By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

CARY, NC—The first day of games at Tournament of Stars took place Wednesday under the usual oppressive heat that North Carolina provides every June. There were several noteworthy highlights that can be found between two notebooks, this one and Sean Duncan’s. This post highlights players from outside the current PBR states while the other is for players from within the PBR coverage area.

+ The first two pitchers to take the mound were RHPs Satia Santa Cruz (Sahuarita HS, AZ) and Solomon Bates (Oak Hills HS, CA). Each pitched three innings and surrendered a hit and a walk. Santa Cruz allowed an earned run and struck out four while Bates struck out two and didn’t allow any runs. Santa Cruz has a thick upper body with thin legs and pitches from a three-quarter arm slot with solid arm speed. He started out sitting in the low 90s and dipped into the low 80s at one point, but projects to pitch with at least an average fastball. His curveball has slurvy action in the low 70s and he mixes in a changeup around 79 mph. Bates sat 85-87, touching 89 and was 72-74 with his curveball.