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High School  | General | 3/28/2018

High School Notebook: March 28

Steve Fiorindo
Vincent Cervino
Britt Smith
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 21




Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto (Tenn.)

PG All-American Ryan Weathers made his much anticipated season-debut for Loretto High School as he is coming off the heels of winning a state championship with the basketball team. Coming in at No. 21 on the updated Perfect Game Top 250 MLB Draft Prospects list, Weathers looked about as good as you can for someone making their first start of the season. The Vanderbilt commit allowed an early run, but touched 95 mph multiple times in the first inning and was solidly in the 90-93 mph range for the majority of his outing. Weathers and his release point create lots of angle and late life on the fastball and Weathers is a superb athlete, as you would expect from the MVP of the state basketball tournament. Strikes were a bit of an issue early on for the lefthander as he got squeezed on a couple of tight calls, however for the most part Weathers was hitting his spots and commanding all three pitches. Early on he pitched primarily off the fastball-curveball combination and the latter of which was an effective offspeed pitch as it showed above average consistently with lots of tilt and depth with 1/7 shape. What makes Weathers so difficult to face is the tempo and attitude he shows on the mound. This scout found it difficult to get his camera out on time for every pitch as Weathers works in constant attack mode with a very quick delivery toward the plate while pounding the zone. Weathers flashed a hard changeup too in the mid-80s with late sinking life to the pitch. The Tennessee native reaffirmed his status as a first-round prospect with his first outing of the season, and what makes him scary is that he is only going to get more comfortable on the mound as he went 9-0 with 139 strikeouts and only allowing one earned run in 63 innings as a junior. 




Garrett Wade, LHP, Hartselle (Ala.)

Weathers matched up against a fellow highly-regarded lefthanded draft prospect in Garrett Wade as the stands were filled to the brim with scouts to see the early-season matchup. Wade checks in at No. 125 on the updated draft list and looked every bit like a top 5 rounds talent during his matchup with Weathers. The Auburn commit came out of the gate firing as he worked up to 92 mph and didn't record a fastball below 90 mph until the third inning. He held his velocity in the 88-90 mph range for the duration of the outing, but what makes the fastball so devastating is the late life on the pitch. Wade generates plus life on his fastball, helped by his arm slot no doubt, and the pitch runs away from righties at the last possible second. This can make the command a bit difficult at times, but Wade had no issues throwing strikes during this look. Wade's bread-and-butter, however, is his incredible feel to spin. The slider showed plus and worked in the 80-83 mph with late biting life, and he also showed a big breaking curveball up to 77 mph that projects average going forward. He commands his arsenal extraordinarily well and the slider is aided by the deception as Wade tunnels it with his fastball very effectively. The stuff is quite good for Wade as he struck out twelve batters over six innings and generated a total of twenty-six swings-and-misses during that time frame. Wade certainly performed like an arm who gets selected near the top of the draft and looks to be one of the top prep lefties moving forward. 

– Vincent Cervino


Noah Owen, RHP, Cathedral Catholic (Calif.)

The University of San Diego commit is a long and lean righthander with a loose arm, all positive indicators for velocity gains moving forward, however Owen worked in the 88-90 mph range while bumping 91 mph early in the outing. In a limited look Owen closed out the victory for Cathedral Catholic while striking out two batters in one inning of work. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound rigthander has lots of room to fill out on the frame and flashed one curveball at 77 mph and generally it's a big, tight breaker of an offspeed pitch. Owen's name should be one to remember as there is a lot to like and project upon for the prep righthander and should be a big name out of San Diego in a couple of years. 


Nick Nastrini, RHP, Cathedral Catholic (Calif.)

UCLA commit Nick Nastrini earned the win in the aforementioned affair against Ramona High and standing at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, looks like a prototypical athletic righthander. With a strong lower half, Nastrini certainly looks the part and shows a mechanically sound delivery with a good tempo and long stride toward the plate. He balances well over his front side and the delivery is extremely repeatable. Nastrini attacks hitters with an 88-90 mph fastball and showed solid command of the pitch particularly to the arm side of the plate. He shows a very good changeup that he has advanced feel for in the 75-79 mph range with lots of sink and arm side fade. What makes the pitch particularly difficult to recognize is that it looks like a fastball out of the hand before falling off the table. Nastrini worked with a firm tweener breaking ball in the 74-80 mph range that proved to be an effective third pitch. While earning the win, Nastrini finished with a line of six-plus innings of shutout baseball with only five hits allowed and striking out three. 


Derek Diamond, RHP, Ramona (Calif.)

One of the area's notable two-sport athletes, Derek Diamond plays both quarterback and defensive back for Ramona's high school football team. The Stanford commit has added notable strength since the last look, with a stronger overall frame and lower half which has resulted in increased velocity this season. Diamond is your prototypical elite high school athlete as in addition to the football, he also plays third base and swings the stick well. Diamond touched 92 mph with the fastball early on before settling in the 88-90 mph range with plenty of arm side run. The righthander showed a four-pitch mix highlighted by a cutter with big slider shape in the 76-79 mph range and a softer curveball in the 67-69 mph range. The curveball shows good shape and projects well that should tighten up when thrown firmer, and he relied upon the cutter heavily. Diamond also flashed a changeup in the 75-78 mph range and finished a complete game while allowing no earned runs and striking out six despite being stuck with the hard luck loss.

– Steve Fiorindo




Colton Bowman, LHP, Bullard (Tex.)

 Colton Bowman has made strides on the mound and with his physical development off the field as well. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 195-pounds, he has added noticeable strength to his frame in the past year. The addition has not slowed his loose, whippy arm action and he has shown the ability to hold his velocity longer into games. Working primarily with a fastball that can reach 91-mph, he will aggressively attack to both sides of the plate. His curveball, more of a slurve presently, has 2-to-8 shape, and when thrown down in the zone, morphs into more of a 1-to-7 shaped slider, that can be an effective strikeout pitch. He mixed in more changeups than in the previous outings, continuing to show his effort to develop a third pitch. Bowman has solid feel for throwing his changeup with good hand speed, however he is still developing a feel for commanding the pitch, that stays in the 82-83 mph range, with slight fade. Overall, it is good to see the progress that Bowman has made in the past twelve months. With more than fifteen months before he is draft eligible, it will take continued development to get him away from his Oklahoma State commitment. However, he shows that he is making progress in that direction.

– Britt Smith
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High School | General | 5/18/2026

High School Notebook: May 18
Jordan Gates
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College Players of the Week: May 19

Vincent Cervino
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College Top 25: May 18

Vincent Cervino
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CPBL Showcase Scout Notes

Troy Sutherland
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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...
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Nick Herfordt
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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...
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Tyler Russo
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College Players of the Week: May 12

Vincent Cervino
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