Preston Welchel (2019, Cartersville, Ga.) was impressive with the bat this weekend. He has many top schools currently interested in him and showcased why as he displayed a strong ability to barrel the baseball. He hits with a lightly open stance, high back elbow and leg kick trigger and does a great job of keeping his hands silent and still which helps create a quicker and smooth swing path to the baseball. He also does a great job of using his lower half and has good body control, with great ability to be able to position his body and swing perfectly underneath the baseball and create quality leverage in his swing.
Mitchell Gross (2019, Gainesville, Ga.) is a UGA commit and lefthanded pitcher with a very crafty fastball. Gross has a slow, balanced delivery and curls his front leg before committing to home plate. He throws with an over the top arm slot and quick arm action that produces an above average fastball with great arm-side run and excellent movement. He paired it with an above-average curve that has hard, late sharp 12-to-6 break that produces plenty of swings and misses. Gross was up to 86, but sat mostly from 82-84 mph. Gross struck out seven in four innings.
Blake Money (2020, Spring Hill, Tenn.) is a talented Alabama commit with a high ceiling and projectable frame. Money is listed at 6-foot-6, 220-pounds, with a long lower half, broad shoulders and mature frame. He throws with an over-the-top arm angle and solid, effortless long arm action. He does a great job of throwing downhill and throws a quality fastball with good life that topped out at 87 and sat in the mid-80s during his three innings of relief. He showed good feel for his curve, as it flashed potential with solid, long 11-to-5 break. Sometimes, the break would spin slow, but he was able to produce some quality, tight breaking curves that froze hitters as he worked three scoreless innings of relief, striking out six and walked zero hitters. He showed a decent changeup that still needs development, with decent fade and some arm-side run. His curve sat in the low-70s, while changeup was at mostly 74. He throws the change up with a high three-quarters arm slot.
Jake Gooch (2019, Cartersville, Ga.) has some very good projectable stuff on the mound as he throws with very quick arm action and can change arm slots to get hitters off balanced and still effectively throw strikes. Gooch throws with an online delivery and throws mostly with an over the top arm slot. His fastball sat in the mid-80s most of the game, reaching up to with excellent life. He possesses two quality off-speed pitches in his curveball and his changeup. His curveball has great, tight spin and big depth with hard 11-to-5 break and his changeup has very quick fade and dips under the batters bat as it reaches the plate. Gooch will be heading to Georgia Tech in the fall of 2019.
Spencer Keefe (2019, Canton, Ga.) is a strong infielder who swings from the right side of the plate. He has a big upper body, with a very physical frame. He has a big leg kick as his trigger and has a hard, level swing. He showed a great ability to consistently barrel the baseball, but has to work on creating more strength at the point of contact. He makes consistent contact and rarely swings and misses at the baseball.
Bryce Lawrence (2019, Dallas, Ga.) continues to impress in travel ball, as he has a medium frame, with room to still fill out and grow stronger. He has a hard, uppercut swing and does a tremendous job of creating strength and power at the point of contact. He sprays the ball to both sides of the field well with no problem.
Jackson Phipps (2020, Dallas, Ga.) was up to 91 today on the mound for the 6-4-3 team in their playoff loss earlier Sunday Morning. Phipps has a tall, solid frame and broad shoulders with a mature build. He does a great job of using his long lower half to push off the mound create good extension to the plate and does a great job of using his height to throw downhill. Phipps showed an impressive knack for working the lower half of the strike zone. He flashed two off speed pitches that still need some development, as he struggled to command both during his outing. His curveball has movement like a slurve, with big depth at times and slow, late 1-to-7 break. His changeup had decent fade, but he would sometimes slow his body down when throwing it. Phipps is young and definitely has time to develop his stuff and has several top college programs currently interested in him.
Noah Ledford (2018, Buford, Ga.) had a very productive and outstanding summer and has carried over his success into the fall as well. Ledford was an important piece in Team Elite 18u Prime winning this weekend’s tournament as he kept the bat hot during the playoff rounds and has consistently shown he is a clutch hitter who can get the job done and come through most of the time when runners are in scoring position. The Georgia Southern commit does a great job of using his large frame and upper body strength to produce great power at the point of contact and repeat his swing to create constant hard contact and line drives to both gaps in the outfield. He went 3-for-7 with five RBI during his three playoff games on Sunday.
Jack Friedman (2018, Decatur, Ga.) is a Georgia Tech commit with a thick build and big arm. He was up to with his fastball on Sunday, working mostly in the upper-80s. Friedman fastball has great life as he throws it with very solid, fast arm action. He likes to really get back and bend on his back leg to hide the baseball and also create an excellent plane to drive the ball hard to home plate. He paired it with an above average curve that has good spin and good depth with hard, 12-to-6 break.
Brett Thomas (2019, Atlanta, Ga.) threw an inning of relief for the Cougars in their Sunday playoff game. Thomas has very quick arm action and snaps his wrist hard to produce excellent movement and spin on each pitch he throws. He throws a plus slider with great spin, that breaks both planes with sharp downward break on hitters that produces a lot of swings and misses and ran from 76-78. He sat mostly from 86-88 with his fastball and has excellent run, creating easy groundball contact. Thomas does a great job of getting on top of the ball and has great command and feel for all three pitches. He also threw a solid, hard changeup that sat at 80 with decent fade, but good hard arm-side run.
– Brandon Lowe
Fresh off of his commitment to Georgia Tech, Andrew Jenkins (2019, Atlanta, Ga.) wasted no time showing off his power in his first game of the Southeast Qualifier. Jenkins drove a ball out to the left-center field gap for a home run that left his bat at 94 mph and traveled 370 feet. Jenkins has a unique batting stance in that he crouches slightly and really opens up on his setup. The hands sit low in a very relaxed position, but the quick hands and consistent barrel contact proves that the stance will play. Jenkins is also a very good defender at the hot corner with good instincts and solid fielding actions.
Mason Kearney (2019, Roswell, Ga.) came out of the bullpen for 643 DP 17u Cougars Saturday firing on all cylinders especially with his late-biting curveball. He showed excellent command for the secondary pitch that he seemed to able to throw in any count. Kearney liked throwing the tight curveball early in the count pitching backwards to most batters. He pitched exclusively from the stretch with long arm action and a fastball that ran up to 89 mph and sat 85-88 mph. Kearney is a 2019 righthanderd pitcher that is uncommitted with some upside in his 5-foot-11, 198-pound frame.
Friday night I got to take my first look at Ramsey David (2019, Dacula, Ga.) who really impressed for Team Elite 17u Prime. The tall and lanky righthander sat 85-88 mph working a quick inning throwing just 10 pitches. David has a long limbs and he uses his long arms nicely to create a loose and longer arm action. The Auburn commit has an over-the-top arm slot and consistently pounded the zone with the fastball. He only threw the aforementioned 10 pitches so the need for an offspeed pitch was unnecessary. From the looks of David’s command, velocity, and physicality at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds, the 2019 graduate looks to be a highly projectable player as he continues to fill out.
From one Team Elite Prime pitcher to the other, Gavin Collyer (2019, Buford, Ga.) closed out the last two innings of the 2-1 win. Collyer, like David, pounded the strike zone working a quick sixth inning striking out two and running his fastball up to 88 mph. The skinny righthander sat 85-88 mph with tempo in delivery. He creates plane and works downhill with little effort and long and easy arm action. The Clemson commit has sink to his fastball coming from a three-quarters slot as well. The command of Collyer was outstanding as well. Collyer and David are both weapons for the Team Elite pitching staff.
Cooper Davidson (2018, Alpharetta, Ga.) is a big-bodied righthanded pitcher standing at 6-foot-5, 225-pounds. Davidson got the start on Friday night for Team Elite 18u Prime and threw pretty well throwing strikes and mixing speeds. His fastball worked in the 86-89 mph range with varying life to both arm side and showing signs of sink. Davidson throws with intent from a three-quarters arm slot that is tough on righthanded hitters. The Austin Peay commit has tight arm action with a good hip turn. Davidson does stride short for his size, but that does not take away his solid extension. He mixed in a curveball that showed potential in the low-70s and flashed a sinking upper-70s changeup. Davidson threw five strong innings allowing three hits and striking out seven.
Connor Pavolony (2018, Woodstock, Ga.) is an outstanding defensive catcher who can swing the bat as well. Behind the plate, Pavolony has all the tools to be a big-time catcher. From receiving to framing to sub-2.00-sec pop times, Pavolony shows that he can do it all. At the plate, the University of Tennessee commit showed the ability throughout the tournament to consistently hit for contact and mostly hard contact at that. He stands at the plate with a wide base, high hand-set, small leg kick trigger with a comfortable crouched stance. The bat speed is there and the contact is loud as the bat whips through the hitting zone with leverage and big power potential.
Jackson “Sonny” Dichiara (2018, Hoover, Ala.) showed big power at the plate when he connected on a belt high fastball for a home run over the left field fence. Dichiara has a lift in his swing and with his strength, when he connects the ball will go a long ways in a hurry. The home run he hit Friday was registered on TrackMan at 95 mph leaving his bat and traveled a distance of 359 feet. The Samford commit had the home run and a flyball in the game that both registered hang times greater than six seconds.
Cain Tatum (2019, Dacula, Ga.) took the ball Saturday in a start for Team Elite 17u Prime. The University of Georgia commit has long limbs standing at 6-foot-8, 185-pounds with lots of room to fill. Tatum generates good velocity sitting 84-87 mph touching 88 mph, but with some added strength, the tall righthander could throw really hard. His arm action is effortless and loose coming from a high three-quarters arm slot and slight crossfire delivery. Tatum’s fastball did show life to the arm side as well. The off-speed pitch of choice for the future Bulldog is a curveball that he maintains arm speed of, but the pitch is still developing strong bite. The ceiling is very high for Tatum who I believe will be a very interesting arm in the 2019 class with more development.
A pair of Gillilands showed signs of good pitch ability for the Triton Rays. Michael Gilliland (2018, Boaz, Ala.) is a lefthander committed to Jacksonville State that sat in the 83-87 mph range, touching 88. The delivery is deceptive with good back leg drive. He also mixed in a solid changeup in the upper-70s and a curveball in the low-70s that showed potential. Michael consistently kept hitters off balance with a solid three-pitch mix.
The other Gilliland, Jacob Gilliland (2018, Ocean Springs, Miss.), came in firing out of the bullpen filling up the zone with his fastball in the upper-80s. Jacob did touch 90 mph on one pitch with a long arm action. The uncommitted righthander flashed a tight curveball in the mid-70s as well. Each Gilliland will make excellent additions to their respective future college programs.
Jonathan Edwards (2018, Stockbridge, Ga.) is a righthanded arm to keep an eye on. At 6-foot-6, 180-pounds with lots of projectability, he has the type of physicality that scouts love to see. The delivery and arm action are very clean as well sitting 85-89 mph with more to come. He does his best Marcus Stroman impersonation on the mound as well mixing up speeds and timing to the plate. The arm is very loose and effortless as well which helps my thought of the aforementioned “more to come.” Edwards filled up the strike zone in his start on Saturday. The command was pinpoint with his mostly straight fastball. The uncommitted righty mixed in a slider with sharp downward bite as well. Edwards pitched extremely well in this game taking a very unfortunate loss.
The East Cobb Astros brought two solid arms to the bump in starter Andrew Moore (2018, Flovilla, Ga.) and reliever Zach McManus (2018, Canton, Ga.). Moore started the game and pitched well and showed why he is committed to Georgia Tech. The righthander sat 87-89 mph and maintained that velo range throughout his four scoreless innings. Moore lived at the knees in the lower half of the strike zone with his fastball that showed occasional armside life. Moore lets go of the ball from a three-quarters arm slot with a long and easy arm action that is pretty effortless. The Georgia Tech commit has an athletic 6-foot-5, 207-poumd frame getting solid extension around seven feet downhill. Moore also mixed a curveball that he showed he can spin well in the low-70s.
McManus has shown all summer that he can pound the strike zone in, out, up and down. McManus relieved Moore in the fifth inning tossing three scoreless innings of relief striking out seven and allowing one hit. McManus has a big build sitting 87-89 mph touching 90 mph striking out the first four batters he faced with all fastballs. He throws with little effort and tight arm action that hides the ball well through the back side before coming from a high three-quarters arm slot. His fastball shows short sinking action. He also throws a tight 12-to-6 curveball with a good spin rate of 2200-rpms and hard bite. McManus is uncommitted but has all of the ability on the mound to pitch at the Division I level.
The semifinals for the East Cobb Astros brought Garrett Wade (2018, Hartselle, Ala.) to the mound. This was my second time seeing the Auburn commit on the mound and each time he has been impressive. The southpaw’s velocity range was consistently in the upper-80s and did touch 90 mph once. Wade throws easy with a fast and tight arm action and high three-quarters arm slot. His crossfire delivery is smooth and the ball jumps out of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound lefthander’s hand. Wade also mixed a short-breaking slider in the low-80s that showed lots of potential to be a big-time swing-and-miss pitch. Wade will be continuing his baseball career at Auburn University next fall.
I have seen Ryan Suppa (2019, Acworth, Ga.) pitch on many occasions throughout this summer. This outing he was not quite up to the low-90s mph mark that I have seen him up to before, but he was just a tick under that reaching 89 mph on multiple occasions. Suppa sat 87-89 mph with a flash of sinking life. Suppa flashed a curveball at 71 mph as well. His mechanics are unique with a pretty high hand separation and slightly bent over set position. He does create plane in his delivery with clean and loose arm action from a three-quarters arm slot. Suppa is an uncommitted righthanded arm with upside.
After Suppa was relieved, Cooper Stinson (2018, Peachtree Corners, Ga.) came in and probably showed the most projectability of any pitcher that I saw this weekend. The tall 6-foot-6, 225-pound righthander from Norcross High School lived in the low-90s with a plus curveball that has an average spin rate of 2400 rpms. Stinson throws with such ease as well. He throws exclusively from the stretch with clean and effortless arm action. His delivery is very fluid and online. Stinson is best when he gets ahead early in counts with his fastball that is mostly straight and can use his tight curveball to create swings and misses. Stinson is committed to Navy.
The championship of the Southeast Qualifier was an all Team Elite matchup and the standout from the game was Parker Meadows (2018, Grayson, Ga.). Meadows has been on the Perfect Game scene for quite some time now and has shown off his speed and ability to swing the bat in multiple events. Meadows did that again in Sunday’s championship game going opposite field for a 5.71-second 94 mph, 370-foot home run to left-center. The Clemson commit also showed potential on the mound in the semifinals up to 88 mph to close out the game throwing all fastballs.
– Greg Gerard