2,075 MLB PLAYERS | 14,476 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story  | 7/5/2017

17u WWBA Day 5 Scout Notes

Photo: Perfect Game

Daily Leaders | Player Stats | Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes | Day 3 Notes | Day 4 Notes

The 17u WWBA National Championship has had a ton of talent up to this point in the event, and despite some rain and less-than-ideal weather, there was yet again a crop of highly talented athletes roaming PG Park South at LakePoint on Tuesday.

One of the highest contested games of the tournament thus far came between the Canes 17u and Bo Jackson Elite. Both teams came in undefeated and the game was an excellent display of pitching and defense on both sides as they finished seven full innings with a tie score of 0-0.




After the rain delay, touted lefthander Carter Lohman (2018, Fishers, Ind.) came in to pitch and immediately showed a lot of poise and polish on the mound. Standing at 6-foot-2, 190-pounds, Lohman has an ideal frame for a pitcher with a remarkably low effort delivery and excellent physical projection.

The arm is pretty loose and easy throughout the arm path and he created good angle to the plate from an extended three-quarters arm slot. The repertoire and pitchability were off the charts for Lohman as he mixed three pitches effectively, highlighted by the secondaries. His changeup was very good as it was in the 80-81 range with late, signicficant fade to the arm side of the plate. The curveball was also an effective offering with short 1-to-7 shape that was best used down and in to righthanded hitters.

Lohman’s fastball is not dominant in terms of velocity but he commanded the pitch well on Tuesday. He could work the pitch to both sides of the plate with easy and the offspeed pitches played extremely well off the fastball. The Louisville’s pitchability and stuff, when coupled with projection, make him a very interesting and attractive arm coming up, and could be all the more dangerous given increased velocity.

Shortstop Zach Dezenzo (2018, Alliance, Ohio) showed very interesting tools up the middle for the Bo Jackson Elite squad. The Ohio State commit has an excellent and physically projectable 6-foot-4, 185-pound frame with present wiry strength and plenty of room on the build to add to it. The size may ultimately force him to third base at the professional level, but currently he shows pretty smooth actions to go along with good footwork. The arm strength plays well at the position now and the bat was interesting despite only taking a few swings. There is legitimate bat speed throughout the swing and he does a good job at matching plane to help with his line drive approach. He smoked a line drive single up the middle off Lohman and showed quality tools to build off of in the near future.




Despite a rain-shortened appearance in the game, righthander Nick Thwaits (2018, Yorkshire, Ohio) started on the mound and shut down the potent Canes offense for the first two innings of the game. Having a previous recorded high of 88 mph on his profile, Thwaits sat 89-92 mph and touched a 93 mph during the outing.

Thwaits has a very athletic frame on the mound and that aids him in terms of his repeating his delivery and arm slot. He has a shorter arm action with an abbreviated arm circle in the back and the arm stroke was pretty quick however. The Kent State commit did a very good job at pounding strikes in the lower third of the strike zone and also at mixing pitches. The fastball was mostly true in terms of life but had occasional heaviness when located low in the strike zone.

Out of the secondary pitches the changeup was the more effective of the two on Tuesday afternoon. The pitch came in as hard as 85 mph and showed excellent downward tumble as well. The pitch would fall off at times and showed slight fade too. The curveball was not a bad secondary pitch either as it came in as high as 80 but mostly in the upper-70s. The pitch showed tight shape but he would get around it on occasion and it wasn’t as effective.

Two defensive standouts for the Canes were third baseman Nicholas Northcut (2018, Mason, Ohio) and backstop Anthony Seigler (2018, Cartersville, Ga.). Both of their defense was instrumental at preserving the tie game.

Northcut has made waves over the past few weeks, including an outstanding performance at PG National, for the strength of his bat and the offensive approach, and while that is very advanced, the defensive skills should not be overlooked either. The Vanderbilt has incredibly quick and soft hands allowing him to handle short hops well and to make exchanges and releases extremely quickly. There were a number of plays when Northcut had to come charging in and got the ball out very quickly to nail the runner at first; these plays also showcased Northcut’s excellent athleticism and the ability to make plays all over the hot corner. His arm strength has been recorded up to 93 mph and gives him another weapon over at third.

Of course, the offense is still very good as well; Northcut only had one hit during Tuesday’s game, which was a smoked single up the middle, but he also hit a very hard line out to center. He generates excellent bat speed through the zone and gets good hip torque which culminates in Northcut’s excellent raw power.

Seigler had an extraordinary game behind the plate and handled the pitching staff extremely well. The first thing that stood out about Seigler’s performance was that his stance behind the plate is so low to the ground and his athleticism allows him to be able to be flexible and agile nonetheless. He moves effortlessly behind the plate and his receiving and framing skills are top notch, as he stole a number of strikes in the game. The catch and throw is very good as well with quick releases and excellent arm strength down to the bag. He has a strong profile at the plate as well with very quick hands and a short, line drive swing which allows hit to pepper line drives to all fields.




Another starter who had his appearance cut short due to rain was the talented Puerto Rican Yeankarlos Lleras (2018, Carolina, Puerto Rico). The frame is a bit short, but there is legitimate arm speed and looseness throughout the arm path to aid on adding in velocity. The fastball sat 89-92 mph during the start and it showed good sink. The arm is remarkable loose and that allows him to whip it through the path very quickly. The Florida Interantional commit used primarily the fastball to attack hitters and when it was the lower third of the strike zone, the late heaviness made it impossible to elevate. He also mixed in a curveball for a secondary pitch that sat in the mid-70s.




The standout performance at the event thus far was the outstanding effort from righthander Cole Wilcox (2018, Chickamauga, Ga.) who provided a spark of energy to the scouting contingent behind the plate in the form of explosive velcocity. The Georgia commit has a large and balanced frame, coming in at 6-foot-5 and 220-pounds, and is extremely strong and durable as well.

The arm action was compact through the back with a slight turn at the top of the gather and a soft stab in the back. He got it though the arm path quickly and cleanly and attacked hitters with his impressive fastball. The pitch sat 93-96 mph while topping out at 97 mph early on and he did a pretty good job at maintaining velocity in the low- to mid-90s throughout the evening. What was more impressive than the velocity was the life the pitch had to it. The fastball broke down and to the arm side and was downright nasty in terms of movement. He shattered multiple bats of righthanded hitters due to the late movement and was his most effective weapon.

Wilcox showed three pitches which included a curveball and changeup. The changeup was very hard and came in the mid-80s topping out at 86 mph, while the curveball looked to be an improved pitch which sat in the low-80s early on. The curveball had very short break to it but was a quality pitch to mix into the repertoire. Wilcox finished with twelve strikeouts in 6.2 innings and took a no-hitter into the fourth; the class of 2018 pitchers in Georgia is very deep, but Wilcox is continuing to show that he is in that elite class.

Talented junior outfielder Andre Tarver (2019, Ringgold, Ga.) also had a strong game at the plate and is one of the early names to know for the 2019 MLB Draft. The Mississippi State commit has an incredibly athletic 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame with plenty of quick twitch athleticism throughout. The athleticism does not impede the strength however, as he has big raw power and arm strength; Tarver registered multiple hang times over 6.0 seconds at this point in the event. He stands spread open at the plate and has excellent bat speed and is very fluid and loose throughout the swing. He creates excellent contact upon impact with the barrel and he laced a 94 mph double to the opposite field during Tuesday’s win for eXposure Prime. Tarver’s run times were also consistently in the 4.1-4.2 second range while topping out at 4.11 seconds which makes him an excellent runner as well.




Closing out the night stretch at LakePoint was Canadian catcher Noah Naylor (2018, Mississauga, Ontario) and he showed some excellent tools. The Texas A&M commit is listed at 6-foot, 195-pounds with plenty of strength on the frame but he is also an outstanding athlete. That athleticism is imperative behind the plate where he showed easy lateral movements and the ability to receive pitches well. The arm strength is also very impressive and he has a knack for instilling fear into runners thinking about stealing second base.

His athleticism translates well to endline speed as he recorded a 4.44 second turn and on a jailbreak to the first baseman, he got down the line in 4.12 seconds, an above-average run time. The swing is short and compact through the zone with good bat speed too; he roped a 97 mph double to the pull-side gap. The swing has some fluidity to it and his barrel control is very impressive. He was fooled by a breaking ball in the dirt and still was able to get the barrel head out in front. Naylor’s skill set is very impressive and when coupled with his athleticism and positional versatility, he is near the top of this year’s crop of prep catchers.

– Vinnie Cervino





Owen White (2018, Mt. Ulla, N.C.) got the start for the South Charlotte Panthers — and the win — as the Panthers moved to 3-1 on the tournament on Tuesday. White went the distance, throwing a complete game shutout allowing only four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

White opened up 88-90 mph with his fastball, doing a good job generating sinking life down in the zone and getting a good deal of weak contact on the ground as a result. He’s a long, lean prospect with long limbs and good projection throughout his physicality, and we’ve seen him throw in the low-90’s frequently in the past, so it’s quite likely that he sits there consistently in the future.

White settled in at around 85-88 mph for the majority of this start and was essentially on cruise control as he just threw sinkers to the bottom of the zone to great effect. He showed a good curveball as well, thrown in the mid-70s with mostly 11-to-5 shape and good depth to the pitch. It’s tunneled well out of his hand and shows no real hump, looking like a fastball before taking a steep dive. He also flashed a changeup in the upper-70s, thrown with good arm speed and some fade.




One of the loudest “oh hello!” performances of the event thus far was what Mike Vasil (2018, Wellesley, Mass.) did on Tuesday afternoon before the rain came to the East Cobb complex. Vasil is a very physical, extremely well-built prospect with strength throughout his body. He throws from a very compact, very fast arm stroke that hides the ball well from hitters until release and gets downhill as well.

Vasil worked consistently in the 92-94 mph range with his fastball, peaking at 95 mph 2-3 times depending on the gun being used. The fastball is explosive out of his hand with solid life and good command within the strike zone, working north/south at will and getting swings and misses all over the zone. The velocity uptick was obviously nice to see, but what really stood out were his improvements in his secondary stuff. His curveball was pretty consistently average, thrown in the mid-70s with big time depth and quality spin. He managed to land it for strikes as well as bury it down out of the zone.

The real revelation was his changeup, thrown in the low-80s and flashing plus at least once. He had no problem throwing it to both right and lefthanded hitters, with fantastic arm speed replication and good life on the pitch to the arm side. He possesses a three pitch mix, all of which project at least average (and likely better) along with good physicality and explosive arm speed; giving him an extremely high upside.

After the rain moved out and play was able to resume, the Cincinnati Spikes and Pro Player Canes locked in battle in what might have been the pivotal game of that pool. The Spikes prevailed 5-0 behind the strength of Nick Hoffman (2019, Centerville, Ohio) on the mound. Hoffman went the distance, shutting out the Canes over seven innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out seven. He did a very good job commanding the strike zone for the most part, and the Clemson commit worked in the 83-87 mph range with his fastball for the duration of his start, touching as high as 88 mph early on.

He really did pound the zone with both his fastball and curveball, throwing from a crossfire delivery and hiding the ball pretty well through the back, though there is a deep plunge to the arm action and the elbow will start to float. He’s a good athlete who repeated his delivery well and showed a swing-and-miss curveball with 11-to-5 shape and quality depth.

He’s just a 2019, a rising junior, but does look like he’s going to be a very quality arm for Clemson when he gets there in a few years.

– Brian Sakowski


Hayden Thomas (2018, Lender, Texas) threw 6 1/3  shutout innings today for the Texas Fire and received the win in their 4-0 victory. Thomas is uncommitted, but that should change soon as he displayed good body control and solid command today on the mound as he only gave up two hits and two walks while striking out six. Thomas has a long delivery and long and effortless arm action and throws with an over the top arm slot. He has a quality fastball with some riding life that runs from 86-89 and pairs that with a hard sweeping slider that runs from 78-81. Thomas gets good depth on his slider and it has a continuous break away from righties, which leads to batters chasing pitches outside of the zone.

Matheu Nelson (2018, Largo, Fla.) is a talented catcher and Florida State commit with an absolute cannon for an arm. Nelson displayed his excellent arm strength in the fourth inning of the Florida Burn morning game as he got his team out of a jam by picking off a runner at first. Nelson moves around the plate very well and shows great receiving skills and each throw made to a bag has great carry and gets to his teammates in a hurry. He went 1-for-3 in the Florida Burn 2018 Platinum Tuesday morning game.

Hunter Fornari (2018, Ponce Inlet, Fla.) is a athletic shortstop and College of Charleston commit. He has a nice, loose and easy swing that gets through the zone with tremendous speed. He has excellent bat control and does a great job of consistently barreling the baseball. Fornari went 2-for-3 with a pair hard singles on Tuesday. He also showcased solid fielding abilities today in the field, making all of his plays at short. He has an athletic, wiry frame with room to grow and build more muscle.

Nathan Smothers (2018, Lakeland, Fla.) continues to display solid pop at the plate as he one-hopped the fence with a double to left field in his first at-bat of his afternoon game at LakePoint. He does a great job of creating consistent, solid launch angle and creating good leverage with his swing to drive the ball to the outfield with power on a line drive plane.

Dru Baker (2018, Tomball, Texas) had an excellent day at the plate Tuesday and led his team to a 10-0 victory. Baker crushed a two-run home run that traveled a distance of 334 feet with an exit velocity of 102 mph. Baker has a mature, muscular frame and uses his upper body strength and strong hands produce good power from the right side of the plate. Baker has a solid, long and balanced swing with good lift and does an excellent job of staying strong on his backside at the point of contact to produce hard contact. Baker went 2-for-3 on the day with 3 RBI. Baker is headed to Texas Tech next fall.

Colten Schild (2018, Greenville, Wis.) went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and four RBI. Schild is a high-energy player, with a short and compact swing that produces solid pop to both sides of the field. He is a great high ball hitter, as he smacked a line drive single in the second inning to left field on a high away fastball and hit a hard line drive triple to the fence on a high and in fastball in the fifth. Schild has a small, athletic frame and is headed to Saint Louis University in the fall of 2018.

Micah Pietila Wiggs (2018, Chula Vista, Calif.) is an uncommitted outfielder with great athleticism and solid bat speed for the San Diego Show. Pietila-Wiggs went 2-for-3 with a two-run homerun and four RBI. He barrels the baseball well and has great bat speed, as he turned on a inside pitch in the fifth inning and sent it 340 feet over the fence in left field with a exit velocity of 89 mph, and he also hit a two-run line drive single in the sixth with an exit velocity of 91 mph. Pietila-Wiggs hits with an open and slightly crouched stance and does a good job of whipping the bat hard through the strike zone and maintaining a strong balance on his frontside at the point of contact.

Garret Nielsen (2018, Alpine, Calif.) displayed his power ability as he hit a towering solo shot over the scoreboard in the San Diego Show 9-3 victory on Tuesday. Nielsen has a large frame and excellent upper body strength and got his hands extended and put his whole body into his homer as it traveled 379 feet with a exit velocity of 95 mph. Nielsen is currently uncommitted, but that should change pretty soon by the end of this tournament.

– Brandon Lowe



Starting the day, Alerick Soularie (2017, Humble, Texas) came into play batting .571 for the tournament, and perfect in his previous two games. Tuesday proved to be just another day at the ballpark, as he finished with yet another perfect outing, 2-for-2, drawing a walk and hitting an absolute rocket of a home run well over the fence and into the trees that extend beyond.

There is a lot to like about Soularie and he is showing his skill-set day by day so scouts and coaches are getting an opportunity to watch him. A San Jacinto Community College commit, he features an athletic, lean build, listed at 6-foot, and he looks like an athlete from just one glance. His body is projectable, and he should continue to get stronger and his frame will hold muscle well. Utilizing quick hands, his swing is easy and on a solid line drive plane, and flashed more raw power today for his second home run of the tournament. However, Soularie’s game expands dimensionally as he has very good speed on the basepaths. At the PG National a year ago, he logged a 6.71 60-yard dash and continues to showcase his speed with yet another stolen base Tuesday morning. He will definitely be one to watch as he continues to develop in junior college.




Drew Bianco (2018, Oxford, Miss.) was a sight to see in the three innings the Lousiana Knights Black played yesterday prior to rain postponing the action. Despite not even finishing half of the game, scouts still got a pretty good sample size of what the Louisiana State University commit can do. In three plate appearances, Bianco went yard twice – both no-doubters – one on a fastball and the other an easy stroke on a hanging breaking ball. He features a medium, athletic frame; not the most imposing frame, but packs a punch. He generates explosiveness utilizing torque from his lower half, has quick wrists, solid swing path, and very good bat speed. The result: consistent barrel and hard contact. An excellent runner as well, Bianco’s swing and body will continue to mature, and has all of the tools present to be scary for opposing pitchers at the next level.

Bayden Root (2018, Kokomo, Ind.) showed off his versatility for a number of scouts and coaches in attendance Tuesday afternoon, and did so effectively. The primary third baseman is known more for his smooth glove work and bat speed; however, he was slotted to toe the rubber as the starter for Scorpions 2018 Prime Tuesday afternoon. At 6-foot-3, the South Carolina commit showed poise and balance on the mound, showing a fastball that ranged from 88-91 mph and a slider that has the potential to be a decent pitch. His effortless delivery has good balance on the mound, he pitches downhill and generates sink on his fastball from his plane. He finished the day with five strikeouts in four innings, allowing only one hit in the process. Root showed all the tools to possibly be effective in a dual role at the college level.

– Travis Clark



From a physical standpoint alone, you cannot stand out much more than how Triston Casas (2018, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) does. He stands tall and athletic at 6-foot-4 238-pounds with lots of strength in his frame. His bat speed is not overly fast, but the strength and raw power of Casas makes up for it. In Tuesday’s contest he put his power on display as he connected on a majestic 101 mph 399-foot home run to left field. The University of Miami commit has a slight lift in his swing and leg kick trigger with a high back elbow. He stands with a wide, athletic base, slightly crouched with a decent weight transfer, before bringing the bat through the zone. When on time, Casas can show with his bat why he is the No. 1 third baseman in his class as he did Tuesday.

Adrian Del Castillo (2018, Miami, Fla.), a teammate of Triston Casas on Elite Squad Prime and future teammate of his for the Miami Hurricanes, also showed big-time skills with the bat on Tuesday. Del Castillo showed off multiple tools in Tuesday’s 8-4 win, showing off his good speed on top of having a  big day with the bat. The primary catcher made the most of his second inning at-bat with a towering 94 mph exit velocity 356-foot home run to right field. In his next at-bat, the lefthanded hitter showed off his quick hands and excellent bat speed by ripping a 102 mph exit velocity triple to the right-center field gap. As Del Castillo rounded first he was clocked at 4.25 seconds with the turn.

Brandon Neeck (2018, Chappaqua, N.Y.) came in in one inning of relief for Tri State Arsenal with an electric lefthanded arm that produced low effort low-90s fastballs. Neeck lived at the knees to his arm side and missed to his glove side when he did miss. The delivery is just from the stretch where he shows both explosiveness and an easy online plane and he throws a heavy ball with occasional sinking action. Neeck, a University of Virginia commit, has outstanding arm speed. He shows a long arm action before delivering from a high three-quarters arm slot. He also flashed a hard-biting 83 mph slider that he buried the one time he threw it in the inning. Neeck’s ceiling is incredibly high.




Riley Greene (2019, Oviedo, Fla.) is the sixth-ranked player in the 2019 class, and with good reason, as his ceiling is incredibly high. Early on in the game he did not get any pitches to hit while walking twice. After a long rain delay, FTB Tucci Berryhill exploded for 13 runs in the third inning and Greene unloaded on a ball to right field for a home run. The ball traveled 368 feet while leaving his bat at 99 mph. Greene has an uphill swing and his able to lift the ball into the air when on time with his leg kick trigger. His bat speed is advanced with quick hands. The University of Florida commit is an outfielder with solid defensive actions as well.

University of North Carolina commit Will Schroeder (2018, Leesburg, Va.) is an outstanding player and he showed off his skills in each area of the game on Tuesday. His physicality is noticeable in his tall and lean build. The primary shortstop started at third base and looked like a natural at the position. His actions and instincts are good and his arm is impressive. Early in the game on a chopper with funky spin from the LakePoint turf, Schroeder made a quick heads up play to realize he could not charge the ball and make the play so he had to react to the spin and rely on his strong arm to nab the runner at first by half a step. And then Schroeder showed off his bat at the plate with a 380-foot fly ball double to dead center field that left his bat at 97 mph. Shroeder has next-level tools in his arm, glove and bat.

– Gregory Gerard
PG Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.