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All American Game  | Story  | 8/10/2021

Turley Rocks National, Punches Ticket to Classic

Blake Dowson     
Photo: Gavin Turley (Perfect Game)
It was sometime between when Gavin Turley ran a 6.29 60-yard dash and when he threw 97 mph from the outfield during workouts at the Perfect Game National Showcase that it really clicked with him what he was starting to put together as a prospect.
 
The ball he hit at 103 mph off the bat during batting practice probably gave him more reason to think that, too.
 
“Last year, year before, I kind of started working my way up the boards,” Turley said of his climb as a prospect. “But really if anything, it was at National when I put up some of the numbers I put up. I knew I definitely could do something with all this.”
 
Turley’s toolbox is jammed full of just about everything you want from a prospect, which he showed off at Tropicana Field last month. In a historically fast group of players at the event, his 60 time was 12th-best among everyone in attendance. His 97 mph throw from the outfield and his 103 mph exit velocity were both third-best at the event.
 
His display in the PG Tech Cage was possibly even more impressive. The PG Tech Cage measures peak speeds – the maximum rotational velocities – in four spots, measured in degrees per second, and has a baseline to determine average speeds in fully mature, elite players: 600+ deg/s at the pelvis, 850+ deg/s at the torso, 1100+ deg/s with the arm, and 1800+ deg/s with the lead hand.
 
Turley measured 814.0 deg/s at his pelvis, 1240.5 at his torso, 1399.0 at his arm, and 2148.0 with his lead hand. Boiled down, Turley’s elite numbers mean he is getting his body segments to move faster and maxing out his rotational velocity. He swings fast and hard, which helps leads to that 103 mph exit velocity.
 
It’s one more tool in the toolbox for the No. 1 player from Arizona, which he now gets get to pack up and take with him to San Diego for the Perfect Game All-American Classic, as he was named one of the 60 prospects to play in the most prestigious event of the year for those in the 2022 class.
 
Turley said it’s been a goal of his to play in the Classic, since spending some time with a few prospects who have been there and done that.
 
“It was always a goal to be at the Classic,” Turley said. “But it really became like, ‘I really need to do this.’ when I started meeting kids that were PG All-Americans and I learned what it really meant. Malakhi Knight and Max Debiec, I met those guys and they are big-time guys, and I really wanted to be at their level. That’s what really made me want to be there.”
 
The buzz about the Perfect Game All-American Classic can be heard quite often at PG National, Turley said.
 
It’s one of the reasons those players go to National, and stands as validation for what you put forward at the showcase. Players get smarter every year, gaining more knowledge on the analytics that make a prospect elite in specific aspects, and they know what it takes to get to San Diego.
 
All of that gets discussed as these players are shagging fly balls during batting practice, waiting their turn to perform during drills, and while they’re hanging out in the dugout during game action.
 
“With my team, everyone was talking about it,” Turley said. “Here’s your numbers, here’s his numbers, how do they compare. What are you hearing right now? What do you think your chances are? It’s definitely talked about. You want to make that top 60.”
 
Being named a PG All-American is the latest in what’s becoming a long list of accomplishments for Turley. Back during his freshman year of high school, he committed to play his college baseball at Oregon State. The Beavers were coming off a national championship at the time, and Turley said the fit was perfect at the time and still is.
 
He was named to the all-tournament team at last fall’s WWBA World Championship, simply and fondly referred to as “Jupiter” most every year except last, when it was moved to Fort Myers amidst the pandemic. Turley hit .375 at the event against competition that consisted of many prospects a year older than him.
 
That performance put him squarely on the map, he felt like.
 
“I loved playing in the WWBA last year,” he said. “I was flying a little bit under the radar at that point, and I was able to go out there and play. You have 350 teams or however many there are, that’s one of my favorite events.”
 
He’s willing to let the All-American Classic top the WWBA in terms of favorite events. It’s an experience unlike many others for prep players, and a badge of honor worn by those who have done what it takes to get there.
 
“I got an email saying I had been selected, and my first thought was just that all my hard work had paid off,” Turley said. "It was a really cool feeling.”
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