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Quick Hits: Lake Charles Rising Stars ID

May 24, 2023
Alex Armand
Louisiana Scouting Director

Lake Charles, LA - Our first Rising Stars event of the summer and second of the year was held this past Saturday May 20th, 2023 at Barbe High School High School.  This series of events are geared towards up and coming prospects in the 2027 and 2028 classes, and serves as an identifier for our Junior Future Games teams.  Today, we continue our post-event coverage of the event with another edition of of Quick Hits.  This piece focuses on some of the prospects that caught our eye.  Be sure to follow us, on all of our social media platforms, for continued coverage of the Lake Charles Rising Stars ID!

 

+ 2027 INF/RHP Devyn Downs (Sterlington HS)

Athletic 6'1" 175 lbs. frame with long limbs.  Downs had another good showing on Saturday, proving why the LSU Tigers decided to move on him this past fall.  At the plate, he starts in an upright and balanced stance and uses a simple load and stride to get to center.  Downs maintains balance with his forward move to the ball and uses a more linear path with his lower half to drive the bat head directly to contact with slightly uphill extension.  There was a lot of hard contact during his BP round and what was most impressive was that his hardest contact was to the middle of the field and the opposite field gap, showing the ability to drive pitches over the outer-half of the plate.  On the infield, Downs moves well with long strides and shows soft hands receiving the baseball and plenty of arm strength across the diamond.  On the mound, is where he showed his most upside and promise, as he routinely ripped off FB in the 82-86 mph range with consistent spin rates in the 2350-2450 RPM range, while also flashing a sharp and tight SL.  Sterlington returns a lot of youth off this year's quarterfinals team and Downs will surely be another big piece of their team next season, as they look to make a return to the state tournament.

 

+ 2027 INF/RHP Owen Galley (Welsh HS)

Lean and athletic 5'11" 145 lbs. frame with plenty of room to add strength as he matures.  The future Welsh Greyhound turned in a really nice overall performance at Saturday's Rising Stars ID.  At the plate, Galley starts in an upright and balanced stance with good rhythm and uses a simple load and stride with minimal head movement.  He uses his hands more right now in his swing by delivering a direct path to contact with level extension and a two-handed finish.  Galley was another guy that made a lot of hard contact to the middle of the field and showed the ability to handle pitches middle-away well.  On the turf, he glides around gracefully with smooth actions and soft hands, receiving each ball with his hands and feet in sync.  He also showed a quick release, especially on the forehand play and an accurate arm with backspin and carry.  

 

+ 2028 MIF Kannon Keiser 

Keiser is still developing physically at 5'3" 105 lbs. as are most 13 year old prospects.  His impact on the field, however, was evident on Saturday, especially with his glove.  Keiser showed a high baseball IQ and high-level understanding of infield play.  He receives the ball with soft hands and his footwork and understanding of how to cut angles on different balls is advanced for his age.  Keiser also showed a quick release and was still able to maintain accuracy on his throws across the diamond.  A switch hitter, he starts in a taller stance and used a simple load and stride from the left side and a modified leg kick from the right side.  He maintained balance from start to finish and drove his back knee into the ground to drop the bat head down to the ball with a flat finish, which produced a lot of low and hard contact.  Keiser looks to be a "baseball rat" and a player that loves being out on the field, which bodes well for him because his physical abilities will ultimately catch up to his baseball skills as he matures with age.