2017 PG Fall Upperclass National Championship Protected by G-Form: Daily Leaders | Day 1 Notes | Day 2 Notes
2017 PG Fall Freshman National Championship Protected by G-Form: Daily Leaders
On what ended up being a gorgeous day in the valley of the sun, playoff day took place at the Perfect Game Fall National Championship, with the playoff action mostly focused around the Goodyear complex.
Warriors Baseball Academy ended up falling in the 2nd round but not before showing well throughout the course of the week as a whole, as well as having several players stand out individually. Jonathan Ornelas (2018, Peoria, Ariz.) has had an impactful week, especially standing out for his defensive prowess in the middle infield. He’s very light on his feet through his athletic actions and movements, gracefully working side-to-side with no effort and showing off some of the better hands in the class. He projects to be an impact defender up the middle long term and should be an immediate contributor to Tennessee at the next level. He also possesses excellent righthanded bat speed and a good approach, giving him a pretty impactful overall top-of-the-order profile with the aforementioned defensive chops.
TB SoCal Gold got a pair of victories on Sunday and therefore advanced to the semifinals, to be played Monday morning in Goodyear. In their first game, they sent uncommitted righthander Andrew Mosiello (2019, Temecula, Calif.) to the mound and got a good performance out of him in their 3-1 victory over All Star Baseball Academy.
Mosiello is a lean, highly projectable young righthander with lots of things working for him in terms of stuff and mechanics. He worked up to 86 mph with his fastball, settling into the 83-85 mph range for most of his outing, and has the kind of looseness to his arm stroke and physical projection remaining that makes it easy to project velocity moving forward. He creates good plane to the plate from a high three quarters arm slot, and when he’s on time with the arm, does a good job burying fastballs down in the zone with the aforementioned plane. He showed good feel for his curveball as well, thrown with 11/5 shape and quality depth that was very deceptive out of his hand when thrown correctly.
In matchup of perennial powerhouse California teams, CBA Marucci and Trosky Redbirds Red locked into a very intense contest on Sunday morning with CBA coming out on top in the end.
Tyler Thornton (2018, Carlsbad, Calif.) got the start for Trosky, and while he dealt with some bouts of wildness, the St. Mary’s commit showed off a very live right arm. He worked up to 89 mph early on from a tough three quarters slot, creating big angle to the plate when his delivery synched up and he was on time. He showed interesting feel for his changeup, noticeably turning it over at release and generating very good arm side fade on the pitch; and it’s a pitch that, as he gains deception and trust with i, will be a weapon vs. lefthanded hitters.
On the other side of the diamond Kai Murphy (2019, Temecula, Calif.), a lefthanded Oregon State commit, got the start for CBA and threw five shutout innings, culminating in a win for CBA. Murphy is of the traditional “advanced pitchability” lefthander archetype, and he kept Trosky off-balance all game long with a combination of solid stuff, advanced feel, and a willingness to sequence effectively, though some of that could be attributed to Gabe Briones (2019, Riverside, Calif.) behind the dish.
Murphy worked 80-84 mph throughout his start, creating lots of angle to the plate as well as deception from a very crossfire delivery, and showed the ability to work his fastball to all four quadrants of the strike zone. He landed his curveball for strikes to both sides of the plate and mixed in a good changeup as well, pitching backwards often, and though he allowed his fair share of baserunners, he was able to pitch out of jams.
Cody Freeman (2019, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) was the star of the day for CBA, collecting 5 hits in 9 at-bats over the course of CBA’s two games and really just putting on an overall display that was quite impressive.
He’s got very advanced bat-to-ball skills with an innate ability to control the barrel through the zone and square up pitches in any location, using the whole field to his advantage. He drives the ball on a line to all fields and while there’s not significant power there yet, the swing and overall hitting mechanics portend future power as he continues to add strength to his frame.
He’s also an accomplished defender with the chops to play shortstop, though he’s also an asset at 2nd base and probably also at 3rd base, where his easy actions and overall athleticism play to his advantage while the quickness of his release across the diamond allows his raw arm strength to play up nearly a full grade as well.
Jasiah Dixon (2019, Riverside, Calif.) has long been lauded as one of the higher-upside prospects in the class, due in part to his supreme athleticism and speed, both of which play extremely well defensively in center field. The defense is just very impressive, regardless of how you break it down. He gets excellent reads off the bat and takes efficient routes to the baseball and given his plus speed, is able to get to pretty much any ball hit in the general vicinity of center field. It’s gotten to the point now where whenever a ball is hit in the air towards the general direction of center field it's a foregone conclusion that Dixon is going to get there and make the play.
Offensively, Dixon has come along quite well over the course of the past year-plus and hits atop the CBA lineup. He’s got high-quality right-handed bat speed and looks to have done a good job beginning to fill out his frame, adding a strength component to his offensive game that certainly lends some credence to his lofty “five-tool player” projections. As mentioned above, Dixon has been considered to be one of the higher-upside players in the class of 2019 and over the course of this event did nothing to dissuade those projections.
-Brian Sakowski
Warriors Baseball Academy lefthander Sasha Sneider (2018, Peoria, Ariz.) threw four one-hit innings in the first round of the playoffs, striking out eight hitters but not getting a decision in what ended up being a Warriors extra inning victory. Sneider is a solidly built 5-foot-10, 190-pound southpaw who is deceptively athletic with some two-way talent and that athleticism shows in a quick, simple and repeatable delivery. Sneider worked in the 86-88 mph with his fastball the entire outing and maintained his stuff well, striking out the side in his last inning of work. His fastball gets lots of running life and Sneider can be guilty at times of nibbling around the corners and getting behind hitters early in counts instead of just trusting his stuff. His low 70's curveball has plenty of depth and spin and while he didn't feature it extensively in this outing, Sneider's changeup has shown itself to be a solid pitch in the past. He is committed to Arizona State.
Third baseman-first baseman Michael Shcharber (2018, Villa Park, Calif.), playing in his first PG event, had a pair of strong playoff games for OC Premier 2018. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete showed lots of bat speed and the ability to hit the ball to all fields, spreading the ball all around the entire field for three hits over the two OC Premier games, including a hammered line drive triple up the left field gap in one plate appearance. He has nice extension through contact and there should be more power there as he gets stronger, which should happen as Shcharber is an exceptionally young senior and won't even turn 17 years old for two more months. Shcharber also stood out on defense, especially at first base, for his quick reactions and accurate throwing arm. He threw out two runners at home after taking throws at first base during OC Premier's first playoff game win. Shcharber doesn't have a college commitment according to PG's records.
Catcher-first baseman Michael Yourg (2018, San Diego, Calif.) is undoubtedly one of the stronger athletes in this championship and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound left handed hitter can really put a charge into a ball. Yourg uses a lead with the knob, barrel lag approach to hitting that isn't structurally conducive to power but he has it anyway with his strength. He blasted one line drive over the centerfielder's head when he got the barrel turned a bit and laced a line drive double one hop off the left field fence in another at-bat. Yourg's swing is short and quick to the ball, maximizing contact to the middle and opposite fields, but it will be interesting to see how he develops when he learns to start recognizing pitches he can turn the barrel on. Yourg is committed to San Diego and plays at Francis Parker High School, which is only a couple of good line drives down the street from the San Diego campus.
Kurt Bevacqua carved out a 15-year Major League career as a scrappy right handed hitting utility player who could literally play every position on the field and did. His son, third baseman Garrett Bevacqua (2019, Carlsbad, Calif.) is cut from a different baseball mold but is a very interesting prospect nonetheless. The younger Bevacqua is an athletic and projectable 6-foot-2, 180-pound athlete at 16 years old and notably a left handed hitter (Dad was a right handed hitter). Bevacqua's swing is what you'd expect from the son of a big league veteran, loose, balanced and tension free with bat speed and lots of barrel versatility. This scout was only able to see two of his at-bats during the Trosky Redbirds only game on Sunday but left thirsting for more opportunities.
-David Rawnsley