PG HS Showdown Day 3 Notes

Vincent Cervino Greg Gerard

Photo: Brady House (Perfect Game)

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2019 Perfect Game High School Showdown: Event Page | Daily Leaders | Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes

Quite possibly the best two-way player in the event regardless of classification was Winder-Barrow shortstop and righthanded pitcher Brady House (2021, Winder, Ga.). The Tennessee commit has been noted in the daily recaps during the High School Showdown for his ability to hit, but the arm is what really stood out on Saturday. House got the start on the mound and was mostly dominant especially in his first pair of innings. Sitting 88-91 mph mostly early on, House showed the ability to reach back for more velocity when he wanted to. His best fastball of the day came in his fourth inning of work where he touched 92 once. House pitches with low effort and a clean arm action. His ability to throw strikes is outstanding given that he is a primary shortstop.

The righthander has a professional build already as a high school sophomore and an inept ability to get hitters of either handedness out with his changeup. The pitch projects to be a plus pitch as he continues to mature already showing maintained arm speed and similar arm-side life as his fastball. He did feature a curveball as well at 75 mph, but the changeup was the go-to secondary pitch of choice. Elite is a word to describe House as an all-around special player both on the mound and at his primary shortstop position.

Dylan Ray (2020, New Market, Ala.) stepped up to the plate in a clutch situation for Bob Jones High School. The bases were loaded, and the Patriots were down three runs when Ray drove a deep flyball to the power alley in left-center field. The strength and raw bat speed that Dylan Ray produces allowed the ball to carry over the 375-foot marker for a game-winning homerun. A primary righthanded pitcher, Ray can really showcase the power and strength at the plate. He did appear in a short stint in relief for the Patriots in this game. Battling a nagging knee injury, Ray did still manage to run his fastball up to 90 mph. He did fill up the zone, but did find a couple of bats while still showing good velocity and projectable stuff. The 102nd-ranked player in the class is certainly one to continue to follow in the state of Alabama for next year’s draft class.

Cade Doughty (2019, Denham Springs, La.) is an elite level player committed to LSU and already looks the part of a well-strengthened infielder with room to continue to fill out physically. Doughty took clean cuts at the baseball with a torqued weight shift into contact and a direct hand path to contact. There’s plenty of bat speed to his swing as he uses his lower half really well to incorporate that bat speed through the hitting zone. Doughty did just miss a ball out in front in his first at-bat that resulted in a groundout in which he sprinted down the line posting a 4.51 home to first with a late pull up. His next at-bat was a little more fortunate as he did not quite hit the ball on the barrel but did serve the ball to the opposite field for a single. Doughty has a proven track record of being able to hit the baseball with consistency and pop off of the barrel and he will certainly be a follow for scouts in Louisiana throughout the rest of his senior spring.

Jonathan French (2019, Lilburn, Ga.) was highlighted for his swings at the plate earlier in the event, but it is hard to ignore a player of his caliber when he has a game like he did Saturday. French concluded the day with a single and a ground-rule double after showcasing as low as a 1.94 second pop time in between innings. French’s swing is really strong and the ability to go from gap-to-gap with his approach is certainly intriguing. French’s mechanics are online and on time as he is never too aggressive and takes his walks when they are granted to him. The catching mechanics are really clean as well as the transfer is so quick and the arm certainly plays at the next level.

A pair of French’s teammates stood out in the contest as well. Jonathan Ponder (2020, Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Makenzie Pate (2019, Lilburn, Ga.) each bat at the top of the Panther lineup are high level players in their own right. Ponder is an extremely quick-twitch outfielder with speed that could keep him in center field. The junior is uncommitted but is certainly one of the top uncommitted players in the state of Georgia. His quickness down the line is impressive and his swing and short and quick with good barrel control.

Makenzie Pate is a Coastal Carolina commit who laced a ball in this contest. Pate got the barrel through the hitting zone and hit a knee-high fastball out in front for a high exit velocity line drive single. The hit produced a run for his team to help them earn a big victory. Pate has solid speed as well following up his RBI single with a double steal along with Ponder. The future Chanticleer is certainly worth following during his time at Coastal Carolina as he does feature multiple tools as well as his lean 6-foot-1 projectable frame.

– Greg Gerard

Bob Jones has some serious firepower on their roster and one of the standout performers from the weekend was shortstop and Alabama commit Caden Rose (2020, Madison, Ala.). The shortstop hit a blistering .583 over the weekend with four doubles and a triple to his name while also seeing some time on the mound and running his fastball up to 90 mph. Rose is a very athletic prospect with sound actions in the middle infield and the ability to make plays to both sides. He retains his balance nicely and absolutely has the arm strength to stay on the left side of the infield. Rose doesn’t get fooled often at the plate and does a nice job at lacing the ball to both sides of the field. He backspins the ball nicely and it carries well off the barrel including in the game on Saturday where he laced two doubles during game action. His bat speed and ability to barrel the ball are very evident and worked well over the course of the weekend as he put on a very strong performance.

Rece Hinds (2019, Niceville, Fla.) is one of the biggest prep names in the country and he had a very solid weekend. The numbers didn’t show up in the box score but he had at least one walk in every game and really found the barrel of the bat consistently, just missing a few home runs during the process.

Hinds is a physical specimen at 6-foot-4, 210-pounds and is very athletic too, as evidenced by his feats in warmups where he led a cartwheel into a full-on backflip before the championship game. But the hitting tools are loud and he has the best raw power in the high school class. He has easy plus bat speed and he’s taken some strides from the end of last summer into this spring.

Hinds’ pitch recognition has improved, especially so on breaking balls as he took some tough off-speed pitches this weekend and was keen enough to lay off or spit on them out of the strike zone. He’s still prone to the occasional swing-and-miss and his draft stock really depends on how consistently he squares the ball up this spring, something he’s done nicely thus far. He had a double during the championship and a long triple in pool play and he really covers the inside part of the plate well, though his power is very loud when he’s able to get his hands extended in front of the plate, something he’ll be looking to do more often as the spring progresses.

The MV-Pitcher of the HS Showdown was IMG Academy righthander Brandon Llewellyn (2020, Colleyville, Tex.) who was superb over two games and pitched the final six frames of the championship game to hold Blessed Trinity scoreless. Llewellyn ran his fastball up to 89 mph on Thursday night and worked comfortably in the 84-87 mph range during this look and the breaking ball was a legitimate weapon for him all afternoon.

Llewellyn has good size on the mound as the Notre Dame commit stands at a lean and projectable 6-foot-1, 150-pounds on the mound with a lot of room to fill out and add strength. The delivery is fluid and athletic though he does stride very far and snap a bit with the upper half, though that doesn’t seem to inhibit his command at this point. The real weapon was the breaking ball that had good spin and power in the mid- to upper-70s and really induced some ugly swings, particularly on breaking balls that broke off the table and away from righthanded pitchers. Llewellyn has a changeup too that he can use and showed that he has really outstanding pitchability that is going to get him a lot of outs.

– Vinnie Cervino