Commitment Spotlight: Zach Wadas
May 29, 2020
Today, we caught up with 2023 1B/LHP Zach Wadas from Brophy College Prep. Wadas recently committed to Texas Christian University. He's just ending his freshmen year of high school but he has already been a pretty sought after prospect by college programs. He took some time to answer some questions for us today about his college recruiting experience.
Wadas is currently ranked as the No. 2 prospect in Arizona in the class of 2023 class; he's the No. 215 ranked prospect nationally. Wadas has been a young prospect on the rise over the last 6 months since last summer as you can see from his early commitment. He's really taken the time during this shutdown to improve his game even more.
Take a look at what Zach Wadas said about his college recruiting experience:
PBR: Why did you choose the school you did?
Wadas: TCU was the one school that had everything I desired. They have great academics, amazing facilities, a fabulous track record (5-10 last College World Series), a large fan base, is a Texas school, and most importantly, they had team culture. Team culture is a mix of their coaches, players, beliefs, and as I said before fan base. The coaches have a wide range of personalities which allows balance. The players are all very close and can have fun together. TCU is rooted in Christian beliefs and a mindset of working hard. And lastly, the large fan base brings it all together and creates a loud atmosphere during games.
PBR: What other schools were you considering?
Wadas: I was considering a lot of other schools, but my top 3 other than TCU were Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Auburn.
PBR: Where did the coaching staff first see you? How did your relationship develop with him?
Wadas: The coaches first saw me at Uncommitted Games at TCU. They liked what they saw and invited me to their Frogs Camp consisting of mainly already committed players. At the camp, I hit well and had a lot of fun. It was the one school that just felt right. After the camp, I continued to talk to Saarloos and even went out to watch TCU play Vanderbilt in California. I loved their style of play and how much fun they were having together. As Saarloos got to know me better, the TCU staff offered me. I decided to think about it and talk to the other coaches more. I was even going to wait for a few other offers that were coming in early summer. However, I thought long and hard and realized I would not go anywhere else.
PBR: Do you feel relieved now that the process is over and you can just focus on baseball and not deal with everything that goes into picking a school?
Wadas: 100%, but now the hard work really begins. I was talking to 20 schools, which took a lot of planning and time.
PBR: Was there one deciding factor that put your choice over the top?
Wadas: TCU was the one school that I felt wanted me from the beginning. They liked me without getting a recommendation from a coach and saw my potential right away.
PBR: Who has helped you the most to get to where you are today?
Wadas: My mom helped me the most. She pushed me to always work hard and to put ego aside whenever I would get overconfident or arrogant. She has driven me to every baseball event and been to everyone of my games. Without her, I would be nowhere close to as good of a player and as a person.
PBR: What were your expectations about the recruiting process? Was it easy/difficult?
Wadas: I expected to commit junior year and to be talking with a few schools. However, after an eventful summer and early fall of 2019, the recruiting process picked up greatly. All of a sudden, I was talking to many top tier programs. Over quarantine, I started talking to a second wave of programs and the number of schools I was talking to went up to 20. This made the recruiting process fairly easy for me.
PBR: What plans does the coaching staff have in store for you in your freshman season?
Wadas: TCU has big plans for me as a freshman. If I continue to grow and develop and prove myself as a top-notch player in their program, they want me to play 1st or corner outfield and be a three-whole guy for them.
PBR: What is your most memorable baseball moment to date?
Wadas: My most memorable moment to date was last year during the Memorial Day Tournament. I was playing with a very stacked 3D Gold team and I went 10 for 11 in 3 games on the last day. We ended up beating LVR in the championship 26-0 and I won the MVP.
PBR: Who is the best player that you have competed against?
Wadas: The best player I have competed against is Aidan Miller. I played him this fall in the semifinals at a tournament in Florida. However, the best player I have ever played with is Braden Holcomb during a National Showcase.
Scouting Report
6-foot-3 180-pounds, body stand outs for age, young lean body with long legs and arms, more maturing left. Two-way player. Left-handed hitter with some rawness to approach. Hits from a wide athletic base with knee bend, turning knee inward as he goes slightly forward into foot strike. Works from underneath, trying to drive the baseball in the air. Average contact in BP on the day. Natural pop at 93mph arm strength. Confident actions and good target in the infield. Athleticism around the bag. Also pitched at the event. Tall athletic delivery with some repeatability, pushing off early. Throwing with over-top arm action with short arm swing. FB worked 79-80mph with some slight cutting action. Mixed in a gradual CV with downer shape at 64-69mph. High ceiling two way prospect to follow.
Was a stand out player offensively for Trosky National on Day 1. He has continued to show skills at the plate. On Day 2, Zach showed that he is also an athletic LHP that controls his energy well. His FB sat 79-80 MPH. Creates explosiveness in his delivery coming down the mound. He located 3 pitches for strikes early with above average feel for his CV and Changeup before spotty command late. He also flashed the ability to tunnel his pitches. Should be a high follow the next several years.