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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/29/2018

17u Round Robin Scout Notes

Photo: Jackson Phipps (Perfect Game)

Event Page | Daily Leaders

With nearly 400 teams taking part in this year’s 17u WWBA National Championship, teams are getting a head start on showcasing their talent with the WWBA 17u Elite Round Robin.

In Tuesday’s fist time slot, Jackson Phipps (2020, Dallas, Ga.) grabbed the attention of scouts with a fastball that was up to 91. Phipps was anywhere from 87-91 with a heavy fastball on Tuesday, flashing a tight slider in the high-70s. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound lefty was able to consistently repeat his delivery with a quiet and clean lower half on Tuesday. The ball jumped out of his hand with a fastball spin rate anywhere from 2300-2500. Phipps was able to work both sides of the plate with some natural run on his fastball, and the South Carolina commit showed an ability to get over his front side to work low in the zone.

In the other dugout, the Home Plate Chili Dogs Dombrowsky 17u had a pair of solid arms on display. Chase Townsend (2019, Fayetteville, Ga.) tossed a solid inning of relief Tuesday. The uncommitted righty was up to 89 with his fastball. Townsend is a max effort kind of pitcher at release but does an excellent job of using his 6-foot, 180-pound stature to get all his momentum headed down the mound. Townsend has a short arm action over the top, and he was able to hide the ball well getting defensive swings in hitters’ counts. Townsend is top 500 player in the class of 2019.

The Chili Dogs followed up Townsend with another righthander in Jackson Arnold (2019, Auburn, Ala.). Arnold worked in the high-80s with his fastball on Tuesday, topping at 90 and overall he is a polished arm in the class of 2019. He has quick arm action and a quiet lower half, allowing the ball to jump out of his hand and get on hitters quick. Arnold was able to stay down in the zone with his fastball on Tuesday, forcing soft contact early in counts for quick outs. The sixth-best player in Alabama, Arnold is committed to Georgia Tech.

Jeslyn Whitehead (2019, Ocoee, Fla.) had a strong night at the plate for Power Baseball Navy on Wednesday. Whitehead went 2-for-3 with two RBI and was able to put together long, quality at-bats all night. Whitehead is an athletic 6-foot-2, 190-pounds, and was able to use his strength to muscle balls up the middle and the other way. Starting with an open stance, Whitehead does a great job of getting to the outside pitch and letting his hands work. He may be susceptible to velocity under his hands, but pitchers did not attempt to go in on Wednesday. Whitehead also flashed an ability to run, stealing a bag in Wednesday’s action.

– Nate Schweers



Cade Austin (2020, Chapin, S.C.), the fourth-ranked South Carolina righthander in his class, lived up to the lofty ranking as he delivered four strong innings while punching out six in a victory on the Tuesday evening slate. Offering a strong and projectable 6-foot-3 presence, Austin dialed the fastball up to 87 mph in the first inning, although he lost a tick or two in later frames. Throwing from an over-the-top arm slot, he paired the heater with an effective curveball that showed 12-to-6 shape with good depth. He threw this offering with the same arm speed, successfully masking it from batters, and was able to locate it for a strike.

While Austin was extremely tough to square up, he did create some trouble of his own with walks. However, after experiencing shaky command in the first, he really settled in nicely and took advantage of a five-run lead, attacking hitters in the zone and inducing many swings and misses. The quick-working South Carolina commit repeated his mechanics nicely throughout the outing and will certainly be one to continue monitoring as he enters his junior year of high school.

On an adjacent field Colin McGrath (2019, Quincy, Mass.) quietly tossed a six-inning no-hitter. He was almost inconceivably economical in the feat, amassing a mere 49 pitches while pitching to contact with a lead and trusting the defense behind him. McGrath, a tall, sturdy player who should be durable due to his size, is balanced and uncomplicated in his delivery and his arm stroke stays online well. The ninth-ranked Massachusetts righty in the 2019 class gets good natural sink on his 82-85 mph fastball, which led to a whopping 10 groundball outs on the night. More of the same should be expected in the future from McGrath, who also showed decent feel for a breaking ball in a relatively small sample.

McGrath’s teammate Will Greer (2019, Cohasset, Mass.) stood out the following night, showing off the talent that the New England Ruffnecks team boasts. Despite being ranked as the 12th-best Massachusetts righty in his class, Greer shined at the dish Wednesday. He opened up his day by ripping a triple over the center fielder’s head, utilizing his strong hands to generate good bat speed. He displayed fantastic footspeed around the basepaths, as the triple probably would have been a double for a lot of players. Later this speed showed up again, as Greer turned a weak blooper into extra bases, instinctually rounding for second and reaching as the hit fell in and tailed away from the defense. The rising senior has an advanced, patient plate approach, waiting for his pitch and content to walk should he not get it, and was on base in all three of his plate appearances. As a two-way player, he is an intriguing guy to keep an eye on.

Batted balls were few and far in between when Coby Bolen (2020, Amarillo, Texas) took to the mound. In three innings of work, the lefty allowed a mere two hitters to make contact, one for a hit and one for a groundout, while getting the rest of his eight outs via the strikeout. This included striking out the side in both the second and third innings. While he was effectively wild in the first inning, he settled down considerably after that and threw plenty of strikes in the win. Bolen’s fastball was his most effective weapon, averaging 85 mph and touching up to 87 at times. He has a clean, repeatable delivery and quick, loose arm action and utilizes his lower half well in his finish towards the plate. The seventh-ranked Texas lefty in the 2020 class definitely showed some Texas swagger on the hill, too, looking in control with a very confident demeanor.

The aggressive style of play Donavan Sanders (2019, San Antonio, Texas) was displayed on the field Wednesday night. The athletic center fielder could be seen taking enormous leads off of first, visibly getting in the pitcher’s head, and gave 110 percent effort hustling every ball down the line. This paid dividends as he was able to beat a throw to first to avoid a double play. While his aggressiveness didn’t always pay off, such as when he was narrowly caught stealing third when it was left unoccupied, it still spoke to his good baseball instincts and awareness. At the plate, Sanders, who is listed at a seemingly conservative 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, bats with an upright, slightly open stance and provided all the run production the Prospects National Team needed in a shutout win, roping a double to the pull side for two RBI and showing a good, direct bat path in the process.

Davis York (2019, Griffin, Ga.) put his power bat on display Thursday morning, launching a 369-foot home run deep to left field. The blast got out in a hurry, leaving the bat at 94 mph. York has a swing suited for power as he gets natural leverage on the ball, seen again when he hit a booming triple to the right-center wall. This also showed his ability to hit the ball where it’s pitched and spray to all fields. The rising senior hits with an even stance and keeps his hands in a position ready to swing, putting himself in good hitter’s counts with his discerning eye and patient approach.

The state of Massachusetts continued to be represented well, this time by Ryan Murphy (2020, Billerica, Mass.) of the North East Baseball Rays. The southpaw Maryland commit pummeled the strike zone with his 84 mph fastball to the tune of 74 percent strikes in his 3 1/3 scoreless innings of work. This allowed him to limit the pitch count to a miniscule 27 in a rain-shortened outing. Murphy’s mechanics are very smooth and refined and his quick arm action does not vary when throwing his curveball, which showed good vertical movement and was consistently located in the zone to paralyze hitters. He adds a slight pause in the middle of his delivery to further throw off the timing of the hitter. The second-ranked Massachusetts lefty in his class, Murphy looked very polished in the impressive victory.

– Cameron Hines
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