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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/29/2018

East Memorial Scout Notes

Photo: Jordan Carrion (Perfect Game)

It was a weekend filled with rain, rain and more rain. Finally, on the fourth and final day of the tournament there was a full day of ball. In game one of the WWBA 18u East Memorial Day Classic, Elite Squad Morales downed the Florida Pokers Upperclass Carolina team 6-3. Leading the way for Elite Squad was their No. 2 hitter, Raymond Rivera. Rivera is a 5-foot-10, 170-pound outfielder from West Park, Fla. He’s an aggressive lefthanded hitter, swinging a quick bat and makes consistent solid contact. After the Pokers took an early 3-0, Rivera started the scoring for Elite squad with a one-out single that plated a run. He would come up clutch again just an inning later with a go-ahead two-out double down the line that would ultimately be the winning run.

Northeast Baseball National made easy work of North Florida Storm Black, getting a 10-1 victory. The starter, righthanded pitcher Brant Brown, was excellent. Brown, a 6-foot-5, 205-pounder from Venice, Fla., threw four great innings. He allowed just three hits and an unearned run while striking out three batters and not allowing a walk. Brown throws a high amount of strikes and is always right around the zone. The fastball comes out of the hand cleanly and his command allows him to stay around the edges and away from barrels. Brown’s fastball stayed in the mid-80s while topping out at 86 mph. His good 11-to-5 curveball was an effective put-away pitch and kept hitters off-balance.

With a pitcher that generates a lot of weak contact, it was important for Northeast Baseball to have a defender like Jacob English. English is a 5-foot-10, 160-pound shortstop who has excellent skills defensively. He has soft hands with smooth actions and gets the ball out quickly. The South Carolina commit showed good range and has the ability to come in and make plays in front of him.

A couple of home runs from Northeast Baseball helped pushed them to their big victory. The first was from big 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthanded hitter Shane Marshall. Marshall, a Georgia commit, swings the bat with intent and when he meets the ball out front it goes. His home run was a no-doubter to straight away left field.

The second was an inside-the-park home run from Jeremy Gunter, a 5-foot-9 165-pound lefthanded hitter. The Jacksonville commit really knows how to handle the bat and is a solid hitter who makes hard contact more times than not.

Duncan Pastore of Northeast Baseball was another major factor in their win. Pastore, at 6-foot-2, 175-pounds, is a set-it-and-forget-it middle-of-the-order guy. His barrel control is great, always putting the ball in play with the ability to get some leverage out front in his swing and drive the ball. The Nova Southeastern commit went 3-for-3 in the game including a triple to right-center field that went to the fence.

In a 1-0 battle until the end between Elite Squad National and Elite Squad American, nobody performed better than starter Kael Johnston-Royal for the winning American team. Johnston-Royal is a 6-foot, 150-pound righthanded pitcher who has good stuff. His location with the fastball was pinpoint in the game. He also showed a lot of confidence in his big curveball, throwing it to any hitter in any count and got a lot of swings-and-misses from it. Johnston-Royal pitched all five innings and he didn’t allow a run on two hits while striking out seven. Most impressive was his 75 percent strike rate. His strikes were quality strikes never missing over the plate and allowing the opposition to take advantage. He also mixed in a good sinking changeup on occasion.

– Taylor Weber



The 31st-ranked righthanded pitcher in the 2020 class, Ben Vespi (2020, Boynton Beach, Fla.), made an early impact lighting up the radar gun on Monday pitching for Elite Squad National. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound righthander has a live arm with swing-and-miss stuff, sitting 86-90 mph with his fastball. Vespi mixed in a tight slider with tilt at 73-76 mph, showing the ability to land the pitch for strikes and expand the zone for chase swings. He throws from a three-quarters arm slot, getting good extension and driving through with his drive leg. Working two-plus innings, the UCF commit struck out six batters, mixing in the slider and fastball to freeze hitters or by expanding the zone.

Jordan Carrion (2020, Miami, Fla.) collected a few hits for Elite Squad National, including a double to center field, but impressed most on the mound in the championship game against Elite Squad Prospects. Carrion, who is the No. 1-ranked shortstop in the state of Florida in the 2020 class, showed above average arm speed with a fastball sitting 85-89 mph. Mixing in an 11-to-5 curveball with tight spin at 70-73 mph, Carrion showed swing-and-miss stuff with a potential put-away pitch. He went three innings while striking out five batters. A Florida commit, the 6-foot, 155-pound shortstop is a tremendous athlete with the ability to make an impact with not only his glove and bat, but also on the mound.

Tampa Terror Stealth righthander Cooper Nelson (2020, Palm Harbor, Fla.) threw four innings against Elite Squad Underclass. Nelson stands 6-foot-1, 175-pound with a projectable, lean body with a ton of athleticism. Nelson’s fastball sat 81-86 mph with some movement. He sprinkled in a slurvy breaking ball at 69-75 mph that has potential. In four innings, Nelson struck out five and had few balls barreled up against him.

Enrique A. Bradfield Jr. (2020, Hialeah, Fla.), a Vanderbilt commit who is ranked 25th overall in the 2020 class, showed off his plus, plus speed on the bases. The center fielder profiles as a perfect top-of-the-order table-setter who will get on base and be aggressive. He did just that, working a few walks and collecting some base hits. Bradfield stole three bases against North Florida Storm White, and later in the day dropped in a two-run single to left field.

A physically imposing figure on the mound, Ronaldo Gallo (2019, Miami, Fla.) went the distance in condensed five-inning game. Sitting 81-86 mph with a free and easy delivery, the FGCU commit dominated with nine strikeouts for Elite Squad Prospects. Complementing his fastball was an 11-to-5 breaking ball at 72-77 mph, which he showed good command of. He has a long, lean body that will add on muscle later on. He showed solid instincts on the mound, covering his position well, and even added a bit of deception to his delivery out of the stretch by dropping down out of a lower arm slot to fool the hitter.

Gallo’s teammate on Elite Squad Prospects, Chase Chatman (2019, Cape Coral, Fla.), showed an advanced feel for the breaking ball that has different layers of depth and should give the lefthander an above average put-away pitch. Chatman worked 80-84 mph with his fastball, which he uses to attack in and out, while his breaking ball was 71-74 mph and showed back-door effectiveness to righthanded hitters.

Kolbe Aven (2020, Davie, Fla.) came out of the gates swinging against North Florida Storm White, hitting two doubles, including one that was hit off the top of the left field wall, and driving in three runs for Elite Squad National. Aven has very little movement in the box, just simply creating a little bit of rhythm with his hands and has power to the pull side.

Joel Perez Jr. (2020, Miramar, Fla.) put on display his defensive value by showing his advanced glove work. The shortstop made a few plays, including going down to a knee and in one fluid motion, fielding the ball, quickly funneling the ball in and releasing it to his second baseman, getting the force out on a fielder’s choice while attempting a double play. At the plate the 5-foot-11, 158-pounder turned on one, sending a line drive down the left field line for a double.

Christopher Kahler (2020, Coral Springs, Fla.) took the bump against North Florida Storm White for Elite Squad National and tossed three innings of scoreless ball. A strike thrower, Kahler sat 80-83 mph, and at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, has room to grow and fill out. The righty pounded both sides of the strike zone and ended up with five strikeouts while only allowing one hit. His curveball sat at 66-70 mph with downer movement.

Lucas Nido (2020, Miami, Fla.) blasted a home run to left field against Florida Grinders Black. The 6-foot, 180-pound Nido has a slightly open stance and shows a quick bat through the zone. He has an athletic body that will add on muscle and will continue getting stronger.

– Jacob Frisaro
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