By Doug Freeman
Florida Scouting Director

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The week before one of the biggest tournaments of the year, many of the top teams in the state came to the Lakeland and Winter Haven area to compete and prepare. One of the most impressive teams this weekend in the 17U bracket was the Central Florida Gators, who won the 18U side of the tournament. Led by OF Elijah Cabell (Winter Park HS, FL) the tournament had a few standouts. These include RHP Bradford Jones(Venice HS, FL), Brandt Sundean (George Jenkins HS, FL), and Jack Leftwich (TNXL Academy, FL).

Below we have full scouting reports on the aforementioned players and for the remaining scouting reports from the weekend check out our SUMMER SCOUT BLOG.

Elijah Cabell, OF, Winter Park HS, FL (2018)
LSU recruit. Currently ranked No. 4 in the 2018 class. The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder was impressive all weekend. Cabell has a strong lower half and stays in rhythm and on time throughout his swing. Cabell shows an advanced approach and drove balls into both gaps over the course of three games. He has great bat speed and feel for the barrel, consistently hitting the ball hard. The ball explodes off of his bat and sounds different than most anyone in his class. Not only was he impressive in the box, but he showed the ability to easily turn into another gear stretching what looked like a double into a stand-up triple.

Bradford Jones, RHP, Venice HS, FL (2017)
Uncommitted. 6-foot-1, 165 pounds. Showed a quick arm with a fastball that ranged from 88-90, touching 91. Jones also showed a 73 mph slider and a 78 mph changeup. Jones is athletic with a strong lower half and does not yet get fully extended and will cut the fastball at times. As he logs more innings and gets better extension, he should gain a tick or two on the fastball and show more consistent hard slider. Jones will be an interesting follow through the summer and into the fall.

Brandt Sudean, LHP, George Jenkins HS, FL (2018)
Uncommitted. 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, is already a big, strong kid and still has room to grow and fill out. Sundean showed a fastball that ranged from 84-88 mph with a good downhill action. He also showed a breaking ball at 63-64 mph and a changeup at 77-78 mph. Sundean passes the eye test and has a clean easy arm action. Although he does not show consistent offspeed stuff, there is the makings of a good slider as he continues to log innings and get a better feel for his body. Sundean will be a very interesting one to follow and should make another jump as he continues to log innings.

Jack Leftwich, RHP, TNXL Academy, FL (2017)
6-foot-3, 225 pounds and has noticeably gotten more physical while still remaining flexible and getting good extension. Leftwich’s fastball was 87-91 mph touching a 93 with late life and more to come as it was with little effort and loose arm action. The slider was equally as impressive, ranging from 77-78 mph, it had tight spin and depth that he threw for a strike as well as throwing it for a strikeout pitch.