CCS Focus (CA): 3/29/19

Central Coast Section, CA - Today's Central Coast Section (CCS) Focus covers my road trips from 3/26-28/19 and two Pacific Coast Athletic League (PCAL) games; San Benito at Palma & Monte Vista Christian at Salinas. With so much talent in the Central Coast Section, I wanted to give all players a chance to be covered including the group in today's piece and a more in-depth piece on another group of players to follow. Today we’re focusing on a group of 11 Uncommitted players from these two games.

Let's get right into notes on the games and a group of players who stood out.

GAME NOTES:

3/27/19 San Benito at Palma - San Benito got on the board first in the 2nd when 2020 C Marcus Aranda and 2019 DH West Andrade both singled with Aranda scoring and making it 1-0. The Haybalers added on in the 3rd scoring three runs on a HR from Andrade before getting one more in the 4th without a hit making it 5-0. Palma got one back in the 4th when 2020 1B Donovan McAbee scored on a deep 2B by 2021 3B Kyler Im. San Benito really broke it open in the 5th with 4 more runs with the biggest hit being a two-run pinch-hit 1B by 2019 C Jacob Burley before they got another one in the 7th to take a 10-2 victory. Palma had some chances but didn’t string together enough hits to put more on the board.

PLAYERS OF NOTE:

2021 C/3B JT Amaral (Palma) - Uncommitted. Medium frame that is athletic with space for more to add. Started behind the plate flashing skills that can carry over to the next level. Blocking flashed good agility with quickness getting to his knees. The arm has growing strength with good actions (2.2 consistently between innings). Not much to show at the plate but has flashed a compact swing with gap-to-gap focus and showed that athleticism out of the box (4.4 H-1st). Played 3B in first viewing and is a three-sport athlete at Palma so he’s got a chance to make some jumps over the summer/fall.

2021 3B/RHP Kyler Im (Palma) - Uncommitted. High waist on Medium build. Showed some skills during pregame getting the start at 3B and showing strength in his arms with throws across. Glove was a bit stiff but showed some athletic ability with the ability to move laterally and come in on chop ball. Drove in the first run with a long double into LCF over the center fielders head showing some bat speed and easy loft. Hopped on the mound in the 5th showing a 78-80 MPH FB and short slurve at 69 MPH. More of a thrower right now and a mixed bag of results with a walk, 2 hits, HBP but 2K. Good arm actions and chance to keep adding to the overall profile.

2020 1B Donovan McAbee (Palma) - Uncommitted. Wide medium frame. Showed a soft glove at first with good lateral range during pre-game with the ability to pick the ball with good form. At the plate was on base three times with a 2B/1B/BB driving a FB into the LCF gap showing his strength. He showed good knowledge of the game scoring from 1st and took charge in the infield multiple times on pop-ups. Type of corner INF that can help a team at the next level.

2019 RHP Moises Salazar (San Benito) - Uncommitted. Medium frame with a high waist, sloped shoulders, and longer legs. Attacked hitters early and often mainly sticking to his FB/CB combination. He went 4IP giving up 1R on 5H and 1BB while striking out 4. FB was 82-85 T86 MPH as he attacked arm side with spots of run and sink being able to run it back over the plate from the glove side as well. CB 65-68 MPH showed slurvy actions flashing bite and small depth with excellent feel and understanding of when to go to the pitch. He pitched to contact getting a lot of ground balls and pitching his best when he was in trouble with runners in scoring position as he limited damage and gave his team a chance to win.

2020 C Marcus Aranda (San Benito) - Uncommitted. Normally the second string catcher, Aranda showed he will be able to step in for 2019 C Jacob Burley next season for the Haybalers. Showe well during pre-game and in between innings with a compact arm that had a strong release keeping balls on the bag (2.01-2.19 Pop). Flashed some lateral blocking skills and his toughness behind the plate taking a foul off the mask without hesitation. I liked how he went out and calmed down Salazar after his control started to slip, getting him back and focused to complete his outing. He scored twice and while the bat has some length in the swing, he was able to stay on pitches looking to do damage.

2019 OF West Andrade (San Benito) - Uncommitted.The LHH is normally in the OF for the Haybalers and had a great day at the plate (2-3, HR, 3 RBI, HBP) showing off a quick bat that flashes pull side power keeping his hands inside the ball. Started his day driving a FB through the pull side hole before putting up a 3 spot on the board homering to RCF on a 3-0 FB. The medium frame has sloped shoulders and a lean lower half that moves well out of the box with quick feet and a longer stride.

2020 OF Jeremy Ashford (San Benito) - Uncommitted. Ashford didn’t have the best day at the plate (3K), but it was in-game actions and skills that caught my attention, not the results. In RF he showed off a solid average arm keeping balls on a low trajectory to bases being quick and compact. The body is long and very lean projecting well with his current footspeed. His 1st two AB’s he looked to drop down bunts from the RHH and I had him down the line 3.95-4.1 on those attempts even though the balls went foul. Speed carries to basepaths and into RF where he showed solid range and the ability to take a base. Will need to focus on shortening up the swing because with his speed he needs to be on base more consistently.

2020 RHP John Corea (Monte Vista Christian) - Uncommitted. Went 4.2 IP walking 6 and giving up 2 hits with no runs while striking out 3. The frame is large but very lean and long. FB was 80-83 flashing ability to work both sides of the plate. Pitch has times where it jumps on hitters due to his slower delivery and induced 8 pop-ups during the outing. CHG was 67-70 MPH showing similar arm speed to FB with the ability to have arm-side sink; picked his spots with it to get 2 K’s and used it to make some FB hitters look foolish. CB was 60-62 with inconsistent actions. It moved between being a slurvy CB to a cutting slider with loose spin and sweep. It’s a pitch he will need to keep developing to give him more in his arsenal. In every inning he was out on the mound he would get two quick outs before losing the plate and get himself in trouble by walking a batter or more and have to extend his outing. He will need to keep refining his delivery and find that ability to finish off innings to make a jump.

2020 OF Tyler Keenan (Monte Vista Christian) - Uncommitted. Showed off the athleticism in multiple ways during the game. In CF showed closing speed with the ability to track down anything hit that way; loose, natural hips that allow him to range all over the middle of the outfield. In the 6th on a 1st and 3rd was able to steal home getting out wide on his slide and diving into home to score the 4th run. That type of athleticism isn’t something you can teach a player.

2019 LHP Nathan Chapman (Salinas) - Uncommitted. Went 5.1 IP 3H, 4BB and was looking like a great start until the 6th inning when he walked three and gave up a hit making it 4-0 as he couldn’t escape. The XL frame is wide and full with length in the legs. It’s a compact 3/4 arm showing lots of arm side run staying that side during the outing. FB 78-80 MPH didn’t have much angle during the outing pitching up but set up the offspeed pitches. His CHG (67-71 MPH) showed great feel with the ability to pull the string on the pitch as it ran down into the zone arm-side. SLD (69-72 MPH) showed feel and ability to throw it in any count as its late actions under RHH hands kept them off the FB/CHG going to his arm-side. Was also on base twice with two walks and barreled up a ball at the CF.