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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/21/2018

PG World Series Notes: Day 1

Vincent Cervino      Jheremy Brown      Greg Gerard     
Photo: Sal Stewart (Perfect Game)

14u PG World Series: Event Page | Daily Leaders




Getting PG’s first look at Baseball Northwest for the next crop of players in the 2022 class, Tyce Peterson (2022, Kirkland, Wash.) seemed to make the biggest first impression as he was all over the field making big-time plays in the infield and with the bat on top of having a good-looking build at a listed 5-foot-8, 145-pounds that appears larger than that. Peterson ripped a single up the middle in his first at-bat and then followed that up with a long double to his pull side gap. Peterson has all the makings of a big-time player and certainly a noteworthy prospect. His swing has a toe tap that is used for timing and he gets the barrel of the bat to the baseball with quickness. The righthanded hitting shortstop is a strong 5-foot-8 and he uses that strength to his swing.

Luke Heyman (2022, Longwood, Fla.) came into FTB’s game in relief on the mound and showed a fastball that ranged from 80-83 mph while touching 84 mph as well. The righthander threw all fastballs in a quick look which resulted in 14 pitches. The physically advanced and really projectable 6-foot-3, 164-pounder has a full and quick arm stroke with low effort. His fastball has riding sink to the plate that induces ground ball contact. Each hitter Heyman faced grounded out while making soft contact in doing so. Heyman’s results come from when he extends well out in front letting the baseball come out cleanly. While extended, he is repeatedly down in the zone with his sinking fastball and hard to square up.

Rocko Brzezniak (2022, Matawan, N.J.) has swung a hot bat on the summer circuit this year and Friday’s opening day of the 14U World Series was no different. Hitting multiple balls off of his barrel at 90-plus mph, Brzezniak has a knack for hitting the ball on the nose with intent to drive it. His swing is short to the baseball while getting the barrel through the hitting zone quickly. His bat speed is advanced for his age and will only improve as he continues to fill into his 6-foot-1 frame. His second hit of the day and the harder of the two was a single up the middle that left his bat at 91 mph. He went down to get the pitch that was well located down and away and managed to get the barrel to the baseball showing great plate coverage.

Not an overly physical righthander on the mound, Jovanny Garcia (2021, Houston, Texas) still managed to run his fastball up to 87 mph from his 5-foot-6, 142-pound frame. Garcia has plenty of quick-twitch muscles in his build and the arm is quite quick through the circle. He throws with max effort but that does not limit his ability to repeat his mechanics well and fill up the strike zone. The righthander delivers a heavy diet of fastballs to the plate while mixing in a straight changeup at 74 mph that gets hitters out in front for soft contact. Garcia started the game for Mizuno Baseball and struck out three batters in three innings.

Although they did struggle a bit with command, a pair of 2022 pitchers showed projectable stuff on the mound in Harrison Simmons (2022, Baxley, Ga.) and Bauer Brittain (2022, Shawnee, Okla.). Simmons pitched an inning of work with all fastballs that ranged from 81-84 mph with a long arm action and some angle when down in the zone. Brittain has a mostly clean delivery with plenty of effort that produces a fastball up to 85 mph from a full arm action. Each righthander projects for more velocity in the future as they are still both young and entering their high school freshman campaigns.

Chris Campanella (2021, Congers, N.Y.) has made plenty of appearances at PG events in recent memory while playing on the Canes National team. The righthander came in out of the bullpen early in the contest and delivered exactly what his team needed in relief. Early on in the contest, his fastball reached as high as 86 mph before settling into the 82-84 mph range throughout. Campanella has a fast arm that stays compact through the back and really hides the baseball as well. Hitters struggled to catch up to Campanella’s fastball leading to him not having to through an offspeed pitch all that often. The secondary pitch he did show was a curveball with 11-to-5 shape and average spin. At 5-foot-10, Campanella creates some angle when down in the zone and will challenge hitters with his fastball. The righthander is an interesting young 2021 graduate on the mound and it will be interesting to follow his progression down the road.

Team Elite earned the win in their first game of the PG World Series on Friday and righthander Jackson Gaspard (2022, Flowery Branch, Ga.) topped out at 82 mph in doing so showing a compact delivery and a quick arm action. Gaspard, a rising freshman standing at a very projectable and lean 5-foot-11, 165-pounds, induced lots of groundball contact with a fastball that was well located down in the zone. He tallied a pair of strikeouts in his three innings while mixing in a curveball at 66-67 mph as well. The pitch showed 11-to-5 shape and the ability to land the pitches for strikes as well. His arm is loose and quick and should continue to produce more and more velocity as he matures.

– Gregory Gerard



Sal Stewart (2022, Miami, Fla.) picked up right where he left off in the 14u WWBA earlier this summer as he once again showed a knack for reaching via a base hit, finishing the opening day of the 14u World Series with a 2-for-3 day. Physically built at 6-foot-1, 180-pounds already, Stewart shows an advanced understanding in the box, from understanding what the opposing pitcher is trying to sequence to his ability to recognize spin, all elements that help lead to consistent barreled contact. His swing is a balanced one and it offers plenty of present bat speed and strength to his hands as he managed to pick up a single over the first baseman’s head despite getting jammed before barreling a hard ground ball through the six-hole. Stewart moves well over at third base too, showing range to his left and quick feet charging in just as he put on display with a quick transfer and release on a slow chopper to get the running trying to score from third.

Speaking of range, shortstop Cole Young (2022, Wexford, Pa.) certainly offers that up-the-middle for US Elite with looseness and a bounce to his footwork as well as softness to his hands. He made one play early in the game that encompassed all of those traits as he came across the middle of the field, fielded the ball just to the right of the bag, and delivered an off balanced strike to first base, all the while dropping his slot on the throw. A lefthanded bat who his atop the order, Young shows an easy swing with some extension out front and finished the day going 1-for-3 with a hard line drive single up the middle that registered 86 mph off the barrel. Keep eyes on Young as he already shows a feel for the game on both sides of the ball and will only continue to improve as his 5-foot-10, 155-pound frame continues to mature.

Ian Ritchie Jr (2022, Bainbridge Island, Wash.) may not have had his cleanest outing in terms of command as he walked four in two innings of work, but there’s plenty to like from the young righthander who is only going to continue to improve. Looking the part on the mound with a long and lean 6-foot, 160-pound frame, Ritchie offers a quick right arm which produced a fastball that lived comfortably in the 79-82 mph range and bumped as high as 84 mph in his second inning of work. What impressed me more than his present velocity however was his comfort and feel to go to any of his three pitches in any count, mixing in both a changeup and curveball to keep hitters from sitting on the fastball. His best curveball of the day game to end his first inning of work at 68 mph for a called third strike, showing depth and 11-to-5 shape while picking up the backwards K to end the inning.

Tucker Toman (2022, Columbia, S.C.) enjoyed himself a successful opening day from the middle of the order for the Dirtbags Camo club, going 3-for-3 while putting one of the looser swings on display that we saw early on. Listed as a primary third baseman who stands at 6-foot, 165-pounds, Toman begins with a narrow base and slightly inverted from knee which he comes out of well and does so with balance while employing a fast set of hands from the left side of the plate. There’s plenty of fluidity to the swing overall for Toman who showed the ability to impact the ball to all parts of the field, first lining a single into left field before hooking a double down the pull side line, showing the same loose swing and solid overall projection.

It was a brief one inning look at young righthander Dylan Lesko (2022, Buford, Ga.) as he needed just 10 pitches to punch out the side for Elite Squad, but it was plenty impressive nonetheless as he continues to improve every time we get to see him on the mound. On the mound Lesko shows tempo and balanced you don’t often see in pitchers who are rising freshman, but then again you don’t see them sit comfortably in the 86-88 mph range with the present ability to work to either side of the plate either. Lesko did just that from a compact and fast arm stroke, working on top of the ball well while generating nice running life to either side of the plate. The feel for his curveball continues to improve too and though he can still continue to work on maintaining his arm speed on the pitch at release, the pitch does show 11-to-5 shape and he was able to land it for strikes.

One name that had the college coaches buzzing right away was young center fielder Elijah Green (2022, Windermere, Fla.) who hit in the leadoff position for FTB Select 2022 and made his presence felt throughout the game. Physically advanced for a player his age at 6-foot-1, 185-pounds, yet as loose and athletic as any in attendance, Green reached base safely in all three trips to the plate with a couple walks, a hit by pitch and a double to his pull side before letting his speed (6.78 60-yard at the PG 14u Florida Showcase) go to work with two stolen bags and two runs scored. His bat speed stands out in a 14u tournament setting, even in one that’s of the World Series caliber, and he’s showing an ever-evolving approach at the plate, spoiling tough pitches while laying off pitches down in the zone that others may be enticed to chase. His athleticism and speed are two factors that play well in center field for him too, gliding around while covering ground with loose and easy actions.




One player who college coaches will be certainly following throughout the World Series is outfielder Lorenzo Carrier (2021, Baer, Del.) who already has the size at 6-foot-3, 170-pounds and offers a long limbed build that recruiters will easily be able to dream on by the time he’s physically mature. Carrier is already ranked No. 86 in the class and was recently up to 89 mph last week at the 14u Super25 National Championships, though it was his abilities with the bat that he’s featured in this recap. Hitting out of the three-hole for the Keystone War Eagles, Carrier put an excellent swing on the ball in his first at-bat, showing a loose and extended swing that yielded a hard line drive directly at the right field, jumping off the barrel with an 87 mph exit velocity. He also put his speed on display in his second at-bat legging out an infield single, taking long and easy strides down the line with an already average speed tool on the stopwatch.

Two bats stood out in big ways for HBF Maroon’s club during their opening game in outfielder Zach Macdonald (2021, Portage, Mich.) and third baseman Stephen Kwapis (2021, Kalamazoo, Mich.). Kwapis may his presence felt right away with a single swing in the first inning, getting his arms extended on a fastball which he drove over the left field wall for a no-doubt home run, the first of the 14u World Series. Macdonald, the team’s leadoff hitter, showed a consistent short stroke through the zone and twice connected for three-base hits. The first of his two triples came to the pull side for Macdonald, who then split the right-center gap later in the game, both times showing long and easy strides around the bag, accelerating from first to third.

– Jheremy Brown



The San Diego Show got off to a hot start at the 14u World Series with an opening win in run rule fashion on Friday night. Righthander David Horn (2022, Murrieta, Calif.) got the start for the Show and tossed three strong frames and allowed the offense to take hold and give Horn the win. Horn is a pretty projectable righthanded pitcher, with a 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame and a simple, easy to repeat delivery. He starts out exclusively from the stretch before extending and firing toward the plate. The arm stroke is efficient and online through the back with some looseness and Horn ran his fastball up to 84 mph on the afternoon. He flashed a couple of breaking balls throughout the start but Horn also contributed on the offensive end with a two-run single to the pull side to help his own cause.

Horn’s teammate Victor Lizarraga (2022, San Diego, Calif.) didn’t show up much in the box score, however the profile and present tools are both extremely intriguing now and moving forward. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound third baseman has broad shoulders and a large frame to add strength without sacrificing much mobility or present athleticism. He moves well to either side including to the glove side where he ranged over and controlled the body while throwing from multiple arm slots to nail a couple of runners on the afternoon. He didn’t record a hit, but the swing itself lends promise as there’s plenty of bat speed and loft to the swing plane. The advanced bat speed and hand quickness are impressive for the age and it wouldn’t be surprising for Lizarraga to start collecting hard hit balls as the tournament continues.

One of the stronger pitching performances on the day came from Ironmen lefthander Justin West (2022, Paducah, Ky.) as he tossed three no-hit innings while striking out five batters over that span. The 6-foot-2, 150-pound frame lends itself to near limitless physical projection while the delivery is athletic and the arm stroke clean and loose through the back. He creates some separation and releases on time with the fastball, which worked in the 77-80 mph range early on that he could locate to both sides. The release point is a bit timing specific, so that led to some control issues he had to battle through, but he also showed the ability to land his big breaking 12-to-6 curveball for strikes in the low-60s.

Showing off some two-way ability on the night was Magnus Miller (2021, Corpus Christi, Texas) who started for Lights Out Baseball but also hit in the middle of the order as well. Miller touched 84 mph with his fastball early on in the game, sitting mostly 80-82 mph throughout, and threw from a higher arm slot which allowed him to create some plane on the fastball when working low in the strike zone. The breaking ball was a harder one with some shape to it and Miller landed the pitch effectively for strikes. Miller showed off the two-way chops with an opposite field triple early in the game as he drove an outer half fastball and hustled around the bases to get into third base with room to spare.

Dirtbags Camo leadoff man Austin Hawke (2022, Oak Island, N.C.) has yet to attend a PG event where he hasn’t hit at least over .300 and he got that average up immediately for the 14u World Series with two hits on the night out of the leadoff spot. Hawke is, physically, a shorter payer but plays hard with good speed both on the base paths and in the middle infield, Hawke was credited with two stolen bases on Friday night. The swing itself is short, controlled, and line drive oriented as there’s looseness throughout the hands of Hawke’s swing and he covers the plate well to get the barrel head out in front. His first hit on the night was a line drive single up the middle while he drove a double later on in the game. Hawke’s bat-to-ball skills coupled with his present speed make him an exciting player out of the leadoff spot and one to monitor for the rest of the event.

The Scorpions North Select pulled off the opening day upset of the 14u WWBA National Champions in the Canes National and first baseman Simon Kohn (2022, Jacksonville, Fla.) showed off some intriguing tools throughout, particularly offensively. Kohn is a presently physical lefthanded hitting prospect, listed at a perhaps conservative 5-foot-10 and 165-pounds, with lots of balance and a very wide start at the plate. That wide start allows the swing to get rotational at times but there is some bat speed and good plane to the swing. As Kohn continues to add strength he will be able to manipulate the barrel more effectively, however, presently the raw bat speed allows him to whip the barrel hard ot create some hard hit contact to all fields. Kohn is one to follow for sure as are the upstart Scorpions in general with a 1-0 start to the 14u World Series.

– Vincent Cervino
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