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Tournaments  | Story  | 9/25/2016

South Qualifier Day 2 Notes

Brandon Hohl     
Photo: Perfect Game

Daily Leaders | Day 1 Notes

Leading off Day 2 of the Perfect Game South Qualifier in Houston, Texas is righthanded pitcher and Lamar University commit, Braydon Credeur (2018, Nederland, Texas). Credeur has a strong athletic build and intense presence on the mound. Out of the windup he has high hand set and high leg lift with internal rotation that coils the front side of his body. He has a long, clean arm action to an over-the-top delivery that is direct to the plate with downhill plane and finishes to the first base side. Credeur attacked hitters with his hard fastball that touched 89 mph and ranged 85-87. He also threw a sharp 11-to-5 curveball at 75 mph when ahead in the count that induced swing and misses over the top. He looks more like a thrower right now that uses his velocity to overpower hitters as he missed up with the fastball at times and also caught a lot of barrels. It still was a short and impressive 1 2/3 inning outing, only allowing one hit while striking out four through thirty pitches.

After a short rain delay I caught the South Texas Sliders Orange once again at Premier. Kolby Johnson (2018, Pearland, Texas) was on the mound for the Sliders and he caught my attention on Friday in his natural center field position. With his short and athletic build, Kolby has impressive range in the outfield, is an impressive baserunner and a high-energy player. At the plate he stands tall with his hands high above the shoulder and keeps the barrel active for rhythm. He has simple yet advanced swing mechanics starting with a gather to his rear leg synced with a leg lift that coils the front side. His stride separates to strong launch position with explosive hips, sudden bat speed and a good bat path. I have seen Johnson for two games now and he shows an innate ability to barrel the ball at the plate. He finished the first game going 3-for-3 with an RBI triple and reached base in all four plate appearances.

Johnson’s teammate Nick Wolff (2018, Spring, Texas), who was mentioned in Friday's recap as a pitcher, impressed on Saturday at the plate. The lefthanded hitter has a loose, athletic stance and holds the bat away from his body. He starts his swing with a simple gather to his rear leg and a short leg lift with internal rotation that coils the front side. He lands in a strong launch position with torque, as his lead hip opens for an explosive lower half, and works up to the ball with bat speed. He had an impressive day at the plate barreling everything he swung at, finishing 1-for-4 with an RBI single.

In the second game of a doubleheader, Premier Baseball Futures Evans threw out multiple impressive righthanded pitchers high in the Perfect Game rankings. All three threw short outings of thirty pitches or less.

The first to appear was LSU Tigers commit and the 102nd ranked player in the country, Owen Meaney (2018, Houston, Texas). Owen sat 87-90 mph with his power fastball and mixed in a sharp curveball at 76 mph. He threw 27 pitches and struck out one in one inning of work. Also went 1-for-3 with an RBI at the plate.

Ryan Segner (2018, Fredricksburg, Texas) followed up Meaney. Sitting at 87 mph with his fastball and curveball at 73 mph the Baylor commit threw 30 pitches and recorded two strikeouts in one inning.

The final of the three pitchers for Premier Baseball Futures Evans was Adam Kloffenstein (2018, Magnolia, Texas), a TCU Horned Frog commit and the 32nd ranked player in the country. Adam has a smooth delivery to the plate and an over-the-top release point. He commanded his three-pitch mix of a fastball, slider and curveball, sitting at 86-87 mph with his fastball, touching 90, while throwing his sweeping slider at 79 mph and a sharp curveball at 75. He worked two innings throwing 30 pitches, recording one strikeout. Kloffenstein has impressed at the plate as well. He stands slightly open with the bat below and behind the back shoulder. He stride separates to a torqued launch position with a strong lower half, and the barrel works up to the ball with velocity. He is currently hitting .444 with a double, triple, two RBI and two runs scored in the event.

Lefthanded pitcher Garret Crochet (2017, Ocean Springs, Miss.) took the mound for the Nola Monsters in a great game against Premier Baseball Futures-Nixon. The Jones County Junior College commit has a tall, lean and athletic frame with room to fill. He uses a high leg lift with internal rotation, coiling the front side of the body to a strong torqued position over the rubber. His clean and compact arm swing gains speed to his high three-quarters release point that creates downhill plane. He has a deceptive delivery as his glove-hand mechanics allow him to hide the ball behind his glove until release. He throws across his body due to his stride towards the first base line which does affect his location with the fastball. His four-seam fastball has life at 85-86 mph, touching 87. He also mixed in a sharp 1-to-7 curveball at 75 mph keeping it in the same plane as his fastball, and finished his outing with five strikeouts in four innings without allowing a base hit.

Another entertaining game occurred at Premier between Banditos 2018 Black and Action 18u Garcia. To say that I wasn’t impressed with Banditos at the plate would be a lie but I am going to instead focus on two of their pitchers, uncommitted Blake Schultz (2018, League City, Texas) and TCU commit Marcelo Perez (2018, Laredo, Texas).

In a relief appearance, Schultz showed raw mechanics and impressed with his pitch repertoire consisting of a fastball and a curveball. He showed an over-the-top release point and a quick arm action that created life in both pitches. The fastball was consistently 86-87 mph with firm downhill plane and matched it with an impressively sharp 12-to-6 curveball at 76 mph. The curveball has impressive movement and shows high potential to turn into a plus pitch. However, he consistently spiked it in front of the plate and lacked command, which left him vulnerable with the fastball. That is where the Action hitters saw most of their success against Schultz. Overall, I very impressed with Schultz and can confidently say the ceiling is high on his athletic potential.

Perez made his presence known relieving Schultz in the fifth inning and holding the Action offense in check for 2 2/3 innings. Marcel kept it simple with a consistent dose of fastballs ranging 88-90 mph and peaking at 91. The TCU commit overpowered hitters with his max effort delivery and effective wildness around the plate. He looks more like a thrower than a pitcher right now but the velocity is there along with repeatable mechanics.

The most impressive hitter that stood out for Action was Antonio Valdez (2018, Corpus Christi, Texas). Valdez has a small athletic frame and at the plate he shows control of highly advanced movements starting with a hinge stance where he has a significant bend in the legs with his chest over his toes that puts him in a leveraged starting position. His hands are held low and deep behind the shoulder while he tips the barrel back and forth for rhythm. He has a short gather to his rear leg and a barrel tip load, using a stride separation to create a strong hitting position at heel strike. He strides slightly open but maintains torque by keeping the front shoulder closed at heel strike. He showed off explosive hips and bat speed on an RBI triple down the right field line, as it is evident that he sees the ball very well at the plate. He finished the game 1-for-3 with that RBI triple and a walk.
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