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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/15/2017

15u WWBA Day 1 Scout Notes

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BPA made their way to the Championship game of the 16u WWBA National Championship on Friday by way of a 1-0 victory over the East Cobb Astros in the semifinals behind a tremendous performance from Jared Jones (2020, Whittier, Calif.) on the mound. Jones pitched 6 2/3 innings coming just shy of the complete game shutout, on 99 pitches. He allowed just three hits and one walk while punching out nine and really was in complete control the entire time.




Jones worked up to 90 mph with his fastball and held 86-89 mph on his fastball throughout the course of the entire game showing legitimate sinking and running life on the pitch to add the effectiveness. He has a full three-pitch mix with a slider and changeup both showing good feel and effectiveness. His slider flashes quality tilt in the low- to mid-70s, thrown with conviction and arm speed and showing as a potential swing-and-miss offering as he continues to refine it. It was a tremendous performance in a huge spot for the No. 15 overall player in the class of 2020.

In the Championship game, the Banditos Scout Team defeated BPA 2-1 to take the National Championship crown. Though he didn’t factor into the decision Jared Southard (2019, Leander, Texas) was extremely impressive in his start for the Banditos tossing three shutout innings with five strikeouts. He’s powerfully built with strength throughout his body, and looks like he’s going to end up as power-armed pitcher at the next level. He does an excellent job messing with the hitter’s timing, showing several different looks and maintaining the effectiveness of his stuff through each one, doing a good job remaining in control as well.

His fastball worked up to 90 mph from a high three quarters slot release pounding downhill with the pitch and doing a good job consistently generating heavy spin (greater than 2000 per TrackMan) missing both barrels and bats with the pitch. He tunnels his slider quite well, thrown from the same release as his fastball before diving down to the glove side as well as showing good feel for his changeup, pronating it well at release and creating fading action. He’s got starting pitcher upside for sure, with three pitches, a clean delivery, and a durable build and it goes without saying that the Texas staff is very excited about getting him to Austin in a few years.

The Banditos only collected three hits as a team, but the most important one belonged to Yordani Carmona (2019, Hialeah, Fla.), as the two-way Miami commit delivered a two-run single in the seventh inning to give the Banditos the lead and ultimately the win. It was a huge hit in a huge spot.

Matt Thompson (2019, Cypress, Texas) delivered a performance that was on par with any thrown in the 16u event and his overall arsenal also showed as one of the best in the entire country. Getting the start in the Banditos' semifinal game prior to making it to the championship with a fresh arm after not throwing earlier in the tournament, the current No. 7 prospect in the 2019 class delivered a six-inning shutout performance in which he punched out 10 and surrendered just three base hits.

The first inning was a memorable one in terms of what Thompson could very well look like down the road with added strength as he worked comfortably in the 92-94 mph with a pair of secondary pitches that show above average potential and could grade out even better at maturity. Thompson’s frame is one that you’d draw up if you could design such for a top shelf prospect with plenty of looseness and twitch on his 6-foot-3, 178-pound frame. With that athleticism and the other ingredients Thompson can generate the velocity with relative ease and does so with plane and late sinking life. And though he didn’t maintain that premium velocity throughout and worked in the upper-80s to low-90s through the six, you can envision Thompson pitching in that range at physical maturation.

With the ability to work around the zone with his heater early in the count, the Texas A&M commit was able to unlock his array of secondaries, all of which show swing-and-miss potential. Thompson threw both a slider and curveball for strikes in the low-80s and though both are breaking balls in a similar velocity range, the shape and depth to both are certainly distinguishable. His curveball shows more 11-to-5 shape with depth and it throws it with the same hand speed and conviction he did his slider, a much tighter pitch with late tilting shape. He didn’t show his changeup as much as he did the other secondaries but the first one he showed, against fellow top prospect Rece Hinds, offered late fading down in zone with a replicated arm action.

The ability to sequence his pitches, and more importantly, execute them, allow Thompson to be more than just a hard thrower. Along with his four pitches for strikes, Thompson looks to interrupt hitters timing and balance by varying his looks and adding extra hesitations to the start of his delivery, especially with two strikes.

It was an impressive performance for Thompson, especially given the strides he’s made over the last calendar year and the future growth the young righthander has moving forward.

– Brian Sakowski and Jheremy Brown





On the first day of the 15u WWBA National Championship, Masyn Winn (2020, Kingwood, Texas) may have only finished his freshman year of high school recently but he already shows an advanced aptitude and overall feel on the mound, mixing three pitches for strikes and does so while looking as if he were playing catch. He may only be listed at 5-foot-8, 155-pounds but it makes what he’s able to do on the mound even more impressive as he generates plane to his fastball and worked steadily in the 87-90 mph range.

Utilizing a simple and repeatable delivery, Winn shows a quick right arm which helped produce that velocity and though there’s effort at release, it didn’t inhibit his ability to maintain nor throw strikes. Winn, who’s currently uncommitted, did a nice job of working both sides of the plate and did so with plane and short running life, missing plenty of bats in the process.

Winn’s ability to get ahead in the count allowed him to unlock his secondaries (a curveball and a slider), both of which are weapons as he can throw either with intent and land both for strikes. His curveball in the upper-60s offers big depth and 12-to-6 shape, providing a different look from his mid-70s slider which he went to more often and showed tight, sharp break the last few feet prior to reaching the plate. Over his four innings of work Winn managed to strike out seven, both looking and on empty swings, speaking to his ability to locate and mix effectively.

Known more for power lefthanded bat, outfielder Robert Hassell (2020, Franklin, Tenn.) took to the mound for the Middle Tennessee Outlaws and though the final stat line wasn’t sharp, Hassell more than showed two-way potential at the next level. A very recent Vanderbilt commit, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Hassell showed an impressive arsenal from the left side which included a fastball that he ran upwards of 89 mph early in the content. His arm action is clean and the velocity comes easy as he steadily worked in the 84-88 mph range. His command was scattered throughout which in turn led to a high pitch count but when he stayed on time and worked on top of the ball Hassell missed bats when located arm side and showed hard angle when spotting to his glove side. He flashed both a slider at 78 mph and a curveball at 74 mph, as well as a changeup in the upper-70s, giving the young lefthanded a full mix of which he could miss bats.

The biggest part of Yohandy Morales’ (2020, Miami, Fla.) game that stood out Friday morning was his defensive play up the middle and it’s something that’ll certainly continue to be monitored moving forward. Listed at a long and athletic, but still projectable, 6-foot-2, 165-pounds, the Miami native suits up for the Evoshield Bombers Texas and will grab your attention by making a play on a single ground ball. His actions are both smooth and clean with sound footwork and his reactions are there as well which he showed by snaring a sharply hit line drive, came down to his feet, and doubled up the runner at first base to help escape the first inning unscathed.

Righthander Brandon Dodson (2020, Martinsville, Ind.) got the start for the Indiana Bulls Black team and did nothing but impress as he punched out six in three innings and allowed just a single base hit over those three frames. Currently ranked No. 164 in the class of 2020 rankings, the 6-foot-1 Dodson showed an up-tempo delivery and though there’s effort to his release he managed to work comfortably in the 85-88 mph range and filled up the strike zone. Throwing from an over-the-top slot, Dodson was consistently on time with his delivery and in turn saw steady downhill plane to his heater and offers cut action at the last moment. He worked pretty consistently off his fastball and found lots of success with the pitch but wasn’t afraid to mix in a 12-to-6 shaped curveball here and there at 70-71 mph with depth to provide a different look.

In a tournament full of projectable players and frames, righthander Grayson Cole (2020, Mt. Juliet, Tenn.), Cole fits the bill as one of the more projectable pitchers as he stands 6-foot-2, 160-pounds. Despite the leaner, projectable build, Cole is able to generate nice arm speed through the back with some whip-like action, helping to produce a fastball that topped out at 85 mph and sat comfortably in the low-80s. He’s able to generate some deceptiveness with his delivery but also stayed on top of the ball very well, getting the ball down in the zone and worked around the plate well. His curveball has the makings of a sound secondary pitch too, spinning the ball in the 73-75 mph range with both shape and depth.

Strongly built at 6-foot-2, 205-pounds, Kaden Teafatiller (2019, Wichita Falls, Texas) stands out for his strength on a Midwest Elite team that’s full of physically impressive frames. The No. 193 ranked player in the class of 2019 and an Oklahoma commit, Teafatiller is able to generate noteworthy bat speed through the zone and with his strong hands was able to drive a ball to deep center field for a triple. His looks to lift and drive the ball with his approach, something he should certainly be able to do long term and as he’s already showing that he’s capable of such now.

A true two-way prospect who recently impressed at the Junior National Showcase, both with the stick and on the mound, Cade Horton (2020, Norman, Okla.) didn’t take the mound during Midwest Elite’s first game though he did swing the bat well and showed very interesting elements to his swing. Listed at 6-foot, 170-pounds, Horton shows quickness to his hands and whip to the barrel, helping pick up a double to his pull side in his first at-bat and should have no problem driving the ball in the future as he continues to develop physically. Currently the No. 54 prospect in the class of 2020, Horton was up to 88 mph at the Junior National and is a prospect who college coaches will certainly follow throughout this tournament.

You won’t miss Trevor Martin (2020, Byars, Okla.) as he steps onto the mound, listed at 6-foot-4, 195-pounds and he has the arsenal to match his big frame. Despite the combination of his age and size Martin shows nice balance to delivery and was able to generate an 84-87 mph fastball, topping out at 89 mph once early in the contest. The velocity comes easy for the big righthander and there’s plenty more left in the tank as he continues to fill out physically and begin to implement additional lower half at release. It was an abbreviated look at Martin as he went just 1 2/3 innings as the Midwest Elite got work in for a few their arms but he still showed a 72-74 mph curveball and a shorter slider at 77 mph.

He hasn’t entered high school yet but righthander Carlos Rodriguez (2021, Miami, Fla.) already knows where he’ll attend college as he’s verbally committed to the University of Miami. Currently ranked No. 3 in the 2021 class rankings, Rodriguez came in out of the bullpen and worked comfortably in the 87-90 mph range with his fastball, showing a fast, loose arm action through the backside and steady plane to the bottom of the zone. Of the five out recorded by Rodriguez, four came via strikeout and despite being a young pitcher who throws hard he shows an understanding of mixing and throwing his off speed for strikes. His go-to secondary is his curveball, a pitch he’ll add and subtract velocity on, working anywhere between 66 and 74 mph, manipulating the spin and depth but always showing 12-to-6 shape. The Miami native also flashed a short and tight slider at 78 mph with late bite and could be a weapon for Rodriguez moving forward.

– Jheremy Brown


Jack O’Dowd (2020, Osprey, Fla.) and Mac Guscette (2020, Nokomis, Fla.) helped lead the Florida Burn 2020 Platinum team to victory in their early morning contest.

O’Dowd went 1-for-3 with two RBI and showcased his good running skills when he scorched a triple in the fourth. O’Dowd has a smooth, uppercut swing and does a good job of getting under the baseball and creating solid lift. He swings with a slightly open stance and hands high by his head and creates a direct and fluid swing path to the baseball, with solid bat speed.

Guscette also went 1-for-3 and made consistent hard contact with each at bat and has a good, hard and strong level swing and showed a strong ability to consistently barrel the baseball. Guscette showcased his solid catch-and-throw skills and picked off a runner at first in the sixth inning to get his team out of a jam. O’Dowd is a Vanderbilt commit, while Guscette is headed to the University of Florida.

Kemp Alderman (2020, Decatur, Miss.) is a talented catcher with a strong and mature frame. He stands at 6-foot-2, 215-pounds and fills out well, with good upper body strength and a muscular frame. Alderman does a great job using his bottom hand to guide his swing and get leverage on his swing to drive the baseball to the outfield with good pop. He hit a hard flyball double to center field in the sixth inning of his late morning game with an exit velocity of 95 mph. He also does a great job of recognizing breaking pitches and showed a great ability to sit back and hit the pitch with solid bat speed and showed off his wheels by legging out a triple on a curve in the first inning. Alderman is currently uncommitted, but with his frame and swing, that shouldn’t last long.

Chad Reichhold (2020, Milford, Del.) is righthanded pitcher with a long, projectable frame. He stands at 6-foot-4, 210-pounds and has a very long lower half and throws with a high three-quarters arm slot and makes it tough for hitters to pick up where he is releasing the ball. His fastball sat in the low-80s and reached up to 84 a couple of times with good life. He paired it with a good 11-to-5 curve that had continuous break and run to the outside on righthanded hitters and generated plenty of swings and misses. Reichhold has an interesting delivery as he combines his high three-quarters arm slot, a good long follow through and extension, and the motion to throw across his body makes it appear as if he is throwing right at righties, causing uncomfortable and weak swings. Reichhold threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings giving up two hits and two walks while striking out five.

Preston Flowers (2020, Choctaw, Okla.) was impressive with the bat on Friday going a combined 3-for-5 in the Oklahoma Fuel doubleheader. Flowers is an athletic infielder with plenty of room to grow and become stronger with a high contact swing and the ability to whip his bat quickly through the zone. Flowers displayed some power potential hammering a hard flyball double in the fourth inning of his second game. Flowers has a lanky frame and moves well at the shortstop and third base positions, making all the routine plays in the field. Flowers has plenty of time to develop his skills and grow and should be a big name that is mentioned as his high school and summer career progresses.

– Brandon Lowe



Day 1 of the 15u WWBA National Championship had many strong performances across the board and young lefthander Ryan Ginther (2021, Gallatin, Tenn.) turned in one for the Dulins Dodgers in their second victory for the tournament. Ginther is only listed at 5-foot-10, 155-pounds but he showed a pretty low effort release on the mound to go along with his ability to attack hitters with his fastball.

The arm itself moves quickly through the arm circle and was loose as he whipped the arm through the path pretty quickly. Ginther landed online and was able to repeat his delivery very effectively. The pitch that Ginther used the most to attack hitters was his lively fastball. The pitch was ran up as high as 84 mph and showed good running life toward the arm side. This allowed him to break a couple bats over the glove side corner of the plate to righthanded hitters. Ginther mixed in a few breaking balls but was not afraid to run the fastball up in the zone and the results were impressive as he and the Dulins squad finished off a five inning no-hitter to claim victory.




Another outstanding performance came during the final time slot of the evening as Lucas Gordon (2020, Los Angeles, Calif.) absolutely shut down the opposition on Friday night. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound lefthander has a pretty lean frame with room to fill out and has a methodical delivery on the mound.

The Southern California commit has a pretty loose arm action through the back with both of his levers separating and lifting at the same time with a slight hip turn near the top of the delivery. Gordon then accelerates down the mound to whip the arm across and deliver the pitch. He didn’t need to dive deep into his repertoire on Friday night and used primarily a combination of his fastball and changeup.

The fastball reached as high as 89 mph and sat in the 85-88 mph range for the majority of the outing. The pitch had tremendous life to it with very good run to the arm side that would fool hitters badly. Gordon attacked hitters with the pitch and was able to rack up swings and misses within the strike zone thanks to the late movement. His changeup was a very solid offering as well, living in the upper-70s and showing extraordinary movement with fading action down and to the arm side.

The efficiency was the most impressive aspect of Gordon’s outing as he was able to strike out 12 batters and only allowed two hits through four shutout innings. He only needed 58 pitches and finished off what was truly a dominant outing on the mound for GBG.

Righthander Jaxon Wiggins (2020, Roland, Okla.) closed out the game for the Oklahoma Fuel and showed very interesting potential during the process. The righthander is a very lean and projectable 6-foot-2, 178-pounds with long limbs and a high-waisted frame. He gets on top of the fastball pretty consistently and worked 85-87 mph early on with good downhill plane. The arm action was pretty easy through the back though it’s length gave him some timing issues in terms of release point. The arm action is mostly online with a crossfire landing element that in conjunction helped to add some deception to the overall delivery. It was a short look, but there are undoubtedly tools to work off of with the frame, arm, and velocity all being strong positives for the profile right now and will be imperative to get another look in a more extended outing as the tournament goes on.
 
– Vinnie Cervino



Ryan Pettys (2019, Panama City Beach, Fla.) is a young 2019 graduate who showed talented ability on the mound with good command. His fastball worked 84-86 mph touching 87 on a few occasions. Pettys has a slow, deliberate delivery, but the arm comes through the circle cleanly with a good front side. He shows plane down in the zone with solid extension. He also mixed in a big low-70s curveball with lots of depth and an upper-70s straight changeup. The three-pitch mix helped Pettys in his outing keeping hitters off balance consistently. The uncommitted lefthander struck out ten batters in his five inning start on the bump.

From the 16u WWBA to the 15u, Brandon Fields (2020, Orlando, Fla.) showed the ability to square up baseballs with consistent hard contact. Fields has power potential, specifically to pull side, with the bat speed he generates with his strong hands and lower half. Fields also showed good instincts on the base paths as well taking second base on a single to left with no hesitation as soon as the left fielder bobbled the ground ball. Fields also has solid speed running a 4.44-second home-to-first base time that will continue to get faster as he matures.

Mike (M.J.) Rodriguez (2020, Corpus Christi, Texas) is an interesting player who shows outstanding raw power and big-time advanced strength. Rodriguez has noticeable strength as soon as he stands in the batter’s box. Rodriguez showed off that strength and power Friday hitting a no-doubt home run to left field that left his bat at 99 mph. Trackman unfortunately did not track the distance, but I have to believe it was in the neighborhood of 380-feet having seen numerous home runs that were hit on field 16 at LakePoint before. The big righthanded hitter has a relaxed stance with decent bat speed and a lift in his swing that was evident throughout 5 Star’s doubleheader. Each ball that Rodriguez hit into the air had a hang time greater than 6-seconds.

Cole Gilley (2020, Columbus, Ind.) has a pretty mature frame with a smooth and fluid delivery to go with it. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound righthander showed good stuff in his start on the mound. The uncommitted Indiana native sat 84-86 mph touching 87 once and 88 once as well. His fastball has riding arm-side life that was well located to the outer part of the plate to both righthanded and lefthanded hitters. Nine pitches were all it took to work a quick first inning that resulted in two strikeouts. Gilley’s secondary pitch was his 12-to-6 curveball that showed good bite with a solid spin rate of 2100 rpm. Gilley’s delivery is clean with loose arm action and the ability to maintain arm speed when throwing a fastball or a curveball.

Johnny Ceccoli (2020, Tyler, Texas) showed has big bat speed for his age. The first baseman turned around a 76 mph fastball on the inner third of the plate and ripped it into right field for a single. The swing is fluid and the strength in Ceccoli’s 6-foot-2 220-pound frame is impressive enough, but what really stood out was how hard he hit the pitch. The ball left his barrel with an exit velocity at 102 mph. Ceccoli’s bat speed is beyond his years and the ability to consistently take the barrel to the ball will be fun to see as he gets older.

Jordan Thompson (2020, Chula Vista, Calif.) is a player with lots of upside. The development of Thompson could be something special. At shortstop, his actions are very fluid and clean with an arm that shows strength. At the plate, he sprays the ball all over the field with the ability to consistently hit the ball on the barrel of the bat. Thompson looks the part with lots of athleticism in his frame. At 5-foot-11, 150-pounds, Thompson still has lots of room to grow and fill into his athletic frame and the final product could be a very good-looking shortstop.

– Gregory Gerard



Standing with a large frame, Tommy Clark (2019, Framingham, Mass.) is an athlete has a body that has a strong body, especially present in his lower half. He pitches from a high three-quarters arm slot, shows an easy delivery with a short arm action on all pitches. He bares down on hitters with a good, sinking cutter that was in the 82-84 mph range that generates broken bats, and swing and misses with consistency. He mixes in a developing 11-to-5 slider that shows some depth and shape to it that could be a weapon down the road as he get stronger and garners more command.

Demetrius Vizcarra (2020, Compton, Calif.) is a young man who stands 6-feet tall, and has room to continue to build to muscle and limbs that suggest he may continue to grow a couple more inches. Pitching from the stretch exclusively, he featured a four-seam fastball that sat in the 83-85 mph range early, and a two-seamer with good movement that was up to 83 mph. Mixing in a changeup, he kept many hitters off balance and induced a number of jam shots. Vizcarra threw primarily from a high three-quarters arm slot, dropping his angle when he slows his arm down for off-speed, a factor in his off control today. However, as he gets stronger and matures his mechanics, his raw stuff and flashed location of pitches shows promise to be effective at the next level.

One of the pitchers that stood out during yesterday’s tournament opening was lefthanded pitcher Jacob Widener (2019, San Marcos, Calif.). The uncommitted 16-year old stands tall with long limbs, and pitches from a high three-quarters arm slot. As he throws from the stretch exclusively, he has a big leg kick, bringing the knee very high to his chest and then generating around eight feet of extension and a solid downhill plane utilizing his lower half. His fastball sat in the 83-85 mph range and was located solidly glove side and arm side, mostly working away to hitters. Showed good feel for his curveball that had a 1-to-7 shape, breaking late and had good depth. He finished the game tossing 2 2/3 innings, striking out six and allowing only one hit in that frame.

Jared Jones (2020, Whittier, Calif.) stood out for his athletic ability to do seemingly everything on the diamond. The University of Southern California commit was clocked last week on the mound at 90 mph, but it was his brief showing at the plate and on the basepaths that drew attention in yesterday’s game. As Jones walks up to the plate, he exudes athleticism with a solid and projectable frame and plenty of room to add strength. He stands wide and straight away, hands quiet and in a good spot to hit. With a patient approach, he finds the barrel consistently, even on foul balls that he fights off. Utilizing a quiet, easy swing he took an outside fastball hard the other way, this after a very impressive at-bat. On the basepaths, he shows good speed and solid instincts, especially on balls in the dirt. It was an excellent albeit brief showing, and it will be interesting to see how he fares short term in the tournament, but also as he continues to develop as an athlete.

– Travis Clark



Gatorball ran their record to 2-0 on the opening day of the 15u WWBA National Championship on Friday afternoon via a 6-0 victory over the Upstate Mavericks. Tyler Shelnut (2020, Lake City, Fla.) was dominant in his 4 1/3 inning start, allowing no hits and only one walk while striking out eight on 60 pitches. Shelnut is a long, lean, highly projectable righthanded pitcher who has just begun to fill out his frame, and has significant room to continue to fill out moving forward.

He works with a crossfire delivery via a closed off landing spot, doing a good job creating deception while also creating angle from an extended three-quarters slot release. His fastball worked 81-83 mph for the most part, doing a good job moving the pitch inside and outside and really challenging hitters within the zone with it. He’s got a clean arm stroke with the beginnings of arm speed, giving him pretty quality velocity projection moving forward. He has good initial feel for his curveball as well, thrown in the mid-60s with 11-to-5 shape and good depth, showing the ability to land it for strikes consistently and getting consistent swings-and-misses on it as well.




Late on Friday night, the Banditos Scout Team moved to 2-0 on the event via an 8-1 victory over the CK Cardinals. Antoine Harris (2019, Meraux, La.) got the start and showed some pretty serious upside in his two inning stint.

Harris is a super-projectable, highly-projectable righthanded pitcher who has significant upside, though the overall profile is quite raw on the mound. He’s got legitimate arm speed and creates tremendous extension through his release, measured at greater than seven feet at times by TrackMan, and allowing his 85-88 mph fastball to play up a good bit as a result. The fastball also features really good arm side life at times, the type that can break bats against righthanded hitters. He throws from a crossfire delivery and can get mistimed coming through with his arm at times, but the upside here is undeniable given his present stuff, athleticism, arm speed and physical projection.

– Brian Sakowski
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