SoCal ProCase: Quick Hits

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIF. - The Third Annual SoCal ProCase took place last weekend at beautiful St. Pierre Field on the campus of JSerra High School. The event annually draws many of the region's top players for an exclusive and intimate event in which they workout and play a scout ball style game where pitchers face five live hitters. This iteration featured players in the class of 2022

Position players are put through the traditional pro-style workout while getting extended reps and at multiple positions. Starting with laser-timed sixties then into a batting practice session that consisted of two-rounds, players are provided an extended opportunity to showcase their baseball tools to the professional scouts and PBR California staff alike. 

With that opportunity came some standout performances at the event. This edition of Quick Hits will take a look at eight - four hitters and four pitchers - of them as we kick off our coverage of the SoCal ProCase. In the coming days and weeks we will break down the performances via Blast Motion, Trackman, and of course the ProCase Player Spotlights where we’ll do deep dives into the players.

Until then we will take a look at some early standouts from the SoCal ProCase in this Quick Hits

THE HITTERS

Austin Overn OF / Foothill, CA / 2022 Rankings  StateRank: 18 / POS: 2 OverallRank: 134 / POS: 24 No player had a bigger coming out party at the SoCal ProCase than outfielder Austin Overn of Foothill HS. While his athleticism and talents have long been known to us at PBR California, for many of the pro scouts in attendance this was their first opportunity to see Overn’s tools upfront. Started the day running a blistering laser-time 6.17 60-yard dash. He decided to run it a second time and was 6.27 proving the first time was no fluke. It’s elite speed that comes effortlessly to the USC commit. At the plate the setup is not traditional and has some quirkiness to it, but it allows Overn to be in perfect hitting position when the barrel is over the plate at contact. With peak hand speed of 22.0 mph and plenty of strength, Overn is able to turn on pitches on the inner half like he did in game when he pulled a 91 mph fastball in and shot it right field for a base hit. Made a play on a ball in the outfield that saw him sprint a good 30 yards and make a potentially difficult play look easy.

Christopher Paciolla SS / OF / Temecula Valley, CA / 2022 Rankings  StateRank: 13 / POS: 5 OverallRank: 95 / POS: 25 Shortstop/outfielder Chris Paciolla of Temecula Valley HS was a player I was very excited about having at the ProCase and one who delivered on the burden of expectation. It was a day of barrels for Paciolla as he squared everything up during BP and the game portion of the event. Showed an uncanny ability to change barrel planes during his swing to adjust to pitches. Shows quick hands - 21.2 mph peak hand speed per Blast Motion - with easy, firm contact to all fields that favors gap-to-gap with easy present power. Future over-the-fence power is likely as the 6-foot-2 185-pound frame continues to develop. Peak exit velocity of 98 mph. Balance and athleticism stand out in the box and defensively where he moves smoothly on the infield and showed the ability to play in the outfield.

Andrew Pyle C / OF / La Mirada , CA / 2022 Rankings  StateRank: 26 / POS: 3 OverallRank: 265 / POS: 16 Catcher Andrew Pyle of La Mirada HS continues to impress in the early goings this summer. After seeing him a few weeks ago at a workout where he was one of the best catchers at the event, we hoped we’d get the same and we did. His 6-foot-1 205-pound frame has leaned out with more pronounced musculature. While his defense has long been his calling card it was the bat that impressed at the ProCase. His BP was among the best with consistent line drives that averaged 91 mph off the bat favoring left-center-field. In game he smoked a base hit into the same gap before flashing some instincts on the bases and stealing second base. Also drew a walk in a later at-bat. All-in-all it was a very strong showing for the Long Beach State commit.

Mikey Romero SS / Orange Lutheran, CA / 2022 Rankings  StateRank: 8 / POS: 3 OverallRank: 72 / POS: 18 Shortstop Mikey Romero of Orange Lutheran HS had a very good second half of the season this spring after the sit out period and carried that into the SoCal ProCase where his performance - particularly his much improved footspeed - stood out every time he was watched. He showed a relaxed, controlled aggression approach that was balanced from start to finish. He’s short-to-long with present gap-to-gap strength with a heavy barrel. At 6-foot, 175-pounds the frame will easily add strength making the glimpses of pull side power that much more intriguing. Defensively his workout was clean and almost flawless. That same style carried over into the game and while there weren’t many opportunities for plays, his positioning was on point throughout the game.

THE PITCHERS