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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/29/2019

16u South Day 1 Scout Notes

Britt Smith      Nate Schweers      Andrew Jenkins     
Photo: Bryson Adair (Perfect Game)

Gavin Perryman (2021, Dallas, Texas) had a strong start for Academy Select 16u Ingram on Friday morning, tossing three scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. The uncommitted righthander recorded the first five outs of the game by strikeout, totaling six on the day. Perryman has a smooth, low-effort delivery from a high three-quarters arm slot and also showcased impressively repeatable mechanics in the lower half. Perryman’s fastball sat in the low-80s, topping at 84 mph on Friday, and he was able to keep hitters off balance with an 11-to-5 curveball with good depth at 67 mph and a fading changeup at 73 mph. The pitchability he showed on the mound was impressive, and the projectable frame makes him a very intriguing arm to keep an eye on moving forward.

Luke Robertson (2021, Frisco, Texas) was equally as impressive on the mound for Academy Select 16u Ingram on Friday morning, tossing three innings in relief with six strikeouts as well. Robertson has a tall and athletic frame, creating good linear direction at foot strike and getting good extension over his front side from a mid three-quarters slot. The delivery is simple and efficient, allowing Robertson to repeat well. Robertson sat at 80-84 mph with the fastball, showed some advanced feel for a changeup with late run and sink in the mid-70s. Robertson has good feel for spin and he was able to pair his changeup well with a tight curveball with late depth at 70 mph. Robertson is committed to Houston.

Hudson White (2021, Fort Worth, Texas) had a strong day at the plate Friday, going 2-for-4 with a loud double to the gap in left-center field. White has a strong and athletic build at 6-foot, 185-pounds, starting from a slightly crouched and slightly open stance at the plate. White, who is a primary catcher committed to Oklahoma State, has a direct path to contact with present bat speed and a line drive barrel plane at the plate. White also showed some good speed out of the box, beating out an infield single for his second hit of the day.




Bryson Adair (2021, Elkhart, Texas) was dominant in his start for Dallas Patriots 16u Sherard on Friday. The righthander tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five. Adair has a fast arm from a high three-quarters slot, and attacked hitters constantly with a fastball that has good downward tilt at 84-87 mph. Adair has an athletic, 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame with plenty of room to fill out and add strength, and has great mound presence on the hill. Adair, who is uncommitted in the 2021 class, has developing feel for a curveball with 11-to-5 shape in the low-70s, flashing some developing feel for a changeup at 80 mph as well.




Ian Collier (2021, Plano, Texas) was impressive both at the plate and behind it on Friday. Collier put together one of the more impressive at-bats of the game on Friday, fighting off multiple pitches before staying on a curveball moving away and lining it up the middle for a run-scoring single. At 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, Collier has a looming presence in the box with present bat speed and a good feel for the strike zone. Behind the plate, Collier is athletic with a low, even stance. Collier was near flawless at catcher, and turned some heads when he caught a runner stealing with a 2.18 in-game pop time. With his size and athleticism, the uncommitted member  of the 2021 class is a constant catalyst both offensively and defensively for Dallas Patriots 16u Sherard.

Connor Carson (2021, Bullard, Texas) had a strong day at the plate on Friday, going 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI. Carson has an athletic and upright stance in the box, and his quick hands and present bat speed allow him to drive the ball to and through each gap. Most impressive from Carson Friday was the way he played the game. The primary shortstop looked comfortable playing second base, and his heads up base running allowed him to turn the triple into a home run after an overthrow. Carson’s high intensity approach to the game will allow him to continue to impress as the summer goes on.

Caden Copeland (2021, Midlothian, Texas) is a very projectable lefthanded pitcher that showed a lot of things to like on Friday. Copeland showed good command of a fastball with a lot of late run and sink at 81-84 mph. Copeland showed the ability to use both halves of the plate during his start, commanding his fastball well. Copeland has a smooth and repeatable delivery from a mid three-quarters slot, and further development of his lower half mechanics will lead to velocity jumps. The southpaw shows good feel for a hard slider in the mid-70s with tight spin and late break. With an athletic and projectable, 6-foot, 165-pound frame, it will be interesting to see how Copeland develops.

Chase Spencer (2021, Plano, Texas) was dominant for D-BAT Elite – Clementz on Friday, allowing just one unearned run over six innings of work. Spencer struck out 10 batters and walked only one. Spencer pitched at 85-87 mph on Friday, topping out at 89 mph with the fastball. The righthander also went to a mid-70s slider. Spencer, who is uncommitted in the 2021 class, has a 6-foot, 160-pound frame, and is a top 50 player in Texas in the class.




PNT 2021 National Team had a pair of outstanding performances in their win over Adidas Baseball Usa 2021 – Perez on Friday night. Jake Maynard (2021, Amarillo, Texas) was 2-for-3 with a single and run-scoring triple in the game. Maynard has some present athleticism and bat speed at the plate, with a line drive barrel plane and good first step out of the box. The highlight of his day on Friday was an incredible diving play up the middle at shortstop. Maynard was able to dive and glove the ground ball before making a strong throw to nab the runner at first. Maynard’s all-around game is very impressive, and he is one of those players that makes things go up the middle and at the top of the order.




Cooper Cothran (2021, Abilene, Texas) also had a strong game in the PNT victory Friday. Cothran was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBI in the game, driving a pair of balls to the pull side. Cothran has an athletic presence in the box, and works from an upright and even stance at the plate. Cothran has a simple leg lift trigger with a slightly lifted barrel plane, and he uses his present bat speed and quick hands to get his hands extended and drive the baseball.

– Nate Schweers


With a more mature and physical build 6-foot-2 and 210-pounds, rising uncommitted junior Kyler Kirkpatrick (2021, Round Rock, Texas) shows the makings of future power pitcher. With present strength and the necessary flexibility in his hips, Kirkpatrick stays in control of his delivery. With solid command of an 11-to-5 shaped curveball, he can protect his fastball that sits in the mid-80s, topping at 86 mph with heavy sinking action. Showing the ability to get the fastball to both halves of the plate, Kirkpatrick has the upside of a starting pitcher at the next level. Displaying a slider at 79 mph with just north of 10-to-4 shape, he displays a present comfort level in spinning the ball effectively.

– Britt Smith


AJ Smith (2021, Colleyville, Texas) is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound third baseman for Stix 2021 Heitz. The lean-framed righthanded hitter led the charge offensively in their win over US Elite 16 – McClendon. He went 2-for-3 with a deep triple, a single and three RBI. He is a linear type hitter, with above average bat speed and he used a simple swing with a line drive plane while staying short to the baseball to make solid contact out front.

Stix 2021 Heitz took an early lead and righthanded pitcher Ben Smedshammer (2021, Lorena, Texas) was solid on the mound for 2 1/3 innings. Smedshammer worked out of his windup during most of his outing, taking a small step into a quick delivery that was downhill. He worked at a fast-paced and controlled the game to his liking and spotted up his fastball that was 80-83 mph. He allowed two hits, zero runs and struck out five during his brief appearance.

Elite play up the middle from Houston Banditos Scout helped them with a win over Texas Raiders – 2021. The middle infield duo is about as solid as one will see during the summer, led by Houston commit Brandon Burckel (2021, Lindale, Texas) who went 3-for-3 with three RBI at the dish out of the leadoff spot. The quick-twitch, two-way athlete is listed as a primary second baseman and he showed quick hands, a level swing plane and found consistent barrels. Hitting righthanded, he led off the game with a triple to center field, laced a single to the hole in his second at-bat and hit a towering home run over the left field wall in his final plate appearance. At second base, Burckel was fluid in his actions with good footwork and had good execution turning double plays with mobility off the bag on his throws.




The counterpart to this duo is Texas A&M commit Austin Stracener (2021, New Braunfels, Texas) who displayed his tools early and often on day one of the 2019 WWBA 16u South National Championship. Impressing at the plate, he started with a slightly open stance, worked his hands low into his load with a leg kick trigger. He displayed a very quiet approach with advanced bat speed and maintained good balance throughout his swing. Stracener, who is a lefthanded hitter, drove in a run via a sac fly to deep left field in his first at-bat, hit a hard RBI single to right field in his second plate appearance and showed off his speed by beating out an infield single in his third at-bat. Defensively, he has all the tools to stay at shortstop when he arrives on campus at College Station. He is an elite defender with soft hands, has the lateral agility to make the all the plays along with a plus arm strength to make every throw.

Devin Benavides (2020, Laredo, Texas) is a medium framed, righthanded pitcher. He began with a big side step into his windup with a high leg kick nearing the shoulder. He threw from a high three-quarters arm slot, staying tall through his delivery, and had no trouble with the opposing hitters. During his two innings of work, Benavides struck out six, walked one and allowed no hits. He located his fastball to all quadrants and efficiently pitched up in the zone. The fastball sat 83-86 mph while also dropping in a curveball that was in the low- to mid-70s. Benavides projects to add more velocity during the next two years, which makes him a prospect for college coaches to keep an eye on.

Outfielder Nick Mosley (2020, Lufkin, Texas) started off his weekend with a bang. On the first pitch he saw, he rocketed a fastball over the left field wall to put Banditos-Black on the board in the bottom of the first inning.  Hitting in the leadoff spot, he is a righthanded hitter with an open stance, a hand set near his shoulders and a rotational swing that is simple with some pop to his pull side. The outfielder also put his speed on display by stealing a bag after a single in his second at-bat and easily tracked down balls in the outfield on his few attempts. Mosley went 3-for-3 on the day with two singles and a home run.

Ryan Scott (2021, The Colony, Texas) has an athletic frame with broad shoulders. Starting off hot in his first two at-bats, Scott hit back-to-back doubles to help Thrive-Haugen take an early lead over Sticks Baseball Academy. Standing with a square base, he had his hands in a high set position with a high back elbow and used a toe tap for timing. He has above average bat speed with a linear swing path and was able to get the bat head out front and square up balls nicely throughout the day. Listed as a primary shortstop, Scott started in the outfield where he worked though the ball out front, had average arm strength and throws that had some carry. With added strength to his frame, Scott could develop more pop and bat speed as he matures, making him a true middle-of-the-order hitter.

Luke Heefner (2021, Cedar Hill, Texas) played well on both sides of the ball in day one action. Coming out of the bullpen to close out the game for Thrive-Haugen, Heefner had a quick arm, pitched to contact and lived off his low- to mid-80s fastball to get outs. Offensively, Heefner went 2-for-4 with a triple, a double and one RBI.

Zachary Malone (2021, Hallsville, Texas) has a strong, physical frame with high back pockets. Standing at 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, the righthanded hitting third baseman had a gap-to-gap approach and found the barrel making regular contact. With more utilization of his lower half, he will add power to his already projectable body. Malone incorporated a pre-pitch hop, kept his eyes low to the ground with good footwork and semi soft hands. This uncommitted prospect could start catching the eyes of colleges over the next two years once a few adjustments are made to his swing.

– Andrew Jenkins
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