MANDEVILLE, LA - The 2020 high school season is fast approaching, and the Prep Baseball Report Louisiana Scouting Staff has begun to make their way around the area, catching preseason scrimmages the past few days.

On Saturday, we headed over to St. Paul’s HS to catch the Wolves take on Lakeshore HS. While traveling over to Mike Miley Stadium on Monday night to catch the match-up between Jesuit HS and Mandeville HS.

+ Louisiana State recruit, 2023 LHP Kade Anderson (St. Paul’s HS, LA) tossed one inning on Saturday for the Wolves in their scrimmage vs. Lakeshore HS. One of the most advanced left-handers in the country, Anderson possesses a polished, athletic delivery with a clean arm action, and easy effort. He pitched 84-86 mph with his fastball, showing ability to command it to both sides of the dish, as well as the ability to get swing and misses up in the zone. He didn’t throw a breaking ball in his one inning of work, but he did show a quality changeup with fastball arm speed, deception and fade action at 76-78 mph. 

+ Louisiana State recruit, 2021 SS Connor Simon (St. Paul’s HS, LA) continued to show why he is the No. 1 ranked player in Louisiana’s 2021 class on Saturday. Already a premium defender in the middle, Simon has added strength to his frame over the past few months, and that strength showed to be playable offensively on Saturday. A right-handed hitter, he hits from a balanced, athletic setup with a simple, quiet approach, smooth load and short stride. Line-drive approach with short, compact stroke, but has strength and bat speed to drive balls into the gaps for extra base hits. Consistently found the barrel in his first taste of live action in 2020, including a scorching extra base hit over the centerfielder’s head.

+ Louisiana State recruit, 2020 RHP Will Helmers (Jesuit HS, LA) came on for one inning of work on Monday in Jesuit’s scrimmage vs. Mandeville HS. Helmers showed why he’ll be headed to Baton Rouge next fall as the long, strong framed right-hander flashed easy arm strength from a simple, athletic delivery. He worked 87-89 mph with ease as he moved the fastball in and out at the bottom of the zone as he struck out two of the three batters faced. He also flashed feel for an 11/5 breaking ball with quality spin and solid shape at 74-76 mph.

+ Louisiana Monroe recruit, 2020 RHP Cole Cressend (Mandeville HS, LA) started on the mound for Mandeville HS in their scrimmage vs. Jesuit HS. The long, wiry right-hander used an athletic delivery with clean, medium arm action into a high-¾ arm slot to navigate 2 innings of work. The right-hander ran his fastball up to 87 mph as he moved it around in the zone while using a solid mix to keep the Jesuit hitters off balance. Cressend showed true feel for a 79-80 mph change up with advanced deception and fastball arm speed while also mixing in a 70-71 mph curveball with downward bite and late action in a scoreless outing.

+ 2022 RHP Canaan Clayton (Jesuit HS, LA) showed well in Monday’s scrimmage as he worked 84-86 mph with a steep, downhill fastball as he attacked hitters at the bottom of the zone. The strong framed right-hander showed solid athleticism in a simple, developing delivery with an average arm stroke with quality arm speed into a high-¾ slot, creating downhill angle and advanced tilt. Clayton also flashed an advanced ability to spin the baseball as he showcased a 74-76 mph slurve with 11/5 shape and quality spin. 

+ Uncommitted 2020 LHP Michael Cauble (Mandeville HS, LA) worked two innings in relief in the Skipper’s scrimmage. The southpaw used a clean delivery and a compact arm action to create advanced deception on a 79-81 mph fastball that seemed to get on hitters inducing soft contact groundballs. Cauble also flashed quality spin on a 70-71 mph curveball with 12/6 shape and quality spin. 

+ Uncommitted 2020 OF Brandon Mooney (Mandeville HS, LA) put on a hitting display on Monday. The left-handed hitter hits from an upright, balanced setup using a small leg kick into a short, compact swing with quality bat speed and strength a contact. Mooney went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles while scoring twice.

+ Uncommitted 2020 RHP Trevor Avacato (Mandeville HS, LA) came on for two innings of relief work in Monday’s scrimmage. The right-handed pitcher used a medium effort, slightly rotational delivery with a compact arm action and solid arm speed into a high-¾ slot as he sat 84-86 mph in a 6-out appearance. Avacato also showed solid feel for a 70-72 mph slurve with solid depth in his scoreless outing.

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