Bishop McGuiness (OK) @ Muskogee (OK)

-Muskogee sophomore shortstop Trayvon Hughes, who has shown well in both Muskogee games I’ve seen, stood out with the bat on Wednesday. He shows a young, projectable frame but packs a punch at the plate. He tripled up the RCF gap, turned in a 4.43 turn time, and turned on the afterburners as he coasted into 3B. He has a quality approach with good bat speed, and is only going to get stronger as he develops.

Fossil Ridge (CO) @ Millennium (AZ)

-Fossil Ridge senior Codi Heuer, a 6’4” prospect who oozes projectability, had an overall good showing from a projection/scouting perspective, even though the results weren’t what he was looking for. As stated, he stands 6’4” and weighs in around 180 with lots of room for physical growth and added strength. He’s a lanky kid with long levers, which he uses to create good extension out front in his delivery. He worked in the 83-85 range, touched 86 a few times, and showed the ability to generate good sink down in the zone, though the sinking action lacked overall consistency. Also showed the ability to truly get downhill and generate significant plane; though that lacked consistency as well. Throws from high ¾ slot with some effort though it’s not violent, showed a shorter slider in the 79-80 range that he has feel for, and overall looked the part of a potential legitimate college starter.

-Millennium starter Tyler Christensen got the better of Heuer in terms of the matchup, as the junior righty showed a good ability to throws tons of strikes with both his 80-82 MPH fastball and his 11/5 CB. The curveball is easily the out pitch, as Christensen was comfortable throwing it for strikes and down out of the zone as a chase pitch. He pounded the zone all afternoon and just kept the Fossil Ridge hitters off balance.

Victory Christian (OK) @ Juneau Douglas (AK)

-Sophomore RHP Bryce Swofford, a 15-year-old starting pitcher, got the nod for Juneau. He’s listed at 5’6” 150 pounds and left-handed in the program. He is none of those things, as he stands around 6’6”-6’7”, weighs in the projectable 180 pound range, and is most definitely a right-handed sophomore (per both his coach and his family). He didn't end up with the results he may have wanted from his start, but he opened my eyes as someone we should be paying attention to. He worked in the 79-82 range for most of his outing, touching 83, and showed significant arm side life and sink on his fastball. Throws from a ¾ slot and uses his height to generate significant plane. His command was a bit inconsistent, as he too often left fastballs up in the strike zone where he got hit, but on the whole showed excellent projection. He won’t turn 16 until the summer, which puts him in the “young for grade” category amongst the class of 2017. He’s definitely one to watch over the next couple years, especially as he fills out and develops physically.

-Victory Christian senior Alex Valverde put together a few quality at bats, showcasing a smooth stroke from the left side with good gap power, highlighted by a 2 RBI double up the gap in RCF. He turned on a fastball and drove it with power. Strong build, solid athleticism, drew a walk as well, showed good approach with feel for the zone. Good performance.

Shadow Ridge (AZ) @ Valley Vista (AZ)

-This was easily the best game of the day, as the two Arizona schools really went at each other with excellent pitching, good defense, and timely hitting (from one team, at least)

-Valley Vista senior Terrance Robertson had a relatively quiet day at the plate, drawing a walk and turning in a 4.2 time down the line on a groundball, but it wasn't a true dig. He also went a long ways to track down a fly ball in RCF, but that’s expected at this point.

-Senior right-hander Koty Fallon started for Valley Vista, and despite taking the loss, was really good. He’s the fastest worker I’ve ever witnessed at the prep level, just grabbing the ball and throwing it. His coach calls the pitches from the dugout, so as soon as the catcher flashed the sign, Fallon was into his delivery and firing. He’s a big kid, standing 6’4” and weighing in at a strong 200 pounds, and works from ¾ slot with a stiffer arm action. Absolutely pounded the zone at 83-86, up to 88, showed the ability to work both sides of the plate with his fastball and elevate when needed. He threw, realistically, 85-90% fastballs. Showed a curveball in the low 70’s, though it lacked the command of his fastball, and he got hurt by leaving it up a few times.

-Shadow Ridge started junior righty Fabian Villegas, a 6’3’ prospect who maybe didn't have the flash of Fallon, but ended up beating him anyways. Villegas went the distance for Shadow Ridge, throwing a complete game shutout. He held his velocity all game, working comfortably around 78-82, touching 83 a few times (including in the 7th inning). He threw strikes consistently, mixed and matched with a slurvy breaking ball that he threw for strikes, and just really competed well.

Yesterday might have only been the third day of the tournament but you’ll be hard pressed to find a more dominating performance than the one sophomore right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi turned in for Skyline High School last night. With a well-built, highly athletic 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame, the Oregon commit is listed as a primary shortstop in the program and the athleticism shows fielding his position off the mound, but it looks like the rubber is where his future is.

Much like fellow Arizona sophomore Matt Schroer, Vander Kooi has continued to make strides on the mound and looks like he has taken the next step forward, even from earlier this summer. And the strides he has made in the last year are worth noting as I saw him at this event last year where he topped out at 83 mph and projected for more. He has in fact taken his game to the next level, never throwing a pitch below 84 mph and still touched 87-88 mph in the 7^th inning.

As noted above, Vander Kooi is also a strong shortstop with a high level of athleticism, something that helps him repeat his delivery and pound the strike zone while on the mound. Coming out early, the future Duck sat in the 86-89 mph with hard, whiffle ball like life on his fastball. He did a nice job working both sides of the plate and did a particularly solid job of commanding his glove side, bringing the pitch back over the outer half to right-handed hitters.

Vander Kooi’s arm action is very compact in the back and extremely fast coming through the zone, generating his velocity rather effortlessly with heavy life and downhill plane. He cuts himself off out front with his landing foot and always has, but it’s of no concern as he uses it to his advantage, creating angle and making for that much more of an uncomfortable at-bat. His strong frame allows him to maintain his velocity both from the stretch and over the course of a game, still popping 89 mph out of the stretch in the fifth inning.

Though he didn’t throw much more than his fastball during the outing, he did throw both a changeup and his curveball, each showing interesting potential. The changeup is more advanced of the two and shows excellent potential, already showing above average life in the 80-82 mph down in the zone. Mimicking his fastball through his arm action and out of his hand, Vander Kooi generates nice fading life with late diving action. He only threw two curveballs in the game, each with two strikes and shows depth in the mid-70s. And only fitting, Vander Kooi drove in the first and only run of the game with a sharply hit ground ball through the 5-6 hole.

Final line: Seven innings, no hits, no walks, one three-ball count, 11 strikeouts, 76 pitches and only 15 balls.

Vander Kooi wasn’t the only impressive arm to take the mound on Wednesday, as the game between Jenks (OK) and Mountain Ridge (AZ) featured two highly interesting arms.

A long and lean right-hander with broad shoulders and plenty of room to add strength, senior Justin Revels took the ball for Mountain Ridge and once he settled in after the first inning he was dominant. The Grand Canyon commit does a nice job of controlling his long levers and 6-foot-5 frame, staying balanced through his delivery and repeats it well.

Throughout the game Revels sat comfortably in the mid-80s throughout and touched a tick higher, showing a short and quick arm action with downhill plane. The ball comes out of his hand well and he’ll continue to add velocity as he continues to fill out. After a very quick second inning, Revels locked in and began pounding both sides of the plate, working in and out with intent and missed bats. Revels’ curveball also developed and he showed two different versions of the pitch. The first variation was thrown in the low-70s and showed bigger shape with depth and tight spin. The other curveball was thrown harder, in the 75-77 mph range with equally as tight spin but harder and later break, serving as a swing and miss offering, especially to right-handed hitters.

A University of Arkansas commit, Jenks senior right-hander Barrett Loseke is an easy frame to project, standing with a lean 6-foot, 155-pounds, allowing his impressive stuff to take another step forward. As it is now, Loseke came out showing a very short and compact arm action with a high slot release and a fast arm, getting on top of the ball well with downhill plane.

He worked both sides of the plate well with his fastball, sitting 86-89 mph, touching 90 frequently over the early innings with solid run to his arm side down in the zone. The delivery is very simple and repeats it well for the most part, allowing him to fill up the strike zone while mixing in his off speed. With a distinct difference in both shape and velocity on his curveball/slider, he mixed both throughout his outing. The curveball shows 12-6 shape in the low-70s while his slider features short, vertical break in the 75-77 mph range down in the zone. His changeup shows the best potential with proper spin and late fading life, a pitch that will continue to develop as he fills out his frame.

Kellis senior center fielder Tyler Williams is one of the top draft prospects in the state of Arizona and has been on the national radar ever since the 2015 rankings were released a couple of years ago. It’s been fun to watch Williams develop and looks like he has become even stronger and more athletic than the last time I saw him. With a broad and long 6-foot-3 frame, Williams is a big time athlete who shows 6.5 60-speed and turns in above average times down the first base line.

He showed an aggressive approach in the box yesterday, jumping on first pitch fastballs in each of his first two at-bats, going with the outer half pitch with big strength to the opposite field. The swing path is fluid and he showed comfort going in the opposite field, evidenced in yesterday’s performance. In his third at-bat, he took a first pitch curveball for a strike before seeing curveballs the next two pitches and made an adjustment before hitting a groundball to shortstop. The speed made an impact on this particular play, forcing the shortstop to hurry and rush through his actions. His speed helped manufacture the first run of the game too, reaching with a single to opposite field in his second at-bat before swiping second base on the very next pitch. From one Williams to another, junior infielder Justin Williams, Tyler’s younger brother, drove in his brother one a single through the 5-6 hole and a hard hit ground ball. Though listed as a primary third baseman, the younger Williams as playing shortstop where he showed actions and tools, particularly in his hands, which are quick and soft, helping to start a key double play for Kellis to get out of an inning.