Utah Diamond Notes: Week 2

Three days after returning home from the PBR Future Games, Lauaki made the commitment to play for the Oregon Ducks. Junior should jump to the top in the 2024 Ducks recruiting class. With an arm and bat, but more so the arm, Junior should be an immediate impact type rotation piece right away. Although with two years of HS remaining, Lauaki will jump to the #2 spot in the class of ‘24 rankings when they are released in 2 weeks. Lauaki made his presence felt right away on workout day with a couple of long HR’s during BP, as he launched an event best 404’ shot to deep LCF and threw EZ bullets across the INF from 1B. But it was on the mound that sealed the deal for his college choice, as he showed his best stuff to date. Lauaki has been 86-88, 88-91 T92 this summer, as he’s played all around the country. But it was in the humidity of Atlanta that he featured one of the two best FB’s recorded at the Future Games. Lauaki displayed an EZ effort, med kick to delivery with a fluid arm stroke, the FB sat 90-92 and topped out at 93.1 on the Trackman system and held his velocity in his 3 innings of work vs a very good hitting Team Kentucky. But the secondary pitch was just as lethal, with his SL coming in at 80-82 with late sharp tilt, that bottomed out. The pitch is a put away pitch, as he has abv avg feel to land and bury beneath bats for swing/misses. With an imposing 6-3 240 Lb build, Junior is not even close to gaining his man strength at 16 yrs old, it’s easy to dream of a mid to high 90’s heater as he reaches campus. The sky's the limit for the incoming junior at Springville HS. 

Positional Profile: 3B/RHP

Hits: RHH.
Power: 100 max exit velocity, averaged 94.4 MPH. 364' max distance.
Arm: RH. INF-83 mph .
Defense:
Run: 7.36 runner in the 60.
Vizual Edge: 67.86 Edge Score

16u National

6-foot-3, 230-pound third baseman and right-handed pitcher, strong, sturdy build, board frame with strength throughout, powerful to say the least. On the mound, short arm action with a soft stab on the back-side, arm motion remains continuous, quick arm speed, slot varies between over-the-top and low ¾. Throws his fastball from over-the-top, 88-91, touched 92, swing and misses up in the zone. Throws slider from a low ¾ slot, 78-81, sharp sweeping action, swing and miss, catches batters off guard.

A BIG DUDE, that looks the part of a football player, and is physically imposing for a kid his age. Right now the jury is out on whether he stays a hitter or lands on the mound. As a hitter, with hand and bat speeds of 25.2 and 73.7, Lauaki showed an EV of 94.6 and drove a few out of the park with a distance max of 379’. The ball jumps with a slightly elevated path, giving him NOW power and projectable plus raw power down the road. On the mound the FB 84-88 looks to be a low 90’s or better tool, as he has 3 years of HS ahead of him. As long as he doesn’t get any bigger and can maintain what he is now physically and allow his man strength to kick in, he could be a force to be reckoned with, in Utah HS baseball. 

Smith has a very solid workout and showed well. The junior to be, was the starting catcher for the state powerhouse Snow Canyon Warriors this past spring as a sophomore, hitting .393 with 2 HR’s, 26 RBI’s and 7 2B’s to go along with 2 3B’s. Smith even walked 21 times vs 17 K’s, suggesting plate discipline is in place, to improve even more in that category. Smith put up a EV of 93.1 with a max distance of 352 to go along with a very good sweet spot contact of 82% and hard hit rate of 73%. From the Blast Motion metrics, an on plane efficiency mark of 82 was elite in keeping his barrel in the zone and in line with the baseball, giving him an elite chance to make the sweet spot and hard hit rates! Defensively Smith is an efficient receiver and continues to improve and get better in this area and does catch some slightly above average arms at his HS, plus his head coach caught for many years in pro ball, to go along with having a former 13 yr MLB pitcher as the pitching coach, to learn and grow along with his head coach in running and working with a pitching staff. This is by breakout player in the 2024 class for next spring and look forward to seeing his numbers soar even higher over the next two seasons.

** College coaches should get on this kid quick and he would be an impact bat and receiver at the next level **

Smith has taken over the catching duties at state powerhouse Snow Canyon with a knack for squaring up the ball and making hard LD contact to all fields. He has a simple repeatable whippy stroke to hit and with continued physical development, his metrics will only rise with age and maturity. Behind the plate he takes charge for a young kid and that is key as Coach Reed Secrist expects nothing less, after all Smith is replacing big shoes on 4A Player of the Year Mason Strong (BYU). Smith has a quick release and sound footwork. His throws are on the money with a developing arm that should add significant strength with age once again. Smith plays for highly competitive Mountain West in the summer and as his notoriety increases, and he matures physically, college coaches should definitely take notice. 

2022 PBR West Coast Games

The son of long time state champion head coach Reed Secrist, who was a 13 year veteran of professional baseball and has won numerous state title and coach of the year awards. The apples didn’t fall too far from the tree, as the other two Secrist boys have played college baseball. Crew is the last in the line and has improved leaps and bounds over the last 2 years, since entering HS, as he has cut his 60 time from 8.2 to 7.3 and has added significant wiry strength. All the Secrist boys as well as his coach/father are stout, tall and strong. Crew displayed even further strength gains this past weekend, with highs of 96.4 in exit velo, 78.8% sweet spot contact and has jumped his bat speed max to 73. Secrist has a feel for the game with the bloodlines, but has the wiry strength to get even stronger and take his short, quick slightly uphill stroke to another level over the next couple of years and add sme latent power. Best suited for 2B, but the hands work and the bat should play as an offensive 2B type at the next level. 

Had a good showing at the West Coast Games, as he excelled in game 3 w/3 hits and 4 RBI’s along w/a slick one handed play to his left and made a accurate backhand power feed to the 2B’man for the force at the bag. Lean and wiry with the frame to add muscle and size as he matures. His father Reed is his HS coach and is a 4 time state champion coach and has produced dozens of college baseball players, along with 12-13 currently playing at the next level. Crew’s father played 13 years of professional baseball and has 3 brothers that play or played at the next level. So the bloodlines are in place w/the instruction as well. Crew features an upright stance with a drawback of his front side into his backside w/an inward turn of the knee to load his backside and takes the knob of the bat and drives it inside out with a short, compact stroke to find the barrel. Gained valuable varsity time in ‘22 as a D1 commit went down at SS, allowing Secrist to start every game up the middle as a sophomore. Makes plays with instincts and field awareness and his arm is a bit short right now, but will only get stronger as he fills out overall and gains his man strength down the road. Look for even more development over others with the instruction and bloodlines intact. 

2022 PBR Future Games

2022 West Coast Games

The Future Games alum was a big surprise as far as his bat was concerned. Having scouted him as a pitcher and that being his role as a sophomore for state power Snow Canyon this past spring, Swensen went both ways at the All-State Games, and took a very good BP. What stood out from a data standpoint, is his Blast scores of 25.2 hand speed and 77.8 bat speed were elite, to go along with a Trackman EV of 93.1. He features an athletic, even proportioned square stance at the plate with his bat held in the cocked position and fired the knob inside and through the baseball, with some natural lifted plane of attack to back spin the ball. On the mound, the sinker baller, pumped in K’s at 82-85 with the FB and reached a high 87.3 for a low ¾ slot at the Future Games in July at LakePoint. There is definite growth and maturation to come, as his Dad is 6’6 and Makaio has long legs for a 6 footer, so he may not be done growing? Big upside for any school on this kid from a two way perspective. Solid athlete and running gate!

Swensen made the most of his 3 inning start at the PBR Future Games, as he left the game in a 2-1 deficit, but pitched well, showing a lively sinking ground ball type FB 83-87, sitting 86. With a flexible med to high kick to delivery, Swensen has a longer take away in back w/a slight palm up towards 2B. The delivery and LTQ arm action are a spittin’ image of former BYU great and current big league Cubs pitcher, Michael Rucker. With the arm slot and movement pattern of the arm stroke, Makaio gets inside the baseball, which creates a spin pattern of late life w/run and sink. The CB takes on SL type shape at 73-77 with horizontal action and sweep. As he gets older and his body matures with added strength, it’s easy to see a power sinker type arm in the low 90’s as he induces GB’s that hitters will swing over the top of, while chasing the SL away. Makaio will be at the PBR West Coast Games in Las Vegas as well on August 12-14!

Positional ProfileRHP/OF
Delivery:
Arm Action: .
FB: T0, mph. T2177, 2055 average rpm.
CB: mph. T1842, 1723 average rpm.

A lean tall athletic build with strong legs and thickness through his thighs. Gathers well through a high kick to compact delivery. Med to full compact HTQ arm stroke with a loose wrist to finish pitches. Needs to get better ext over his front side at follow through, but looks to have not received much instruction, which lends itself to further overall mechanical and velocity development. The FB 80-84 and sat at 82. The CB 63-65 feathers and flips into the zone with loose rotation. Needs to throw it harder and more conviction. Shows shape and depth, though that’s a start in spinning the baseball. Has a solid year at the 3A level with 42 K outs in 30 IP’s with a 2.77 ERA in leading Carbon to a 3A runner up finish. Want to see more to see where his development is down the road! 

Since the first day I saw this kid play live, all he’s done is hit and drive balls off the walls from LCF to the pull line. Morrow had a breakout season with a hitting line of .369 5 49 w/14 2B’s. A semi wide, square stance with a lean back and lift of the front heel as his first movement, while beginning to turn the barrel into the load phase, as his front foot lands soft and firm out front. Morrow doesn't have the fastest hands, but has abv avg timing and reads pitches and destroys FB’s middle-in. Able to tuck the hands in and buggy whip the barrel through contact for backspin LD power now and latent over the fence power to come. Defensively he needs the reps and instruction from someone who has a reputation of quality OF work, which are hard to find, but if the defense can catch up to the bat, the bat is of quality and with burgeoning power, this is a high ceiling offensive player. 

A surprise find for myself, as Cal was putting up hitting #’s for PBR Utah’s #1 ranked team at Fremont HS. The Silverwolves reeled off 24-25 straight wins, heading into the 6A tourney, and one of the biggest reasons was Cal Morrow. I was looking at MaxPreps stats and couldn’t take my eyes off the numbers Morrow was putting up, so I made the 350 mile drive to the Ogden area to see Morrow in action. He didn’t have the day I expected, but you could see the swing was ready for the next level and he looked the part at 6-1 200 with present strength and a gap to cap backspin type approach. Garnering 6A 2nd ™ All-State honors, Morrow put up a stat line of .369 5 49 w/14 2B’s and also touched 88 w/the FB on the mound. Morrow was a breakout bat at his first event (Top Prospect Games in mid-July) and earned the invite to the West Coast Games. The bat is really good! The defense needs reps and lots of game play and fly/ground ball reps away from game action, as he doesn’t play summer ball, as he is hidden from the metro view of Northern Utah. He did show closing speed on a couple of balls into the gap and into foul territory (RF) to make some run saving catches. The bat should be offered now by top JC’s and a nearby powerhouse D2 in CO, just across the border. He would be a perfect fit, to hit right away at those types of programs! 

‘22 6A RBI Leader (49 RBI's)

‘22 6AFirst Team All Region 2

2022 District Championship

2022 6A Second Team All State 2022

Since we last saw Rigby at the Utah State Games last October, the FB has taken a step forward and touched 91, with a working velocity of 86-90 T91. The 6-4 210 frame/build, has the makings of a low 90's FB and is in this scouts opinion, a legitimate D1 prospect! The secondary needs to improve and be cleaner, with consistency and K's, but the body, aggressive delivery and arm strength, coupled with now velo and two years of HS left, the best is yet to come from this physical farm boy, that has produced some hard throwers from his HS in recent memory!

Rigby is a big strapping country kid from the upper reaches of the state, but has the frame and natural strength that come with being 6-4 210, to reach back and throw a mid to upper 80's FB now, with plenty in the tank over the next two years of HS. The FB 85-88 at the All-State Games was his best velo to date, since we first saw him at the Northern Utah Open 6-7 weeks ago. The CB 69-74 has TQ tilted depth and needs added spin to create bite, so the pitch will take that biting turn at the end, to create problems for hitters. Playing for a quality state contending program at Bear River HS, and having a former U Utah alum in Donnie Hawes, who also played in the Reds system, helps as he is around a solid HS baseball environment.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B At 6-4 210 Lbs, Rigby has gone through a growth spurt and it has propelled his velocity forward with more in the tank as he irons out some max effort offerings right now. A strong farm town type kid, Rigby will be the ace of a talented Bear River squad that made a deep run in the 4A State tourney in St. George this past spring. Rigby should be counted on heavily as a junior this next spring and his 85-87 mph FB with a spin rate max of 2249, should take another tick upwards as he continues to tap into his frame and reach his man strength. The CB 67-70 has downward and TQ tilt and is spaced enough off his FB, that it creates a big spacing for hitters to cover both pitches. A flexible high kick to delivery and a loose HTQ arm action with plenty of arm speed to reach the low 90’s over the next couple of seasons, Rigby has received an invite to the upcoming invite only All-State Games and it will be interesting to see how he fares against other quality hitters looking for recruiting coverage and attention.