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New Episode LIVE now! - At The Yard Podcast

Ventura, Calif- 

My three game week of live looks quickly turned into a one game week as the weather continues to wreak havoc on the Southern California baseball schedule, but the one game look was a quality day of baseball.

With league play beginning for some of the CIF-SS leagues, I traveled out to see the opener of Coastal Canyon League play for two perennial championship contenders in the the Camarillo Scorpions and the Moorpark Musketeers. Camarillo is fronted by a deep senior class including a trio of NCAA D1 commits while adding in a pair of interesting ‘25s to keep an eye on. Moorpark is a mixture of experienced seniors with several ‘25/’26s who are making significant contributions to the varsity team. 

Camarillo plated a first inning run to take an early lead and then despite what would eventually be a combined no-hitter for the Scorpions the shutout was undone by a walk and a hit by pitch in back to back innings coupled with errors that would help the Musketeers plate a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. The Scorpion answered right back with a 4 run bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead and would extend that lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Musketeers competed to the end, plating one run in the top of the 7th through an error from the Scorpions who would hold on for a 8-3 win. Defense was a bit rough for both sides with a combined 7 errors although the misting rain and wet field conditions contributed to some of the sloppy play, but undoubtedly each team will need to tighten their defense going forward as they look to compete with the red hot Royal Highlanders who are off to a 9-1 start on the year and won their league opener on Friday, as well.

Below you can check out my breakdown of the standouts of the day with video highlights, access to their PBR profile and a scouting report on them.

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Camarillo:

+ ‘24 LHP/1B Boston Bateman (LSU Commit) The spotlight piece of my trip was to get an extended look at the big 6’ 8” LHP known as Saquatch. I’ve had 3 previous looks at Bateman, but each was a shorter stint (fall game or showcase event). This was my first opportunity to see a multiple inning start from him and needless to say it was a very impressive look. Featuring a 4 pitch mix of a FB/SLD/CB/CHG he works predominantly off the FB and CB, but mixed the SLD/CHG in throughout the 5 inning outing. His FB sat comfortably in the 91-94 MPH range while peaking at 95 on multiple pitches and he throws it consistently for strikes and shows solid ability to locate to both the glove side/arm side. His CB worked in the 75-78 MPH with a power break that locks hitters up tunneling well off his FB and collected multiple called 3rd strikes with it. The SLD is an interesting pitch he throws in the 81-83 MPH range with a distinctly different shape to the break from his CB with more horizontal action and less vertical break; he doesn’t feature it as much as his CB but there is definite potential for it. Only mixed in a few CHG’s at 84-85 MPH mainly as a soft contact pitch to try and combat a hitter trying to cheat for his FB velocity. Overall Bateman controlled the strike zone, was aggressive with his FB, showed feel for both breaking balls and his CHG, showed body control with ability to repeat his delivery, good tempo and intent in his operation with an easy operation. The stat line for the day speaks to his ability with 5 IP / 11 K’s / no hits / 1 BB / 1 HBP and 88 pitches thrown. The present ability with room to dream on more velocity, increased polish and a starter's potential make Bateman not only an LSU commit, but a strong early round MLB draft candidate.

+ ‘24 SS Trotter Enright (LBSU Commit) Count me as very high on Enright. He was a name I was tipped off to in the fall and had a chance to see him play in a late winter scrimmage and in my 2nd look at him I came away even more of a fan of his ability and potential. The LH hitting Enright has a direct compact path with an accurate barrel, command of the strike zone and a feel for rhythm/timing in his approach. He stays through the middle of the field with a line drive path and good bat speed with balance in his lower half which profile him as a top of the order potential bat with some impact potential. On the day he opened up the game with a BH bunt single showing above average speed down the line, then a groundout in his 2nd at bat before collecting a 2 RBI double to break the game open for the Scorpions and adding another single in his next plate appearance. There is power potential with his strength and ability to use his lower ½ but presently he stays to a high contact line drive approach with on base ability. I like his athleticism and actions at SS where he can play downhill/laterally plays with comfort both 1 & 2-handed and shows the arm strength to handle SS. There is some polish still needed for him at the position with angles and so forth, but the tool set is there where he could be an impact defender at SS with a top of the order offensive potential. There is a bright future for Enright on the baseball diamond.

+ ‘24 INF/OF Tommy Goodin (Vandy Commit) Goodin has been on my radar since I saw him at a regional showcase workout in 2022 summer where he showed off impressive power as a rising JR. He committed to CSUN shortly after that event, but eventually would reopen his recruiting before signing with Vanderbilt. A versatile defender I have seen him play 3B/OF in the past and was at 1B for this game. He looks the part of an offensive profile corner bat wherever he winds up in the future defensively. He has made some tweaks to his load in the swing operation to quiet down his movement and simplify his ability to work his approach. I’m a fan of the changes as I think it’s going to really open up his overall offensive ability especially as he continues to add strength to his frame and polishes his approach to tap into his strong raw power tool consistently in game. His first 2 plate appearances resulted in hard one hop ground balls to the 2B in 2K counts in a left on left matchup. In his 3rd trip to the plate facing a RHP he laced a single up the middle that was a rocket off the bat and then in his final trip he drove a hard shot to CF through the rain for a loud out. I came away impressed with the tweaks Goodin is making at the plate and his overall potential offensively. There is an exciting future for Goodin as he heads on to the next steps of his baseball career post high school.

+ ‘25 C Blaze Meylemans (Uncommitted) This was my 2nd look at Meylemans who I saw in the winter, as well. I came away from this look even more convinced of his potential to play at the next level. He handled the high quality arsenal from Bateman with ease behind the plate, showing the feel to stick/present velocity, work with spin to receive it well and block in the dirt with agility and his overall command of what he does behind the plate looks the part of a future college catcher. His arm strength flashes above average with pop times as low at 1.94 between innings and accuracy to the bag/1B side of the base. At the plate he shows a compact swing with bat to ball skills. In each of my looks at him he has stayed up the middle of the field with more of a line drive/ground ball swing path he shows the ability to be a high contact bat. But, there is some strength in his frame and with a tweak to the approach/swing path I can see Meylemans adding impact to the pull side more consistently with some HR power at the plate. Overall the package looks like a solid catch/throw defender who can be an impact piece at a premium defensive position while adding at the very least length to a college lineup, but I see potential for more impact offensively as he matures/develops at the plate. Meylemans is a ‘25 backstop who college coaches should be keeping their eyes on this spring/summer and into next fall for their ‘25 class. 

+ ‘24 LHP Victor Tostado (Uncommitted) Tostado came in to relief Bateman in the top of the 6th inning and the pair combined for another no-hitter with Bateman going 5 and Tostado finishing out. It’s an interesting delivery for Tostado who has a whippy quick arm from a low ¾ slot which almost shows sidearm slots at times. His deception/funk makes his stuff play up as the ball is hard to pick up especially for LH hitters. The FB works mainly at 79-81 and touched 82 with sinking action towards the plate. He pairs it with a 70-72 MPH sweeping SLD that got swing/miss and uncomfortable takes for LH hitters while mixing in a 74-75 MPH CHG with similar movement to his FB. His control/command was spotty which portends a reliever future for him, but with the funky look solid 2 pitch mix with a 3rd option and being from the LH side he is a quality bullpen piece for a college program and a guy who could really develop his profile by heading to JUCO to start his college career.

Moorpark:

+ ‘26 MIF AJ Mai (Uncommitted) While it was a rough day offensively for the Musketeers as a whole facing Bateman, Mai continues to impress me with what he can do on a baseball field as just a sophomore. The stat line will show a 0-2 with an RBI, but what it doesn’t show is the comfort that Mai had in the box facing low to mid 90’s FB as a high school sophomore while controlling the strike zone for the majority of his swing decisions. He is aggressive on pitches within the strike zone and after an early strikeout he came back to a work an impressive at bat in his 2nd appearance getting into a 2K count battling until he squared up the best struck ball of the day for the Musketeers off Bateman with a hard line drive to CF for a SAC FLY. Mai showed his ability to get the barrel to the baseball even if his timing was slightly off versus the velocity, but as he adds strength/bat speed and polishes his approach/timing versus more high level pitching there is a very strong offensive profile for him. He flashed his potential impact level defensive tools in the game including making a very nice over the shoulder catch on a shallow pop fly in RF and as always his feet/hands/arm actions all show an up the middle defensive future for Mai. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here AJ Mai is a name that college programs should be following in the ‘26 class because there is a bright future for him on a baseball diamond.

+ ‘26 LHP Carson Cerny (Uncommitted) Cerny was another arm who I saw briefly last spring in a short stint and have been very intrigued with the young LHP who threw on varsity as a freshman in 2023. Getting to see him start versus a good Scorpions lineup was a quality look at the present ability and the future potential for Cerny. His delivery is athletic with a quick arm and shows a relatively easy operation with mild effort which as he adds strength to his frame should reduce and become cleaner/smoother. He showed a 3 pitch mix with a FB that presently worked at 80-82 MPH with arm side run which he works downhill with (shows solid control and missed down with his FB) then paired with a presently softer 66-68 MPH CB that has potential as he adds velocity and a 70-73 MPH SLD which showed a sharper horizontal break to it. Cerny showed a good feel for pitching down in the zone and generating ground balls/soft contact while collecting 3 K’s and 1 BB. The present ability is interesting, but there is plenty of projection to what Cerny will turn into on the mound. He can continue to add strength to his frame and with increases in arm speed, velocity and the sharpness to his breaking balls there is a future starter potential for him at the next level. I see a bit of Jackson Banuelos from West Ranch who is committed to CSUN in the future for Cerny with his pitch mix, delivery and athleticism and I’m very intrigued to follow his development/career over the next couple years for the young Musketeers left-hander.

Names To Know:

In a one day look not all highlights are caught or players won’t always have their best results. With that in mind there were several other players who showed interesting tools/potential or futures. The names below are ones to keep an eye on going into the spring and going forward. Each player below is uncommitted for college coaches to put on their board for potential needs in the ‘24 or ‘25 class.

Moorpark:

+ ‘25 Taylor Busch

+ ‘25 RHP Derek Nickels

Camarillo:

+ ‘25 MIF Brayden Smith

+ ‘24 RHP Nick Tostado

+ ‘24 OF Jordan Gutierrez

 

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