High School Crosscheck: Week 9
April 15, 2019
The second annual Midwest Select took place Friday and Saturday, featuring some top teams from the region. Naturally, that brought some scouting attention Grand Park in Westfield, IN, to see a few draft prospects.
RHP Nick Hoffmann (Centerville HS, OH) stole show on Saturday, twirling a perfect game with eight strikeouts. The 6-foot-2 Clemson recruit has an athletic frame with proportional strength and room for continued physical development. He pounded the strike zone with his 88-91 mph fastball, and mixed in a 73-75 breaking ball. The fastball plays mostly true, but gets up on hitters thanks to his excellent extension, which ranged between 6-foot-10 to 7-foot-3, giving most of his fastballs a perceived velocity 1-2 mph faster than the actual velocity, per Trackman Baseball data. His final pitch of the game was 91 on a strikeout. The delivery is athletic and on-line. He has a deep takeaway in the back with a slight wrap and his arm speeds up to get it up and out with a fast hand out front.