3/2/2016

A trio of High School games moved over to LakePoint on Wednesday night after heavy rains the night before. Walton took on North Paulding, Cass played Creekview and McEachern played East Paulding. A pair of talented players, Alex Speas of McEachern and Carter Kieboom of Walton, ranked #2 and #3 respectively in the state of Georgia were both in action.

The standouts from tonight's action include:

Sr. RHP Alex Speas, Mceachern High School

Speas has been on the national scene as a potential day one draft pick for some time. The tall, lean right-hander stand at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds and is doused in physical projection.  Speas works from a high three-quarter arm slot with a long, loose arm action on the mound and lands on-line. He does not incorporate his lower-half much in delivery, hurting his extension. Speas' trademark has always been his electrifying arm speed with a fastball that touched 97 mph at this past June's PG National Showcase. On Wednesday night, Speas showed the same arm speed and strength, working his fastball between 93-95 mph and topping out at 96 several times throughout his four innings on the mound. His fastball showed good arm-side wiggle as well as heavy action down in the zone allowing him to miss barrels. What has hampered Speas in the past is his fastball command, tonight was no different. He struggled locating to either side of the plate at the start of the game and was hurt by leaving the ball over the middle of the plate and giving up loud double. His command did improve throughout and he battled on the mound, elevating his fastball to generate a swing and miss. The most impressive thing Speas did tonight was show his curveball had the potential to be a plus pitch. He snapped off a pair of 11-5 shaped 80 mph breakers that froze two East Paulding hitters for strikeouts looking. Both of those curveballs were picked up with an RPM at or near 3000, showing exceptionally tight spin. For as good as the pitch looked in flashes, it also looked like it could just be a spinner offering. The consistency with his arm-speed at release will determine how effective the pitch ultimately is. Speas also worked in a changeup in the outing topping out at 90 mph and flashed sink. Like the curveball, the changeup was inconsistent as he often changed his arm-speed, but he did do well to keep the pitch low in the zone. Not a single person in attendance on Wednesday night believes that Speas' is future is anywhere but the mound, but the right-hander did deliver a pair of extra base hits, including the go-ahead homer in extra innings to secure the McEachern win. 

For video of Speas, please follow this link.

Sr. SS Carter Kieboom, Walton High School

The 6-foot-2 185 pound, strongly built Kieboom delivered as the Raiders' three-hole hitter with a 1/3 day at the plate with a single. Kieboom showed the same very impressive bat speed he's had since he first started attending PG events. His ability to match plane through the zone and to time his barrel release allow him to consistently make hard contact, with an all-fields approach. He's well balanced through his weight transfer with good explosion in his lower half to the ball. In the field, Kieboom showed really smooth actions at short with a strong arm across the infield. He should be able to stay on the left side of the infield at Clemson or in pro-ball, but if he adds strength and muscle he could easily move over to third. He moves well down the line with average speed, clocked at 4.25 from home to first base. He uses that speed well on the bases, going first to third very easily.