Prep Baseball Report’s Shooter Hunt and Nathan Rode are in Southern California to cover the 2017 Boras Classic. Rode will primarily focus on draft prospects while Hunt will mostly highlight underclassmen with On The Hunt.

By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA—We’ve completed three days at the 2017 Boras Classic, which means the championship game is set. Friday evening will feature Mira Costa HS, CA, against Huntington Beach HS, CA. Mira Costa won the entire Boras Classic in 2016, but has a new head coach and a very young roster.

To reach the title game, Huntington Beach beat Corona Santiago HS, CA, 11-9. The Oilers had built up an 11-4 lead behind five home runs and managed to hold off a furious rally by the Sharks, who scored five runs in the ninth.

Mira Costa beat Orange Lutheran HS, CA, 3-1, but needed extra innings. LHP Jesse Storey pitched six strong innings and was able to stifle a strong Orange Lutheran lineup with a fastball around 80 and a slow, loopy curveball. He allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks, exiting after allowing a baserunner to begin the seventh inning. He struck out five. Orange Lutheran tied the game at 1-1 on a two-out error in the seventh, but Mira Costa immediately responded with two runs in the eighth before closing things out.

Here are some highlights from Thursday…

+ OF Garrett Mitchell (Orange Lutheran HS, CA) has struggled with the bat this spring, but his speed is unquestioned. He chased down a fly ball in the left-center field gap that looked like a sure hit with a sliding catch and then got down the line in 4.07 seconds on a groundout.

+ SS Brandon Beck (Corona HS, CA) got on the mound Wednesday and pitched with an up-tempo delivery. His command was scattered, but he sat 84-86 mph with his fastball and mixed in a slow, slurvy curveball with 11/5 shape at 74.

+ El Toro HS, CA, broke out the bats en route to an 11-3 win over Vista Murrieta HS, CA. Pacing the offense were 2017 IF Carsen Negrete, 2018 LHP/1B Erik Tolman and 2017 C Tyler Lasch. Negrete, a Gonzaga recruit, showed a smooth swing with some length and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Tolman, who is committed to Cal Poly, was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Lasch, a Cal State Fullerton recruit, was 1-for-5 with four RBIs. He has a strong, stocky frame and takes aggressive hacks from the left side.

+ SS/RHP Jake Moberg (Vista Murrieta HS, CA) was 1-for-3 with a double and simply looks the part on the field. He flicked a double into the right-center gap in his final at-bat and showed athletic actions to go with easy arm strength at shortstop.

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