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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/5/2018

World Underclass Day 1 Notes

David Rawnsley      Vincent Cervino      Greg Gerard      Taylor Weber     
Photo: Ty Floyd (Perfect Game)

2018 WWBA Underclass World Championship: Daily Leaders

Lefthanded pitcher Adam Fischer (2020, Alexandria, Va.) threw four very effective innings in Stars Baseball's Thursday win, needing only 43 pitches while striking out five and walking no one. Fischer is listed at 6-foot-1, 200-pounds and has a very broad shouldered and country strong build. He throws from a very low effort delivery with a smooth three-quarters arm slot and good direction to the plate. Fischer worked consistently in the mid-80s, topping out at 86 mph. He showed excellent feel for his breaking ball with tight spin, getting hitters to swing out of the zone on the bigger curveballs while shortening up in the strike zone for a different look. Fischer looks like a durable starter type with plus command potential.

Second baseman Max Anderson (2020, Omaha, Neb.) is a quick-twitch young middle infielder whose righthanded bat looks like his best present tool. The Texas A&M commit had a very strong game in the Nebraska Prospects opening 8-0 win, going 2-for-2 with a walk and giving the Prospects an early lead with a home run off a hanging curveball in the top of the first inning. Listed at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Anderson hits from a tall rock back stance and moves into contact aggressively, creating lots of bat speed and leverage while looking to pull and drive the ball. He ran a 7.10-second 60-yard dash at a PG showcase a little over a year ago but looks faster now based on his actions on the bases.

Anderson's teammate, first baseman Jaden Woolbright (2020, Benton, Ark.) bears watching for the rest of the tournament, especially as this is his first PG event. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right handed hitter showed plenty of strength and bat speed hitting out of the five hole, driving in four runs.

Righthander Khalil Reynolds (2020, Chesapeake, Va.) only threw to five hitters Thursday for Old Dominion Hitters but was impressive. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound athlete is very young for a 2020, having only turned 16 years old last month. Impressively, he was only topping out at 77 mph a bit more than a year ago but this outing he worked in the 84-87 mph range with a liquid smooth arm stroke that really highlighted his potential, especially when he kept his mechanics in sync and powered the ball down in the strike zone. Reynolds is still on the raw side mechanically and threw almost all fastballs but has a high ceiling given his age and how much improvement he has made in a short time.

St. Louis Pirates righthander Jack Hunke (2021, Foristell, Mo.) only worked two innings on Thursday due to afternoon lightning delays but they were enough to stand out. Hunke is a young 6-foot-2, 170-pound athlete with an unusually high takeaway in back but with a fast and fluid arm coming through that produced an 83-86 mph fastball that is definitely projectable. He threw almost all fastballs but did break out his 72 mph curveball once in a key situation to pick up a strikeout. Not only did the curveball have lots of power, it bit sharply with big 11-to-5 depth and buckled the hitter's knees.

– David Rawnsley



In what was a quick look over at the Lee County Player Development Complex, Cam Burris (2020, Bellefonte, Pa.) ended up taking the loss for the Mid-Atlantic Red Sox 16u, but still showed some things to like as far as arm talent goes. He’s got a strong build on a physical frame, really getting deep through the back of his arm stroke with a deep lean back over the rubber as well, working up to 90 mph with his fastball but struggling to consistently get over his front side on time and leaving most fastballs up as a result. He’s got a pretty solid idea of spinning the ball as well, showing a sharp, late-breaking curveball in the upper-70s on an 11-to-5 shape, and once he gains command of both pitches he’s got pretty solid upside.




The Twin Cities Baseball Academy moved to 1-0 on the day via an 11-2 victory on Thursday afternoon, highlighted by the two-way performance of Jacob Mrosko (2020, Chanhassen, Minn.). Mrosko, who is listed primarily as a lefthanded-hitting outfielder, certainly looked capable and athletic with the bat in his hands, going 2-for-2 with a walk, but it was what he did on the mound that had the scout section buzzing. He worked up to 91 mph with his fastball in the early going, settling more into the 86-88 mph range before being pulled after three innings to save his pitch count. He struck out seven in just three frames, coming right at hitters with his fastball, getting a fair number of swings-and-misses up in the zone with the pitch. He has some deception and does hide the ball well, and while there are some timing kinks in his delivery that he’ll need to work on, right now he does a fair job of repeating and throwing strikes, with obvious athleticism throughout. His breaking ball, a true curveball thrown in the low-70’s, certainly projects as a bit-misser at the next level, as he shows an early propensity for being able to spin the baseball, with sharp, late break and a lot of depth on the pitch already.

In what was a really fun game to watch, the MLB Breakthrough Series team won their first pool play game 3-2 over TC Colorado on Thursday afternoon. TJ McCants (2020, Cantonment, Fla.) continued to show what he has all summer in one of the smoother lefthanded swings of the 2020 class to go along with solid physical projection and good athleticism. McCants went 2-for-3 in this one, with a loud-barreled triple up the right-center field gap followed by another well-struck shot that one-hopped the wall in right field, continually showing that smooth, easy swing that gets the barrel moving uphill on time with bat speed, control, and surprising power. Given how lithe and athletically-built McCants is at present, it’s easy to dream on him gaining strength over the next several years and growing into more and more power, giving him prodigious upside as a hitter.

Over at City of Palms Park later on Thursday night, Ostingers locked into a duel with L&M Baseball, a game which Ostingers ended up winning 4-2. The Ostingers pitching was locked in from the start, with Ryan Bradarich (2020, Wesley Chapel, Fla.) getting the start, working in the low-80s from the left side for the entirety of his outing, peaking at 84 mph and showing the ability to work to both sides of the plate with the pitch. He worked in a solid breaking ball as well as a quality changeup and did well to keep hitters off balance, at least the first time through the order.

When Bradarich ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning, Cole Stallings (2020, Lithia, Fla.) came on and was dominant through the rest of the game, ultimately delivering the win for Ostingers. Stallings was very good, to put it mildly, and the Stetson commit showed off some of the better upside in the class from this evaluator’s perspective. He’s got excellent size with a lean, projectable frame, and right now possesses excellent arm speed. He worked up to 91 mph with his fastball early on, the pitch really coming out of his hand well and exploding at the plate. The mechanical profile is pretty clean as well, with a bit of a hook to his arm stroke but keeping it online through the back, and accelerating up through release with no real violence or mechanical red flags. The curveball is thrown firmly in the 75-79 mph range with late, sharp break, showing the ability to vary the shape of the pitch a bit but retaining the sharpness and suddenness of the break.

On the other side, Bradley Lombardi (2020, East Greenwich, R.I.), a Boston College commit, was very solid for L&M in what ended up being a losing effort. He ran his fastball up to 88 mph early on, creating solid angle to the glove side and having some deception as a result of his crossfire delivery, showing a pretty solid combination of arm strength, arm speed, and overall physicality on the mound. He’s got some life to the fastball, and while his feel for spinning the baseball is still developing, he did show the ability to land the breaking ball for strikes and give hitters different looks with it.

On the offensive side, I liked the swings that Brock Wilken (2020, Valrico, Fla.) took in the middle of the Ostingers lineup. He’s a very physical, strong righthanded hitter who has a lot to like as far the mechanics of his swing goes. He swings the bat hard with great intent to do damage, getting the barrel accelerated and turned on a nicely-lofted path with excellent physical strength, and while the path does end up with some length to it at times, his strength and bat speed combination are fun to watch at this point in his development.

– Brian Sakowski



 Starting out Day 1 of the 2018 WWBA Underclass World Championship during an abbreviated day over at JetBlue Park, lefthander Emmett Olson (2020, Des Plaines, Ill.) turned in a quality performance and garnered some early looks from a good crowd of college coaches as well. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound lefthander has a big, projectable frame and a very low effort, easy delivery that allowed him to work his fastball in the low- to mid 80s, while topping out at 80 mph on the day, and showing a lot of good traits to like out of an uncommitted pitching prospect. Olson creates some angle from a tight arm slot, especially when working low in the strike zone, and has a short, quick arm stroke through the back. He does a good job at extending over his hips and clearing the front side to deliver strikes to both sides while routinely mixing in a big breaking curveball in the mid-60s with good depth; Olson also flashed a changeup in warmups that showed good life despite a lower arm slot.

Working a relatively efficient outing in a three-inning, 43-pitch start, Gavin Abrams (2021, Metuchen, N.J.) earned the win for FTB Tucci Northeast and showed off a good number of things to like in the process. The primary shortstop has a loose, whippy arm stroke with good extension toward the plate and can run his fastball up to 84 mph all while maintaining that velocity nicely through release. Abrams utilizes the most out of his 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame and drives toward the plate nicely; the balance in the delivery is notable as the arm was always on time and ready to deliver at foot strike. Abrams showed a tight breaking curveball as well in the low-70s that looks the part of a pitch that will continue to develop and eventually blossom into a weapon for Abrams. The uncommitted righthander allowed only one hit on three shutout innings and earned the victory on Thursday afternoon.

– Vinnie Cervino





Pitching in relief for 643 on Thursday afternoon, Ty Floyd (2020, Rockmart, Ga.) earned the win and shut the door on the game while peaking at 91 mph with his fastball. His arm action is compact and the ball comes out with intent staying mostly straight on the ride to the plate. Sitting in the 87-90 mph range mostly, Floyd was able to throw a solid amount of strikes with both his heater as well as his breaking ball and changeup. The uncommitted righthander’s arm stays quick through the back and the baseball gets to hitters quickly especially when jamming them on the inner half of the plate which he did so effectively. His offspeed pitches were also effectively used as he mixed in a short 12-to-6 breaking ball to put away hitters of either handedness, and a changeup that was a weapon to lefthanded hitters. The changeup is straight and was located to the armside of the plate. Floyd is a very high end uncommitted arm in the 2020 class and the arm strength combined with the quickness of his arm makes one think there is still some velocity to come.

Opposing Floyd’s 643 team on the mound was righthander Jackson Payne (2020, Clive, Iowa). Standing at a highly projectable 6-foot-4 frame, Payne has a high ceiling on the mound and a fastball that already shows promising velocity. Sitting early on at 82-86 mph with the heater, Payne projects for plenty more moving forward. His velocity did dip after his first inning settling into a more low-80s range. He worked around the zone with both his fastball and curveball that had varying life showing big 11-to-5 shape as well as shorter slurve-type bite at times as well. His arm works through the back while staying loose and online throughout. He gets downhill and when releasing out in front, he locates his pitches down in the zone to either side of the plate. Payne has the tools to work with on the mound moving forward and the Iowa native, albeit, still raw has potential as he continues to fill out.




The most intriguing arm of the day coming all the way from the state of Wyoming was young framed righthander Carter Young (2020, Casper, Wy.). Listed at 5-foot-10 and appearing to be shorter than that, Young has plenty of room to fill and already has the arm quickness to produce a fastball up to 89 mph. Young’s delivery is quick as well as the tempo in which he pitches. He gets the ball back from his catcher or infield and is ready to throw immediately working quickly. Young’s arm is compact and he maintained his upper-80s velocity well for the duration of his 45-pitch limit. He throws with some effort and recoil but the feel to spin as well as the ability to produce already good fastball velocity is impressive. Young is an uncommitted righthander and comes from the state of Wyoming making him a very interesting prospect to follow moving forward.

Chase Davis (2020, Elk Grove, Calif.) is a Top 100 ranked player in the class of 2020 committed to play for the Wildcats at the University of Arizona. The strong lefthanded hitting outfielder showed just why he is so highly touted on Thursday as he opened up the game for MLB Breakthrough Series with a loud triple to the opposite field that left his barrel at 96 mph. The 6-foot-1, 207-pounder has a very strong frame as well as a strong swing. The strength he possesses makes for an easy stroke that is pretty compact allowing him to stay direct to the point of contact. He did so on this particular swing as he turned around an 86 mph fastball with ease. It is obvious power in Davis’s stroke and he showed Thursday that more potential power could work to all parts of the field.

Coming in and eventually earning the win for MLB Breakthrough Series was lefthanded Ohio State commit Isaiah Coupet (2020, Flossmoor, Ill.). Not overly physical listed at 5-foot-11 and likely smaller than that, Coupet is still able to create plane with his fastball coming from a quick and online arm action. The southpaw flashed armside life to his fastball that ranged from 85-87 mph consistently and topping out at 88 mph on one individual pitch. He throws with some effort as well as some recoil at release but the command to both sides of the plate was ideal with his fastball and his big 1-to-7 breaking ball. The pitch was landed consistently for strikes and complemented his fastball really well. The Ohio State commit repeats his delivery and his pitchability with his combination of pitches is certainly advanced.

– Greg Gerard



It was an easy win on day one of the WWBA Underclass World Championship for the Toronto Mets – Reid as they grabbed a 12-4 victory. On the mound for the Mets was righthanded pitcher Turner Spoljaric (2021 Lisle, Ontario). Spoljaric isn’t a large frame on the mound at 5-foot-11, 170-pounds, nor is he currently a flamethrower arm. However, he has close to pinpoint accuracy with the fastball that was up to 82 mph in the game. He is also knowledgeable on the mound and mixes well. He will throw a nice little two-plane slider in and out of the zone in counts that hitters aren’t expecting to see an off-speed pitch. Spoljaric was excellent all game in creating weak contact. In four innings he allowed just four hits and two earned runs.

Batting in the two-spot for the Mets was shortstop Justin Carinci (2020 Ajax, Ontario). The righthanded hitter sets up in an open stance with his hands high. He shows a strong contact approach and battles to put the ball in play each and every at-bat. He utilizes quick hands to the ball and is able to work the entire field. Carinci ended the day with two hits, both doubles, driving in a run and scoring twice.

Driving in a couple more runs for the Mets was catcher Robert Battista (2020 Toronto, Ontario). At 6-foot, 190-pounds Battista has a lot of strength and is able to utilize it well in his swing. The lefthanded hitter works strictly to the pull side and looks to get to the ball on an elevated path through the zone. When he connects, Battista is able to make loud contact. He connected on a sharp line drive single into right field that drove in two runs early in the game.

It was a pitchers dual between the Canes Midwest and On Deck O’s 2020 with O’s able to snag a 3-0 victory. On the mound for the Canes and suffering the loss was righthanded pitcher Casper Clark (2020 North Vernon, Ind.). The Indiana commit stands at 6-foot-6, 235-pound with a strong delivery to the plate. He throws from a lower slot and is able to create a bit of short running action on the fastball topping out at 89 mph. The righties put away pitch is a sharp slider with late lateral action to it. His large frame allows him to take a big stride down the mound which helps him get some explosiveness from the hand. Clark has a stalker mentality on the bump, circling the mound and looking to get the ball back quickly. He attacks hitters early and wants to get swings and misses.




Opposing Clark on the mound for On Deck was another righthander in Luke Barrow (2020 Oak Ridge, N.C.). Barrow was as close to perfect as he could get without throwing the near unattainable perfect game. Over six innings, the Coastal Carolina commit allowed just a single baserunner on a base hit. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound top 500-ranked player was able to dominate so much by working the edges of the plate with ease and able to command the arm side run on the fastball that was sitting 83-88 mph. His slider was near untouchable with excellent feel for the pitch and a ton of swing-and-miss potential. As the projectable pitcher continues to develop he should continue to add velocity as well as continue success with location.

Leading off for On Deck was lefthanded hitting first baseman Brady Stone (2020 Fort Mill, S.C.). Stone is a prototypical leadoff guy reaching base twice in three trips and starting the home half of the first with a base hit. He’s a high contact hitter and looks to work the ball to the middle of the field but can go to opposite field as well. Stone has a lot of confidence in his hands. Time and time again he displayed quickness to fastballs and would stay back on off-speed pitches. His ability to let the ball travel and let his hands catch up when the ball gets deep was topped off with his second base hit an opposite field line drive.

Hitting just two spots behind Stone and providing most of the offensive production was East Carolina commit Joey Rezek (2020 Colfax, N.C.). At 6-foot, 200-pounds and a strong athlete, Rezek has a lot of power potential in the bat. He looks to get the ball on a positive trajectory off the bat and drive it to the deep parts of the field with backspin off the barrel. He keeps his path pretty compact but his strength allows him to create solid jump off the barrel. Rezek went 2-for-3 in the game with a screaming line drive back up the middle and a very long drive into the right-center field gap that took a hop and bounced over the fence. In the game Rezek drove in two of the three On Deck runs.

After some late afternoon delays the Home Plate Chili Dogs Argila were able to grab their first win of the tournament by a score of 5-1. Playing shortstop and batting in the three-hole was righthanded hitter Christian Dyer (2020 Sharpsburg, Ga.). Dyer is a smooth defender in the middle of the field and will make tough plays look routine. He’s able to get the ball out of the glove quickly and make strong and accurate throws across the diamond. He looked just as good at the plate in this game with a 1-for-3 day that included a 2-run triple. He keeps things simple at the plate with a compact line drive swing and is able to really barrel up the ball well when he gets something to hit.

Providing a much needed spark towards the bottom of the order was 6-foot-1, 180-pound third baseman Daniel Smith (2020 Newnan, Ga.). Smith sets up in an even and slightly crouched stance in the box. His barrel is quick through the zone on a line drive plane not looking to do to much with the ball. He utilizes a more inside path to contact, going 2-for-3 with a couple of RBI singles.

The FTB Rockets 2020 needed just five innings to grab the easy 8-0 win, their first in as many games. They needed just three from their starting pitcher, righthander Danny Holmes (2020 Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.). Holmes is very noticeable on the mound at 6-foot-4, 205-pounds with a ton of strength throughout. He was easily sitting 80-83 mph with more in the tank. He’s able to get on top of the ball well from an over the top slot and generate solid downhill plane through the zone. That mixed with a sharp 12-to-6 curveball put him on the path to allowing just a single hit and striking out eight hitters.

Holmes’ battery mate, Caleb Pendleton (2020 Jensen Beach, Fla.) didn’t do much in the way of offense in the game, but where he really stood out was defensively behind the dish. Pendleton has all the makings of a solid catcher at the next level. The Florida Atlantic commit moves very well from side to side and has advanced blocking skills. His ability to catch and release also came into play on a ball in the dirt that he was able to glove and throw out a runner from the knees with a pure laser to the bag. Pendleton has a rare talent set as a catcher that when everything is clicking well is among tops in the nation.

– Taylor Weber



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