NEW ORLEANS, LA  ̶  The Prep Baseball Report Louisiana scouting staff hit the road once again last night, traveling to the campus of Holy Cross high school first, as the Tigers took on the defending Class 5A state champions, Central(BR) HS. The game eventually ended in an 8-8 tie, and the game was stopped due to darkness.

Our scouting staff caught a few innings of the Holy Cross/Central(BR) matchup before heading to Covington, LA to catch the 6:00 PM matchup between the St. Paul’s Wolves and the defending Division-I state champions, John Curtis HS. John Curtis HS would eventually claim a 4-3 victory, as both teams sent quality arms to the mound. Louisiana State recruit, 2019 RHP Jacob Scherer got the start for St. Paul’s, while Mississippi Gulf Coast JC recruit, 2018 RHP Ian Landreneau got the start for the Patriots. Although neither starter had their best stuff on the night, both pitched well with Landreneau ultimately picking up the victory.

+ Travis Dowden, OF, Central(BR) HS (LA), 2018
Athletic 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame with strong build, and room to add size. Finished the day 2-for-3 with a solo home run, and two runs scored. Athletic left-handed hitter, stands balanced with simple setup, smooth load and short stride. Compact, direct path with quick, strong hands and quality bat speed. Showed ability to drive the ball to all fields with backspin in his first at-bat, homering to the opposite field.

+ Nico Saltaformaggio, 1B, Holy Cross HS (LA), 2020
Strong 5-foot-10, 165-pound frame, present strength in wrists and powerful lower half. Finished the day 1-for-3 with a loud RBI single. Advanced right-handed hitter, stands balanced and athletic with simple, smooth load and short stride. Stands in the box with confidence and presence, showing rhythm to swing and feel to hit. Line-drive approach, with strength being to the pull side at the moment, but his quick, powerful hands and bat speed will allow him to drive the ball to all fields as he advances.

+ Jay Curtis, C, John Curtis HS (LA), 2018
Big 6-foot, 225-pound frame with clear present strength. Finished the day 1-for-3 with hard line-drive single in first at-bat. Right-handed hitter, stands balanced and athletic, simple load with short stride. Shows rhythm to swing with quality timing, consistently finding the barrel. Line-drive, gap-to-gap approach with bat speed and strength in hands. Established, reliable offensive threat that has a track record of offensive production already. Defensively, showed solid receiving and blocking skills, as well as, improved quickness in transfers, giving consistent pop times of 2.1-seconds. High baseball IQ, takes control of games, and has a presence on the field.

+ Will Ripoll, RHP, John Curtis HS (LA), 2018
Louisiana State recruit. Medium 5-foot-11, 171-pound frame, athletic build. Simple, athletic delivery that repeats well. Short arm action into high-3/4 release with extremely quick arm speed, and regular effort. Hides release point extremely well, making the fastball jump on hitters. Fastball sat 87-89 mph with life and carry through the zone, working both sides of the plate. Sharp breaking ball showing 11/5 shape with late break, quality depth, and consistent, tight spin at 76-78 mph. Works with good tempo, showing feel to pitch by attacking hitters with the fastball early, moving it up/down and in/out. Manipulates the breaking ball extremely well, throwing sharp ones down in the zone for strikes, and burying it when needed. Pitched 3.2 innings, giving up 1 run, 0 hits, 0 walks, while striking out 2, as he picked up the save.

+ Dax Ford, OF/LHP, John Curtis HS (LA), 2019
Louisiana Lafayette recruit. Medium 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame with clear strength, powerful lower half, and strong hands. Finished the day 1-for-3 with 2 runs scored. Left-handed hitter, stands balanced with simple load and short stride. Present bat speed with obvious strength at contact. Line-drive approach with present strength to the pull side, but showed ability to drive the ball the other way on a well struck single to left field. Good athlete that made an impact on defense in centerfield, tracking balls well all night, showing quality instincts, and made a difficult diving catch in the right-center gap, then quickly gathered himself to fire a strike to 1^st base to double up a runner, killing a potential momentum shift in the game.

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