of the Top 10 Teams within the latest PG National Team Rankings participating in the event. At 9U, LTP-Reign will look to hold on to their #1 ranking but will have plenty of competition with the likes of ZT National Prospects and HTX-Wildcatters 9U looking to take over that #1 spot. In the 10u age group, Elevate National will look to fend off plenty of talent with #2 ranked Kaos National, East Cobb Astros and ZT...
Read More
College | Story | 5/19/2026

College Players of the Week: May 19

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
May 19th Perfect Game/Co-Players of the Week:  Carson Tinney, C, Texas  The Texas Longhorns just finished off another stellar regular season and are heading to Hoover for the SEC Conference Tournament as the No. 2 Seed this week.  To secure their 2nd place finish, they had to sweep Missouri at home last weekend and did so in large part to the power bat of Carson Tinney.  The 6-4/240 catcher from Castle Pines, CO transferred to Austin after two sensational seasons at Notre Dame and has thrived in his draft year.  In the 3-game set, Tinney collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats, scoring 5 runs, with a double, 3 home runs and he drove in 10 runs all told.  With some of the most prodigious power in the college game this year, Tinney is now slashing .321/.695/.473 with 10 doubles an incredible 20 home runs and 54 RBIs while playing in the most spacious ballpark in the...
Read More
College | Rankings | 5/18/2026

College Top 25: May 18

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
The regular season is behind us, and it is now tournament time and wow, is there a lot to still be decided.  We are a week away from the Field of 64 being announced and hosting opportunities, at-large bids, as well as automatic bids are there for the taking.  The UCLA Bruins (48-6) continue their stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in the land, finishing the regular season without losing a series all year.  ACC powers, UNC (43-10) and Georgia Tech (45-9) remain at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively and SEC regular season champs, the Georgia Bulldogs (43-12) stick at No. 4.  After that there was a small amount of shuffling within the Top 10 with No. 5 Texas (40-12), No. 6 West Virginia (37-13) and No. 7 FSU (38-16) moving ahead of now No. 8 Auburn (36-18) after they were the only team in this group to drop their weekend series.   No. 14 Florida (37-18) and No. 15...
Read More
High School | General | 5/14/2026

CPBL Showcase Scout Notes

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
Logan Cummins (‘26 ON) Silky op with big arm speed and projection. Shaky FB command early, 91-93 T94. CH is present plus, weapon vs both LH & RH hitters at 83-84. Good arm side depth to it. SL has some length to the mostly lateral action @ 77. #KState commit.#CPBLShowcaseWknd pic.twitter.com/7TdJ2neOv6 — Perfect Game International (@pg_int1) May 8, 2026 Logan Cummins (‘26 ON) Very intriguing athletic upside here, came out early a bit juiced up leading to inconsistent fastball command but settled in and started dotting. Ran the fastball up to 94 with running life. Changeup is ahead of the rest of the arsenal  in terms of quality, and has a parachuting arm side dive that gets frequent swings over the top. Slider is tight with varying length at its best it does have an extra gear to garner a late count whiff. Should fit nicely at Kansas State if he decides to...
Read More
College | Story | 5/14/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 14 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
Article Image
Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart  to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Player of the Week: Drew Burress – Georgia Tech  I love everything that Craig Cozart writes, and his piece on Burress is as good as it gets (link). Craig does a masterful job of showing us how Burress has (not arguably) the best career college performance of any current player. The body of work is consistent and impressive, and Burress has one of the highest floors in the 2026 MLB Draft with above average or better tools across the board.  I’m not going to do a deep dive on Burress’ numbers because there is no point: they are really good, everywhere. I would rather talk about...
Read More
College | Rankings | 5/13/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 13

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
The college baseball postseason has arrived for NCAA Division II, Division III, and the NAIA, bringing with it the most intense stretch of the season. Conference tournaments have wrapped up, national brackets are taking shape, and teams across the country are shifting from regular season positioning to survival mode, where one bad inning can abruptly end a year’s worth of work. The NAIA Opening Round is already underway, and some programs could begin packing for the national finals as early as tomorrow. Across all three divisions, the postseason field is loaded with experienced clubs, dominant pitching staffs, and lineups capable of changing a game with one swing. Now, the focus turns from building résumés to advancing through regional play and chasing national championships. These antepenultimate rankings provide a final snapshot of where the divisions stand entering...
Read More
High School | Rankings | 5/13/2026

High School Top 50 Update: May 13

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Another week has passed by in the high school baseball season and with that, we have another edition of the National High School Top 50 to bring to you. Playoffs are rolling in southern states and we have reached the final 4 in some of them already. Each week we have new teams break in and this week is no different with three new faces inside the top-50.   The top remains almost identical to a week ago with the top-10 remaining the exact same with Venice (FL) leading the way as the No. 1 team in the nation. North Paulding (GA) swept Buford in an Elite 8 matchup in Georgia and move up a pair of spots to No. 12 in the country. Another big mover is St. Laurence (IL) who jumps nine spots to No. 13 and boast a 30-1 record on the year. Waxahachie (TX) continues to move up and are up nine spots this week to No. 32.   The three new teams inside the National Top 50 are Etowah...
Read More
College | Story | 5/12/2026

College Players of the Week: May 12

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
May 12th Perfect Game/Player of the Week:  Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech  It would be hard to come up with an award that Drew Burress, the 5-9/185 junior from Houston County, GA, hasn’t achieved throughout his All-American career for the Yellow Jackets.  From being named the Perfect Game Freshman of the Year in 2024, to being a semifinalist for the Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award in 2025, it would be a challenge for a mere mortal to live up to the expectations.  Burress has done that and more as he etched his name in the record books last weekend when he tied Georgia Tech legend Jason Varitek’s record for career home runs.  Launching round-trippers in each of their 3-victories against ACC foe Duke, Burress brought his total to an incredible 57 over his three seasons in Atlanta.  For the weekend, he collected 6 hits in 12 at bats, scoring 6...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.