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SONOMA COUNTY, CA - The North Bay League-Oak Division is being dominated by Cardinal Newman this season and for good reason. While the rest of the conference is a bit down relative to other years, Newman has one of it's stronger teams in recent memory. I'd seen Newman earlier in the spring on a couple of occasion but had yet to see Analy, Montgomery, and Maria Carrillo. As they play in neighboring towns to my home in Petaluma I figured it would be good to get at least one look at some of the local schools.

SCOUTING NOTES:

2021 2B Aidan Lombardi (Cardinal Newman) is a player who is starting to grow on me more and more. He's moved up into the top part of the line-up due in large part to a good approach and good line drive contact ability. He stays in the middle of the field well, runs well enough and has also played strong defense up the middle. Aggressive swing but good bat control. Saw him square up three balls to centerfield, L8, RBI single, and F8. Fairly slight of build but athletic.

2020 RF Drew Lombardi (Cardinal Newman) is Aidan's older brother and he is Newman's best overall athlete and has the biggest tools. The run tool is a plus, the arm is above average and the range is above average. Showed good awareness of what he wants to hit in this one, spitting on close pitches and being short and compact to those of his liking. Let's the ball travel and drives the ball well to the right side with a bit of an inside out swing that does have some gap power. Defensively saw him range back to RCF fence and make a great grab on a ball that at the very least was ticketed to hit off the top of the fence.

2021 C Shane Moran (Cardinal Newman) is a left-handed hitting catcher we've seen plenty of times but it's always good to see how younger talented players are evolving. Saw a shorter arm stroke on throws to 2nd base in this viewing and got him as low as 2.02 on warm-up toss. Receives the ball deep but does have soft strong hands. Technique and nuances of the catcher position are still a works in progress. Offensively was again selective but not quite as picky as previously seen, grounded a couple of balls through the infield for singles. There is some length and hip slide in the swing.

2019 1B William St. Martin (Analy) is a player with some bat talent, which I saw last spring when he homered vs El Cerrito HS. He's a thick bodied player with present strength, similar in some ways to his older brother Grant, a player of some note at Sonoma State U. He maintains good balance in his swing, utilizes a good lower half to start the swing, has a good trigger, lets the ball travel and works inside it. His approach keeps him gap to gap with power.

2021 CF Alex Leopard (Analy) leads off for the Tigers and started as freshman last season. In the viewings I've had he's shown himself to be a hit collector and now as he's a year old and stronger, he's got more bat speed. Facing a senior pitcher who is headed to Nevada (Sean Flowers) he was on-time to mid-80s stuff and utilizes a short stroke with a flat swing plane. Looks to hit where pitched and sees the ball well, though did get a bit too pick in one at-bat where he let his idea of the zone take priority over the umpire and that at-bat ended in a backward K. Defensively his range rates about average and has a fair arm. He's a smaller player and the tools other than the contact hitting tool will need to expand.

2019 CF Chris Latorre (Maria Carrillo) had an impactful game as MCHS won 7-6 in walk-off fashion after giving up five runs in the top of the first inning. Latorre was 4-for-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI, including the game winner in the bottom of the 7th. Swing has some length, looks like he's modeled his swing after Javy Baez. But he was on time and sprayed hard line drives to all fields. Good barrel awareness and kept the ball out of the air. Granted, didn't face much more than very very avg/below high school pitching but he dominated it. Defensively showed range over his right shoulder and closed well on a ball between he and the 2nd baseman. Good jumps and angles. Smaller compact body type at 5-foot-10 160-pounds, likely headed the JC route but certainly was the best player on the field in this viewing.

2020 1B Bryce Cannon (Maria Carrillo) has some tools and the lanky 6-foot-4 170-pounder (L/L) led off the bottom of the 7th with a triple that one-hopped the RCF fence. Had seen Cannon before but it has been since he was a freshman. There is plenty of bat speed and he does have some projectable power. Left-handed hitter and runs decent (4.55). Issue is that he's very around the ball and has some hip slide in his approach. Makes hard barrel contact, there is whippy life in the swing and again, it's generally all to the pull side and often hooked. Triple probably should have been a double but he pressed his luck and was called safe on the play (looked to be out to me). In any case, played 1st ball, good feet, soft hands, talks well. Nice play up the line on a hard ground ball that looked to be headed for a double.

2019 K.C. Kelly (Maria Carrillo) led off for the Pumas and showed off some offensive talent that could continue to blossom at the JC level. He's a wiry 6-foot-0 170-pounds (R/R) and the shortstop has some athleticism. Good range on display on a pop up toward the LF line, runs quick vs fast, short stroke at the plate and a good approach to the middle/pull side. Stole a bag easily, solid acceleration on that steal. Hadn't seen before but did have a college coach text during the game and ask me how he looked.

2019 A.J. Westergaard (Montgomery) did the bulk of the pitching (primary 1B/3B) for the Vikings but it was his left-handed hitting that stood out. Good body, strong and frame to put on some more size and strength. Good balance at the plate, gets through contact well. Utilizes a strong lower half. Pulled ball in most of the at-bats but the barrel was on-time and the contact was crisp. Swing is smooth and he had a hitterish look about him each at-bat. Would think a couple of years at the JC level could give him a chance to develop further.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
N. California Underclass ID	CA	05/26	Islanders Field - Lathrop
Inland Empire Futures Games Trials	CA	06/01	Norco High School
SoCal ProCase	CA	06/08	Hart Park
Northern California ProCase	CA	06/09	Delta College - Stockton
Bay Area Open Showcase	CA	06/26	Laney College
Inland Empire Top Prospect ID	CA	07/23	Santiago High School
Norcal Top Prospect ID	CA	07/24	St. Mary's College
Junior Future Games / Future Games	NATIONAL	07/30	LakePoint
Rising Stars Showcase	CA	09/21	Santiago High School

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