3/6/2017 12:08:02 PM
Righthander Ethan Howard (2017 Elig, Prophetstown, Ill.) started the first game for the University of Illinois-Springfield and put together a dominant outing for the Stars. Howard finished with a complete game-seven inning shutout while allowing only four hits on the afternoon. He used a three-pitch arsenal but attacked hitters early on with his fastball. The pitch sat 88-90 mph for the first few innings with late cut to the pitch as well. The faseball generated a lot of swings and misses and he commanded the pitch well to both sides of the plate. He held his velocity well late into the game and was consistently around 87 mph during the seventh. Howard had some deception to the delivery and threw from a high three-quarter slot with little effort. The changeup traveled in the high-70s with not much movement but was an effective change of pace pitch. The curveball was inconsistent at times but his best curveballs were nasty ones. The pitch flashed tight spin and some depth when he got on top of the pitch. 

South Forsyth had a long day that saw the War Eagles play in two extra inning games. During the first game for them, righthander Cooper Davidson (2018, Alpharetta, Ga.) came in during the eighth inning to try to preserve the tie and give his team a chance to come back and win. Davidson hit 90 mph early on and peppered opponents with fastballs consistently in the high-80s. Davidson has a large, physical presence on the mound with a tight arm action and threw from a lower three-quarter arm slot.The fastball was his primary weapon and the pitch had heaviness with some short arm side run to it as well. The approach on the mound was to generate weakly hit ground balls and that worked very well for Davidson on Saturday afternoon. The velocity would drop in the stretch but he was able to spot his fastballs low in the zone to generate ground balls. He mixed in a changeup and curveball as well and both secondaries are still developing into being future weapons. 

6-foot-4 lefthander Jared Tobey (2017 Elig., St. Clair, Mich.) got the start for Wayne State in the first game of their doubleheader and was effective early on. Tobey had a pretty loose arm action and had a crossfire element to his landing. He created good angle on his fastball but had an inconsistent release point at times and thus left some hittable pitches up in the zone. The fastball sat from 88-90 mph with some arm side wiggle to the pitch. Tobey was at his most effective when he commanded the pitch over the inner half of the plate and was very difficult on same-handed hitters. The most impressive pitch in Tobey's arsenal was his curveball. The pitch had incredible depth and he showed a consistent feel to spin the pitch during his entire outing. The pitch worked well for both swings and misses and called strikes, but it was most useful on two-strike counts as a legitimate weapon. Tobey also had a very deceptive pickoff move to first base. 

After adding a home run Friday night, Wayne State outfielder Griffin Harms (2017 Elig., Bingham Farms, Mich.) was at it again on Saturday showcasing his impressive hitting ability in both games. The redshirt senior has a very physical, athletic frame with a small toe tap as a timing mechanism. The high hand set is very high as he is holding the bat high above his head. Harms has good present bat speed with a direct hand path to the baseball through the point of contact. He swings with a lot of intent and was clocked at 4.36 seconds to first from the right side of the plate. 

Outfielder Cabera Weaver (2018, Decatur, Ga.) showed impressive hitting tools on Friday night and he was at it again on Saturday evening. Late into an extra inning affair between South Forsyth and South Gwinnett, Weaver laced a triple to the left centerfield gap. The swing is pretty loose and fluid and he has very good bat speed to go with it. The athleticism plays extremely well as he was able to race around the bases to end up at third. He was able to score on a wild pitch later in the inning to give the Comets the walkoff victory.