3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM
Southern Indiana squared off against Young Harris and a number of players showcased their individual tools during the game.

Young Harris got out to an early lead in part to two of their position players. Shortstop Zach Odom (2017 Elig., Blairsville, Ga.) and first baseman Zach Wall (2017 Elig., Hayesville, N.C.) both showed some impressive hitting tools.

Odom is a medium built shortstop who is athletic up the middle. He was sure-handed all afternoon and showed clean fielding ability. There were times where he took a bit long on the gather but his releases and transfers were relatively quick. The footwork was really well and although the arm strength wasn't very impressive, he made all the plays during the game. He also had a quick, compact swing at the plate. Odom sprayed line drives throughout the game collecting two singles to centerfield and to right field on liners early in the game. He has a line drive swing plane and the bat travels quickly through the hitting zone. Odom starts out with a relaxed stance at the plate and his hands heighten upon the load. He creates some separation but is at his best with a contact and line drive oriented approach near the top of the lineup.

Odom's teammate Zach Wall showed some big-time pop from the right side during the game. He had two impressive shots: one was a hard hit, opposite field home run early on and the other was a rocket off the left-centerfield wall for a game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth. Wall stands wide at the plate with a small stride toward the pitcher to create separation. He looks to hurt the ball but has strength and power to all fields. The early home run was a laser shot to right field that traveled out in a hurry and he laced a line drive to deep centerfield later in the game. The strength plays a bigger part in his swing than the bat speed does at this point but his strength allows him to deposit home runs to any part of the field. The swing is a bit long but he was consistently on time with the barrel of the bat during Wednesday's action. 


The closer for Southern Indiana came into the game for the top of the ninth inning and righthander Justin Watts (2017 Elig. Bryan, Ohio) showed off an electric fastball early on. The pitch sat consistently in the 90-92 mph range and topped out at 93 mph during his outing. Watts showed off a pretty loose arm action with a slight arm hook in the back and threw from an extended three-quarter arm slot. He threw exclusively from the stretch and landed online with a delivery that had some effort. He showed a bit of recoil upon delivery of the pitch, but he repeated his mechanics well and was able to spot pitches to both sides of the plate. There was slight backside collapse and some drop and drive incorporated into the lower half of his delivery. The fastball was pretty straight but he worked the pitch to both sides of the plate. He mixed in a short slider from 79-82 mph that had short life to the arm side. The pitch did not break much and the movement of the pitch was primarily on one plane. The closer was unfortunately dealt the loss as Young Harris fought back to win 9-7, but Watts showed some interesting tools with a live fastball.