BY Brandon Hall
Director of Scouting, PBR NC

Follow us on Twitter: @PrepBaseballNC

The first brisk day in Charlotte brought about a big time match-up between two teams that expect to make a late run into the season.  Marvin Ridge travels to Providence having won the last two 3A State Titles.  Providence finished their year in the 4A Western Finals.  The match-up gave both teams a chance to asses where they are early in this year.

Pitching and defense dominated the day.  Providence ran out 2018 RHP Tim Townsend, while Marvin Ridge countered with East Carolina commit, 2017 LHP Jake Kuchmaner.  Kuchmaner wiggled out of a quick jam in the first as 2019 LSU commit, C Ray Torres took a two strike pitch the opposite way for a leadoff double.  In the second, Kuchmaner would get Torres to bounce into an inning ending double play with the bases loaded. 

Over the four innings, Kuchmaner gave up 5 hits, with 4 strikeouts, and no runs were allowed.  At the same time Townsend kept a very athletic offense at bay.  Mixing arm slots and flashing the ability to locate the fastball to both sides of the plate, Townsend made pitches when he had to and continued to throw up zeros.

The big blow, and only run of the game came in the bottom of the 6^th as 2018 INF Jake Benoit stood in against Marvin Ridge’s 2018 RHP Matt Helms.  Helms a physical presence, working for an over-the-top slot attacked hitters with a good arm.  Helms punched the side in his first inning of work, the 5^th.  With two outs in the 6^th, Benoit timed up an elevated fastball and drilled it down the left field line, clearing the wall, and giving Providence the 1-0 lead.

In the 7^th, Providence turned the game over to 2017 RHP Cameron Welsh.  Welsh used a good fastball and darting slider to attack hitters, pounding the zone.  Walking one, but never in any real trouble, Welsh picked up the save in the Panthers 1-0 win.

Players of Note:
+  Jake Kuchmaner, Timmy Townsend, Cameron Welsh, Matt Helms, and Ray Torres will be profiled in the NC HS Scout Blog in the coming days

+ Marvin Ridge has athleticism in the lineup with 2017 Alex Leshock running a 4.26 on a grounder to 3B… 2018 SS Stephen Ridge ran a 4.23 on a ground ball to short… 2017 OF Corey Parr ran a 4.31 on a ground ball to short… 2017 OF Kevin Molnar ran a 4.29 & 4.30 on separate ground balls… 2017 INF Zac Cerreta ran a 4.09 on a push bunt

+  Torres cut down Leschock on a stolen base attempt with a 2.08 pop.  Throw was on-line but high.  Panthers MIF did a good job getting the tag down.

+  Providence 2018 INF Will Palinkas has a long, lean body type.  Found the barrel twice vs Kuchmaner, staying in the middle of the field.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Marvin Ridge	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	X
Providence	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	1	6	x

 

Win – Timmy Townsend
Loss – Matt Helms
Save – Cameron Welsh

 

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