The
Upperclass Pool B opener between BPA DeMarini and SGV Arsenal offered
an exciting pitcher's duel. 2015 righthander Zach Barnes (San
Jacinto, Calif.) and 2017 righthander Hagen Danner (Huntington
Beach, Calif.) traded zeros for three innings until 2017 Nick
Pratto (Huntington Beach, Calif.) drove in the game's first run
with a fourth inning single. That RBI proved to be all Danner would
need, as he fired a complete game shutout, allowing six hits and four
walks while striking out 10.
As
has been the routine for Danner in recent outings he sat in the
upper-80s comfortably, reaching back for low-90s velocity when
needed, peaking at 91 mph in this outing. That isn't news for Danner,
but the developing feel and consistency for his hammer curveball is.
He's shown the ability to spin the baseball well for as long as PG
has had eyes on him, dating back to last summer in his pre-high
school days when he worked in the low-80s while playing up to the 15u
level with BPA.
But
the strides he has made with the consistency and feel for that
upper-70s hammer curveball in between the spring and now is very
promising. It's clear that he has top shelf stuff, and the overall
control tends to be advanced for his age already, so adding his
weapon of a curveball takes him a step further towards realizing his
upside.
It's
still very early in the developmental process for Danner, and too
early to say for certain that his future is on the mound and not
behind the plate or in the outfield, but if he continues to make
strides towards rounding out his pitching prospect profile it appears
to be headed in that direction.
Barnes
topped out at 86 mph and showed a deep breaking ball that kept BPA's
talented lineup in check.
The
standout position player prospect for the SGV Arsenal squad's three
games (two upperclass, one underclass) was 2016 middle infielder
Samad Taylor (Corona, Calif.), shown in the video above facing Danner. Although he didn't record a
base hit against the flame-throwing Danner, he excelled defensively
matching high level athleticism in the infield with advanced
instincts. In particular, he displayed an excellent feel for how much
time he has to make each play, when to rush and when to take his
time.
Equally
as impressive, after his teammates on the Aresnal's upperclass team
finished up a doubleheader, he was offered a chance to play a third
game of the day in the underclass division, and he jumped at the
opportunity. He made the most of it by going 2-for-2 with a walk, a
run and two stolen bases.
While
he didn't light up the radar gun in the way that Hagen Danner did,
2016 lefthander Nick Lodolo (LeVerne, Calif.) was highly
impressive in his brief, efficient outing, and has a silky smooth arm
action. Lodolo worked 82-84 and touched 86 mph coming inside on a
righthanded hitter to saw him off for a soft ground ball. The Arsenal
coaching staff allotted him a maximum 30 pitches for the early fall
start, and he breezed through two innings on just 21 pitches,
throwing 14 of them for strikes.
Lodolo
struck out a pair of batter in his two perfect frames, one with a
changeup to a lefthander who wasn't expecting it, and the other on a
well-placed fastball on the corner. His changeup features good
diagonal tumble back towards the arm side, and he also flashed an
upper-60s curveball with deep sweeping break. This was the first time
that PG has seen Lodolo above 84 mph, and while he lacks plus present
velocity, he's ranked among the top 200 prospects in the country
because of his highly projectable arm action.
The
most exciting moment of the Day 1 action came on a shocking turn of
events at Maverick Field. The SGV Arsenal Upperclass's pitching staff
had stifled a talented Trombly Nighthawks lineup for 20 outs before
2016 first baseman Connor Cannon (Temecula, Calif.) crushed a
towering two-out, two-run walk-off home run to left field to lift the
Nighthawks to a come from behind 2-1 victory. The PG staff member
scoring and scouting the game via GameChanger blurted out as the ball
was on it's way to the plate "this guy is danger...," only
to be interrupted by the explosive sound at contact off Cannon's bat.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound slugger showed off his power with a long home
run earlier last month as part of his first PG event at the 2014
PG/EvoShield National Upperclass Championship in Arizona, in addition
to running his fastball up to 87 mph. So far it has been an
impressive encore.
Several
of Cannon's Nighthawks teammates opened eyes despite the limited run
production. 2016 infielder Shane Martinez (Riverside, Calif.)
is the highest ranked prospect of the group and although he had a
quiet game, it was evident that he has tremendous upside as he has
begun to add strength to this athletic frame which has led to added
punch to his swing.
One
relatively new prospect who stood out was 2015 outfielder Weston
Ellis (Garden Grove, Calif.). Ellis certainly passes the eye test
with flying colors at a chiseled 6-foot-3, 220-pounds, and he
possesses average speed down the line and a strong arm from right
field. His swing is fairly compact to begin with and he showed the
ability to shorten up further in two-strike situations. Ellis has the
ability to muscle the ball over the infield even when he doesn't
square the ball up and likely can drive it a long way when he does.
He also showed good instincts and hustle in right field, backing up a
throw to first base that got away and promptly firing to second to
nail the runner trying to advance on the play.
The
other Nighthawks who stood out as prospects were 2015 shortstop
Branden Becker (San Bernadino, Calif.) whose ability has been
documented thoroughly in the past as a powerful lefthanded hitting
infielder who is committed to Oregon.
The
other is a bit more of a sleeper, but is interesting nonetheless, in
2015 righthander Jonah DiPoto (Colton, Calif.). DiPoto is the
son of former big league closer Jerry, who pitched with the Indians,
Rockies and Mets, and there are some striking resemblances in the
delivery. DiPoto topped out at 84 mph, but he gets good extension
out front and leverages the ball downhill to get some additional life
on the fastball. His big league father went undrafted out of high
school before becoming a third rounder out of Virginia Commonwealth
in the late 1980s, and while that remarkable progress would be nearly
impossible to repeat, there is enough arm speed and aptitude at
present for the younger DiPoto to make significant strides over the
next few years.
The
morning time slot at USC's Dedeaux Field featured GBG Marucci and
SoCal NTT. GBG Marucci has been winning seemingly every tournament
played on the west coast all summer and fall long thus far, and
coming off their PG/EvoShield National Championship it would have
come as little surprise if they made a deep run at the inaugural
California World Series. But they handed SoCal NTT several
opportunities and SoCal NTT in turn made them pay for those mistakes.
A
glaring example is SoCal NTT's talented two-hole hitting shortstop
2015 Dylan Doherty (Santa Ana, Calif.), who went
1-for-1 with two walks and three runs scored. Doherty is also a high
level defensive shortstop, who not only showed the ability to make
difficult plays look routine, but he also recovered nicely on a
bobble, recovering his fumble and firing it quickly to complete the
play in time.
His
left side of the infield teammate 2015 third baseman Bobby
Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.) who also stood out in this game,
combining good carry on his throws and a loose swing at the plate.
Fulkerson and the even more physically imposing 6-foot-2 215-pound
2015 first baseman Brennan McKenzie (Walnut, Calif.) combined
to do some major damage in the middle of the order as SoCal NTT
pulled away with a 10-2 victory in the opener.
Despite
the loss, and being one-hit, 2015 middle infielder Jagger Rusconi
(Valencia, Calif.) showed why he is one of the top ranked prospects
in this tournament. He reached on an error in the first inning, and
capitalized by stealing both second and third before scoring on a
fielder's choice. He showed good instincts on the bases, picking his
spots well while getting good jumps.
The
one hit GBG got in the game was a double from 2015 shortstop Ethan
Lopez (Whittier, Calif.).