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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/21/2018

17u World Series Notes: Day 2

David Rawnsley     
Photo: DJ Jefferson (Perfect Game)

17u Perfect Game World Series: Event Page | Daily Leaders | Day 1 Scout Notes

BPA lefthander Cutter Clawson (2019, Laguna Beach, Calif.) has been improving steadily over the last year and really impressed with his performance at last month's PG National Showcase.  He took another step forward on Friday morning, turning in a dominant outing in striking out 15 hitters while working six innings and allowing only two hits and an unearned run.  Clawson worked in the 88-92 mph range for his entire 105 pitch outing, zeroing in mostly on the glove-side corner but showing the ability to bust right handed hitters inside as well.  Clawson does an outstanding job of tunneling his upper-70s breaking ball and changeup with his fastball and hitters just didn't pick up his secondary pitches well, resulting in plenty of weak swings, especially on breaking balls down out of the zone.  Over the last year, the BYU commit has gone from a mid-80s college bound athlete to a prospect the pro scouts will have to account for next spring.

Clawson's BPA teammate, shortstop Brooks Lee (2019, San Luis Obispo, Calif.) has gained the reputation as one of the top defensive middle infielders in the 2019 class and it looks like he has a chance to be a top flight hitter as well.  Lee, who is the son of longtime Cal Poly coach Larry Lee and is committed to play for his father at Cal Poly, is a switch-hitter with a sound, high contact swing from both sides of the plate.  He looks to have better present bat speed from the right side and drove a couple of balls deep to the gaps during two games Friday, but he also showed a crisp, short swing from the left side that produced some solid line drive contact.

Chicago Cubs Scout Team outfielder Connor Buchanan (2019, La Canada, Calif.) is an immensely strong 6-foot-4, 220-pound righthanded hitter who can really impact the ball.  He just missed a home run to left-center field on a deep double that would have been an easy four-bagger if it had been hit on either of the two fields with the wind blowing out.  Buchanan, who is a Southern California commit, added a single later in the game and scored a pair of runs.

Third baseman Joshua Kasevich (2019, Palo Alto, Calif.) bats cleanup in the middle of the CCB Elite lineup and has a strong right handed swing that has garnered him a scholarship from Oregon.  He made his mark in CCB's 2-1 victory over Team Georgia as the team's closer, showing a simple delivery and fast over the top arm slot that produced a 88-90 mph fastball that got on hitters quickly.  Kasavich retired the last four hitters, two on strikeouts, to pick up the save.

Dalton Bowling (2019, Fremont, Calif.) has shown some very interesting tools for CCB as an uncommitted rising senior.  Bowling is a very strong 6-foot-4, 220-pound athlete who is listed as a primary third baseman but he has looked very good behind the plate, with solid athleticism and an outstanding throwing arm.  His righthanded swing is long and strong and he picked up two hits in Friday's win.  Bowling is a three-year starter at Kennedy High School and hit .372-5-22 as a junior and he has also gone 13-3, 1.96 on the mound as well.  With the arm strength he's shown behind the plate, hopefully we'll get to see him pitch this weekend.

The Canes National vs. Premier Baseball Futures matchup had the intensity of a playoff game, as both teams threw their top starters and competed hard from the first pitch.  The Canes put righthander Nolan Crisp (2019, Locust Grove, Ga.) on the mound and the Florida commit, who is ranked 81st in the 2019 class, turned in a typical strong performance, throwing five innings and allowing two runs, one earned, while working between 89 and 93 mph on his fastball to go with a big breaking slider.  Premier countered with right hander Connor Phillips (2019, Magnolia, Texas), the 59th-ranked 2019 prospect and a LSU commit.  Phillips didn't flash the mid-90s fastball he's shown earlier this summer but sat in the 88-91 mph range with outstanding sink with his fastball and allowed only four hits and one earned run over six innings and 104 pitches.

The big hit in the Canes 3-2 win come off the bat of Perfect Game All-American third baseman Cade Doughty (2019, Denham Springs, La.), who drove a triple deep up the right-center field gap in the fifth inning to plate two runs.  Doughy picked up three hits on the day continuing what has been a very strong summer for the LSU commit.

Canes righthander Thomas Schultz (2019, Mount Carmel, Penn.) was especially impressive in relief, throwing two quick innings to pick up the save. Schultz is a loose, long and very projectable 6-foot-6, 205-pound athlete who gets very good downhill plane on his pitches from a fast and loose high three-quarters arm slot.  He challenged hitters from the start with a 89-91 mph fastball and showed good feel for changing speeds on his curveball.  Schultz is a Vanderbilt commit.

The ball was really carrying on Mariners field three all day Friday and a couple of very promising young hitters took advantage of it in AZ T-Rex's 12-7 win over the Banditos Scout Team. T-Rex shortstop Brian Kalmer (2019, Chandler, Ariz.) hit a home run and a booming triple to drive in five runs while hitting clean up.  Kalmer is a very strong 6-foot-2, 195-pound righthanded hitter with very easy bat speed and power.  His triple looked like a routine fly ball to center field when it left the bat but ended up short hopping the fence in straightaway center field.  Kalmer is committed to Arizona State.

Jared Thomas (2019, Lakewood, Calif.) is a primary catcher who is ranked 190th in the 2019 class and has a ride to Miami.  He's athletic enough as a 6.7 runner to play all over the field and was in center field on Friday.  The lefthanded hitter made his impact with the bat, lining a pair of doubles off the right-center field fence and top spinning a ground ball through the right side of the infield that got to the outfield grass very quickly.  Thomas has outstanding raw bat speed and really let the barrel fly during this hitters dominated game.

BPA righthander Evan Fitterer (2019, Aliso Viejo, Calif.) threw five shutout innings, scattering four hits and striking out six in BPA's 7-2 afternoon win.  Fitterer is a loose 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete with a fast arm from a high three-quarters arm slot and worked in the 88-91 mph range to go with a upper-70s slider that was late and tight at times.  Fitterer is a UCLA commit and ranked 347th in the 2019 class.

The Blackhawks National club ended up splitting a pair on Friday, winning their first game and losing their second. They got high-end pitching in the early game from both Nicholas Payero (2018, Monroe, N.J.), who started the game, and DJ Jefferson (2019, Las Vegas, Nev.) who closed it out.

Payero, a Seton Hall-committed righthander, has a strong, solid build on a medium-large frame as well as some deception to his delivery. His stuff is tough to square up, and while the mechanical profile doesn’t necessarily portend all that well to good command, the deception it creates does make him tougher to hit. He worked up to 89 mph with his fastball and does a fair job generating life to the pitch, also mixing in a solid curveball in the low-70s, picking up eight strikeouts over his 4 2/3 innings.

Jefferson, a Perfect Game National Showcase participant last month, came on with two outs in the fifth inning and runners on base in what was a very close game, and picked up a punchout to end the frame, eventually going on to close out the game with minimal excitement. A very long, lean, physically projectable righthander with plus arm speed, Jefferson did a pretty good job of throwing strikes at 89-92 mph in this one, showing the ability to create plane to the plate as well as work to both sides, also landing a soft, 11-to-5 shaped curveball for strikes a few times as well.

Ethan Long (2020, Gilbert, Ariz.) has had a nice tournament thus far offensively, showing off that advanced strength and physicality into his swing from the right side of the plate, creating good bat speed and showing the ability to generate leverage off of his front side, consistently working to drive the ball into the air with good carry when squared up. He’s got significant arm strength to his profile as well, be it from third base, from the outfield, or on the mound, but his best position at this juncture is wherever allows him to have the bat in his hands the most.




Baseball Northwest was on the losing side of that 4-2 Blackhawks victory on Friday morning, but Ryan Brown (2019, Salem, Ore.) showed a lot to like in the start on the mound. Brown, an uncommitted righthander, worked up to 90 mph with his fastball, showing a bit of a high-maintenance delivery on the mound but at the same time showing the athleticism necessary to repeat such a delivery relatively well, working over his front side consistently and doing a fair job of throwing strikes. He projects well physically and also flashes the ability to spin the baseball, landing a curveball for strikes when necessary.




Blake Adams (2019, Springdale, Ark.) got the start in the Sticks Baseball Academy-NorCal 2019 game on Friday morning, and while he took the loss, he continued to show, like he has all summer, enticing upside. He’s very well-built at this stage, with strength throughout, and looks the part of a durable, innings-eating pitcher at the next level, where he is committed to Arkansas. He didn’t ever quite find his command in this one, spraying the fastball a bit and not quite finding the ideal release points for his curveball and slider, but did continue to show enticing upside. The fastball worked up to 91 mph early on, and his curveball and slider both flash as potentially impactful pitches as he continues to refine them and gain consistency with them. They both have the potential to be out pitches for him, the curveball with hard, late 11-to-5 shaped snap when spun correctly, and the slider thrown harder with late tilt. When commanded and spun correctly, both pitches are tunneled well with good deception, and he will be able to miss bats consistently with both pitches in time.

Glenallen Hill, Jr. (2019, Santa Cruz, Calif.) has always showed off impact tools and continues to do so atop the NorCal lineup this week, with the bat speed and foot speed standing out immediately. He bunted for a base hit to start the game, absolutely flying down the line, and then in his second bat hammered a line drive to center field that, while caught, was one of the more impressive exit velocities of the day. His hands are lightning quick and he’s able to generate huge bat speed and as a result has pretty impressive power in spite of his lithe, athletic build. The impactfulness of his offensive and athletic profiles make him an extremely interesting MLB Draft follow in the NorCal region heading into the spring.

Power Baseball got a 6-5 win over the Royals Scout Team via a pair of solid performances on the mound from Nick Durgin (2019, Melbourne, Fla.) and Eric Adler (2019, Melbourne, Fla.). Each righthander worked up to 90 mph on the mound and showed solid strike-throwing ability with projectable breaking stuff as well. Fabian Escalante (2019, Oviedo, Fla.) had the best day at the plate, picking up three hits including a triple and a pair of RBI to lead the offensive attack for Power.
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