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High School  | General  | 4/12/2018

High School Notebook: April 12

Greg Gerard      Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Alex Binelas (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: April 3


Alex Binelas, 3B, Hitters Baseball (Wis.)



Similar to PG All-American outfielder Jarred Kelenic, Binelas (2018, Oak Creek, Wis.) is spending his spring playing for Hitters Baseball since his high school team, Oak Creek in Southeastern Wisconsin, plays their baseball season during the summer months. Binelas – who is currently ranked 167th in the high school class of 2018 player rankings – and Kelenic have been playing together on the Hitters for several years and also attended the PG National Showcase together in Fort Myers, Fla. last June.

Binelas looks every bit of his listed 6-foot-2, 210-pound stature, with a lean and tapered build with room to add more strength as he matures physically into his college-aged years. A lefthanded hitter, Binelas is short to the ball with a direct stroke and looks to impact the baseball hard when the bat leaves his shoulder. He has strong hands and wrists that lead to very good bat speed, and he looked good in batting practice, routinely hitting the ball hard. In game he hit a double in his first at-bat, doing a good job to wait for his pitch and when he got it he didn’t miss, squaring the ball up and launching a laser up the middle.

Like Kelenic, Binelas has committed to play for Louisville, a program that recruits heavily in the area, although there was a modest collection of scouts there to watch him play.


Levi Usher, OF, PG Iowa Select Black



Usher (2018, Fairfax, Iowa) was a PG All-American last summer and is a three-sport star, although he broke his leg playing football in the fall but recovered in time to play basketball during the winter months. Not surprisingly he has freakish measured athletic talents, running the 60-yard dash in 6.24 seconds last May while also throwing 96 mph from the outfield. He is currently playing for PG’s Iowa Select Black team since high school baseball in Iowa is played during the summer months.

While he didn’t run or throw in the indoor setting at the Hitters Baseball Academy in Caledonia, Wis., he did take several at-bats and showed a patient, opposite field and up-the-middle approach while doing so. Usher – who is currently ranked 95th in the 2018 high school player rankings – has the ability to hit the ball hard to all parts of the field, and really trusted his hands to wait back to drive balls to left field as a lefthanded hitter. In his first at-bat he drilled a ball down the left field line, and in his second AB he hit another screamer up the middle. When the bat left his shoulder on this day he squared it up hard, and when he didn’t get a pitch to hit he did just as well taking pitches, and subsequently, free passes.

With plenty of more room for him to add strength without losing his current flexibility and overall athleticism, strong hands and a sound overall approach to hitting, Usher will be interesting to follow as the draft approaches this spring. There were a handful of scouts on hand watching him play and on this day he was clearly seeing the ball well and enjoyed a strong performance as a result. He has committed to play at Kirkwood Community College, which is located right next to the high school he attends (Prairie), at the junior college level if he doesn’t sign out of high school.


Clayton Nettleton, RHP, PG Iowa Select Black



Nettleton (2018, Davenport, Iowa) is fun to watch pitch, with a polished approach and a natural sense for sequencing between his fastball and his curveball. In this outing against Hitters Baseball he showed his customary upper-80s velocity, working consistently at 89-90 mph while touching 91 a couple of times. He is able to create natural sinking and cutting movement that keeps the ball off the barrels of opposing hitters, as none of the Hitters batsmen managed to square Nettleton up in his three innings of work.

His breaking ball also sat in its usual mid-70s velocity band, a pitch that isn’t a huge breaker but has enough depth to keep hitters’ timing off. He maintains his arm speed well on the pitch and he pairs it perfectly with his fastball. Nettleton has shown a viable third pitch in his changeup in past outings, but does not use it often given how much success he enjoys between his fastball/curveball combo.

An Iowa baseball recruit, Nettleton is likely to honor his in-state commitment since his stuff doesn’t grade out as plus, but he could make an immediate impact upon reaching college given his polish and ability to throw strikes with two established pitches. At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds he has the size to continue to add strength, and potential subsequent velocity gains.


 Connor Van Scoyoc, RHP, PG Iowa Select Black



Connor Van Scoyoc (2018, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is the younger brother of current Arizona State lefthanded pitcher Spencer Van Scoyoc, and Connor has also pledged to play for the Sun Devils at the college level. At 6-foot-5, 200-pounds, the younger Van Scoyoc’s athleticism is readily evident, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he will continue to fill out and add strength and his already strong and well-proportioned frame.

Because of that it wouldn’t be surprising to see continued velocity jumps out of Van Scoyoc, who threw his fastball in the 90-92 mph range at the Hitters Baseball indoor facility on this day, touching 93 twice, up from the 88-89 band he was throwing at last fall and the 84-86 range he was throwing at the end of last summer. When the weather starts to warm up and he starts to throw more outside it wouldn’t be surprising to see him throw even harder than the low-90s.

His curveball continues to be thrown in the mid-70s, a pitch that flashes above average at times with solid downer break that he commands well at times. The break and overall consistency of the pitch could improve in time with more repetitions, and he finished his three-inning outing by mixing in a handful of low-80s changeups. Van Scoyoc maintains his arm speed well on his change, as the pitch looks like his fastball out of his hand with a 10 mph difference in velocity and late fading action.

To read the Week 4 Recap between PG Iowa Select and Hitters Baseball be sure to visit this link.


Cole Wilcox, RHP, Heritage HS (Ga.)



2017 PG All-American Cole Wilcox (2018, Chickamauga, Ga.) took the mound last Tuesday night in front of numerous professional scouts. He impressed all night with the way he maintained his fastball velocity as well as with his overall command of the fastball and slider combination. Wilcox’s fastball sat in the 92-94 mph range for the duration of his 6 2/3 innings and 103 pitch count. The big 6-foot-5, 220-pound righthander showed plenty of life to his fastball in a variety of ways, with running movement to arm side at times and sinking action at others. He seemed to struggle to locate the slider early on in the outing, but as the game wore on he really showed feel for the sharp pitch.

Coming from a longer arm action and a three-quarters arm slot, his pitches seem to be picked up by hitters early after the point of release, but Wilcox still misses barrels. Going for 10 strikeouts in this outing and showing good overall pitchability, the University of Georgia commit has the ability on the mound to hear his name called early on in this year’s MLB Draft.


Mark McLaughlin, RHP, Northview HS (Ga.)



Mark McLaughlin (2019, Johns Creek, Ga.) started the game against a talented Archbishop Spalding team on Thursday night showing good velocity and an effortless delivery. His fastball showed occasional life and sat in the range of 83-87 consistently while bumping an 88 mph pitch on one occurrence. Standing at a very lean 6-foot-2, 190-pounds, and possibly being taller than that listing, McLaughlin gets plenty of angle on his pitches and projects for much more moving forward. The junior righthander showed a three-pitch mix with feel for each. The changeup showed good deception while being mostly straight in the mid-80s, and his curveball showed plenty of depth in the low-70s. McLaughlin is committed to Tennessee and his incredibly projectable frame along with his full and easy arm action give good indications that his velocity could make a jump as he continues to fill out physically.
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