By Toby Bicknell
Texas Scouting Director

JUPITER, FL - Prep Baseball Report Texas is working to become your #1 source for high school and travel baseball news and notes. So when teams from Texas, pack up and travel to Florida, we tag along to watch some of the most talented players from our state compete against teams from all over the country. The four day tournament provided our staff the opportunity to lock-in and evaluate nine teams from Texas. Over the next week, we will be posting our team write-ups, as well as player write-ups, be sure to visit our site daily for content. Follow us on twitter @PBR_Texas.

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Garrison Taska, RHP, Kingwood Park HS, 2017
Sturdy 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame with proportional strength. Completely stymied a loaded Royals Scout Team during the Houston Heat's victory. Simple delivery, minimal side rocker step, slow, deliberate tempo. Deceptive arm action, high-¾ slot, extremely short on the backside, seemingly coming out of his ear. Ball comes out of hand easily, sat 85-87 mph early on, and actually picked up steam as the game wore on. Fastball topped at 89 mph once with several 88's. Stays tall on backside, creating good downhill plane. Lived predominately off fastball but wrinkled in 77-78 mph changeup with good arm action, and mid-70s breaking ball. At one point, he struck out four straight in the first and second innings, and consistently got weak contact.

Hayden Kerns, MIF, Memorial HS, 2017
Athletic 6-foot-2, 175-pound middle infielder, long limbs with plenty of room for continued physical development. Quick-twitch tendencies, can play shortstop and second base equally well. Moves with fluidity and confidence, moves well laterally, take-charge attitude in the infield. Solid carry across the infield. Offensively, right-handed hitter, aggressive, balanced approach, shows loose, athletic hands, length in the swing. Consistently squared up the ball at the plate. Overall heady player with upside.

Nick Barnes, RHP, St. John XXIII HS, 2017
6-foot-2, 190-pound lean frame. Works from a high-¾ slot with clean arm action. Fastball topped at 87 mph, sitting mostly 84-85 mph. Breaking ball was 70-73 mph.

Trei Cruz, SS, Episcopal HS, 2017 (Royals Scout)
Rice commit. 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame. Started two games on the infield, one at shortstop and one at second base. Good defender with athletic actions and range. The left-handed hitter has a larger load to get started, lowers hands to trigger the bat, closes off to pitcher with a slightly closed launch position.

Everrett Harris, 3B, Frisco HS, 2017 (Team Citius)
Miami (OH) commit. 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame. Athletic player with good bat speed and loose finish. Although he did not have much to show for it he took good swings against high velocity arm. Ran a 4.4 home-to-first time

Mateo Gil, SS, Timber Creek HS, 2018 (Marlins Scout Team)
6-foot-1, 175-pound athletic frame. He showed off quick twitch, athletic movements at shortstop along with a strong throwing arm. He ranged to both sides with grace, and has a nice set-up at the plate with a short, line drive stroke.

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