By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

JUPITER, FL – There were many sterling performances delivered during the second day of the World Wood Bat Championship on Friday. Here is a mini-brain dump of the six games I scouted:

+ The top individual performance of the day goes to 2016 LHP/OF Andrew Baker (Ridge Community HS, FL), who pitched a one-hit, 15-strikeout complete game to lead Chet Lemon’s Juice to a 3-0 victory over the Red’s Scout Team in the final game of the day. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound two-way athlete is heading to the University of Florida more likely for his outfield prowess, but he showed Friday night that he certainly can pitch, too.

Baker opened the game by striking out nine of the first 10 batters he faced (a walk was sprinkled in) and didn’t yield his first hit until the fifth inning on 3B Alec Trela’s (Normal Community HS, IL; Memphis recruit) double. Pitching from a 3/4 slot and across his body, Baker features a quick, athletic arm and adds and subtracts well with his fastball/slider combination. Early on, Baker pitched in the 87-89 range, reaching as high as 91 mph, and settled in at 85-86 before dialing back into the upper-80s in the seventh inning. He also toggled his slider between 70-76 mph, and threw it consistently for strikes.

For good measure, the left-handed hitter also crushed a run-scoring triple to centerfield (382 feet) and finished with two RBI. ...