2/23/2017 12:00:00 AM
Thursday was a bit lighter on the schedule but still saw two one-run games at Perfect Game Park. North Oconee squared off against Hiram while North Paulding faced off against Dunwoody.



North Oconee tabbed their ace to start on the mound as the no. 1 ranked prospect for the 2018 class, per Perfect Game, Kumar Rocker (Watkinsville, Ga.) looked to get the Titans the victory. Rocker opened up the game by sitting 90-92 mph early on and wearing out the strike zone with fastballs. He commanded the pitch very well on the evening and the fastball had late, heavy life down in the strike zone. The Vanderbilt signee mixed in few offspeed pitches but showed a hard changeup in the low-80s and a breaking ball with sharp, late break and tight spin. Despite it being February, Rocker looked as polished as ever racking up strikeouts as the opposing hitters could not match up against the high-velocity fastball. He showed outstanding arm speed and the arm action was very clean throughout the delivery. He still throws with almost no effort and he looked very impressive during his outing. Rocker racked up eight strikeouts in just four innings of work as he allowed only one hit throughout his performance and helped secure the 1-0 victory. The junior campaign is often one of the most important seasons for high school prospects and the no. 1 prospect in the class showed once again what makes him so special of a talent on Thursday night.

Pitching in their game against North Paulding was righthander Josh Hudgins (2018, Dunwoody, Ga.) and Hudgins helped keep a scoreless tie going late in the game. Hudgins stands on the mound at a listed 6-foot-1, 199-pounds with a very athletic build loaded with quick twitch. The delivery consisted of a simple side step and leg lift into the release of the pitch with a loose arm action throughout. Hudgins throws across the front side of his body but has a lower three-quarter arm slot and a crossfire element to his landing to work with which allowed some deception to opposing hitters. He mixed in few offspeed pitches and primarily relied on a fastball, which sat from 83-86 mph topping out at 87 mph, that had some late arm side life. He worked both sides of the plate effectively, pounded the zone with strikes, and worked very quickly on the mound. Hudgins would ultimately not factor into the decision, North Paulding won on a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth, but the uncommitted arm showed a lot of promising tools during his performance.