Utah HS Team Preview: Juan Diego Catholic
March 15, 2023
Utah HS Team Previews - Juan Diego Catholic
Opening Day and the weekend has arrived! Jeff Scholzen (Utah Scouting Director) continues the 2023 season coverage with our annual preseason team previews, where we will take notes from coaches, and highlight returning players, newcomers, and some sleepers. Over the next couple of weeks and leading up to opening day, we will be highlighting some of the top programs in the state with our team previews.
As our ardent readers are aware, Team Previews are answered by the Head Coaches of those programs and the scouting reports embedded in the PBR player profiles of the top players, are written by state scouting director Jeff Scholzen, the states only full-time MLB Area Scouting supervisor ever.
With data partners Trackman Baseball, the leaders in measuring the ball flight and its characteristics off the bat for position players and out of the hand for pitchers. No one does it better. Blast Motion captures key swing metrics in evaluating the efficiency of the swing and where a player's swing is good or bad and what needs to be worked on. Swift Performance measures power output as an athlete with the EZ jump mat and collecting not only the 60 yard dash, but the 10 and 30 yard dashes as well. 3M technology measures key pitching mechanics and how the delivery through the body moves in sequence to produce and provide a more effortless and efficient delivery.
This season as in every past season, stats are collected across the state at the end of that week's play, with input from coaches, assistant coaches and ultimately myself in putting together comprehensive player content on a weekly basis with the following.
1. Weekly Utah Power 25 Overall Team Rankings (Monday)
2. Player and Pitcher of the Week, along with other notable player performances (Tuesday)
3. Player Spotlights throughout the spring of top players who are making their mark on the HS scene in capturing college recruiting looks.
4. I will be scouting games throughout the state and posting player videos on Twitter for college marketing purposes on a weekly basis and in some cases where action is flowing and games are staggered, such as the preseason tourneys down south on a daily basis.
Quick Footnote: Only 7% of all HS baseball players will play college baseball and the elite of that group, which consists of only 2% will play at the D1 level. These are the players I’m watching and gleaning information on. This is determined by objective data from events, as well as the subjective eye evaluations, honed from my 30 years at the college and professional level.
Juan Diego by the numbers
Head Coach: Taylor Berg (Former Utah Valley catcher, during the 32 game winning streak that the Wolverines put together in 2012, that captured the college baseball landscape's attention.)
Classification: 3A
Region: 15
2022 Win-Loss: 16-12
2021 Win-Loss: 13-14
State Playoff appearances in last 10 years: 9
State Championship appearances last 10 years: 2
State Championships last 10 years: 1
2023 Preseason PBR Ranking: 9
2022 3A Utah State Champions
Key Returners with Class/Position
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Malik Harris, Sr, RHP/3B/1B (Signed w/the U of Memphis / D1
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Carlos Calata, Sr, OF
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Andrew Lombana, Jr, LHP/1B/OF
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Zach Carlson, Jr, OF/LHP (Committed: Northwestern U / D1)
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Caden Fenger, Jr, SS/RHP
Player Analysis
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Malik Harris RHP / 3B / Juan Diego Catholic , UT / 2023Rankings State Rank: 8 / POS: 2
Committed: U of Memphis10/30/22
The physically imposing corner bat, and future power arm, had a really good showing as he stung balls in the BP portion of the workout, with a powerful, quick and slightly uphill path to elevate and lift the ball. Has present avg raw power and is in line, with his man strength to come, to develop into plus raw pwr. Showing a max EV of 100, with a 75% rate of sweet spot contact. During game action, Harris got a FB middle-middle and crushed it, high and deep to LCF and out of the park. On the mound, Harris has been working on staying back and separating out of the glove earlier and over the rubber. This helped him stay back as he kept his front side closed and drove the slope and plane of the mound. Lands sound and the arm is a HTQ whippy arc, with a loose wrist to finish pitches. The FB was 86-89 with late finish and hop. The CB 73-74 had an avg MLB spin of 2451, and as his velo climbs, so will the spin. The SL 77 takes on quick lateral action, though can blend at times with the CB and create a hybrid look. A definite two type talent at the next level with a commitment coming in the next two weeks. Stay tuned…
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Zach Carlson OF / Juan Diego Catholic, UT / 2024Rankings State Rank: 8 / POS: 2
Committed: Northwestern U (Big 10)8/04/22
Carlson is an athletic CF that put up really good hitting metrics on workout day at the PBR Future Games. Running a 6.93/60, Carlson also had hand and bat speed marks of 24 and 75.3 on Blast. He also recorded an EV of 93.8 with a 75% hard hit rate on Trackman! Zach had a solid first game vs Team Arkansas as he barreled a shot into the LCF gap that was run down and later in the game, he hit a smash through the 6 hole for a 2-RBI 1B. Zach played a flawless CF in running balls down frequently. Blessed with an athletic frame, Carlson has really good mechanical movement patterns with a short, quick LD stroke into a whippy two handed follow through. A Future Game invite a year ago, Carlson had ACL surgery and missed all summer/fall, but came back healthy w/o any problem as the catalyst at the top of the order in leading Juan Diego Catholic to the 2022 Utah 3A state title! Zach will also be attending the PBR West Coast Games, August 12-14 at UNLV with many schools in attendance! 3/06/22
Carlson, an everyday two way kid, garnered All-Region honors as a freshman a year ago, before undergoing ACL surgery that shut him down all summer/fall. Now back and healthy, Carlson showed off his quick fluid LH hitting stroke with barreled LD’s to straightaway CF and to the pull side with an EV high 93.8 and has barrel and bat control to spray LD’s consistently. A fluid online accurate arm for the OF, Carlson plays CF and should be able to handle all 3 OF spots at the next level. A high baseball IQ, as he grew up playing in AZ for the Scottsdale Dirtbags upon moving to Utah, where we are glad to have him and market his abilities. A Future Games invite, Zach’s star should shine bright with another solid sophomore campaign and heading to LakePoint this summer.
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Andrew Lombana LHP / Juan Diego Catholic, UT / 2024Rankings State Rank: 19 / POS: 2
Uncommitted8/04/22
An intriguing LH arm that has put himself in a good position, as he has come to numerous PBR Utah events and has improved vastly over the last couple of years to the point of earning the right to go to Atlanta. A two way HS star, he was the 3A playoff MVP with the bat, but his left arm is what will propel him to the next level as he is garnering D1 interest now. At 6-2 180, showing a lean long lower ½ half and ideal frame to build and projects another 20 lbs of added weight and quality strength. The delivery has smoothed out, as he features a high flexible kick up top and gathers really well, while breaking over the rubber, in getting his arm up and into the throwing position at foot strike. The only flaw that needs to be addressed is he lands on his heel, which creates inconsistent K’s and it’s not a huge heel strike, so it can be tweaked and corrected. Once this is fixed, this should smooth his overall delivery out even more. The HTQ arm stroke is clean and fluid and has no restriction, which portends to even more FB velo down the road. The FB 78-83 is right on point for an upper 80’s, potentially 90 mph FB over the next 2 years. The CB shows med depth and tilt and his hand needs to get on top, to really rip through the seams and create added depth and spin. The CH shows fading action w/late bottom and needs to use more, as it can be a quality pitch for him. Look for even further growth in his repertoire and it will be fun to see where this goes from here?! 7/12/22
Positional Profile: LHP/OF 7/12/22
Positional Profile: LHP/OF
3/06/22
A tall lanky, yet projectable physical frame to continue to add weight and strength. A loose arm on the mound with a T83 FB at times with natural arm side run. Able to spin the CB with TQ shape and medium depth. Can pick it at 1B and has some glove actions. Needs to smooth out his footwork and sync his lower ½ to his feet, yet has soft hands and plays out front and from the ground up. The bat has some natural loft and a quick inside the ball approach on his pass at the baseball. Has a ¾ high finish to his stroke and can carry the ball high and deep to the pull side. Just now tapping into some power, as he had 2 HR’s on the first weekend of HS play, this past week. Look for this kid's name and track him as he is only gonna get better.
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Carlos Calata SS / 2B / Juan Diego , UT / 2023
Uncommitted2022 Stats: G 27 PA 90 AB 73 R 25 H 21 HR 1 RBI 11 2B 2 3B 2 BB 11 SO 17 SB 12
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Caden Fenger RHP / SS / Juan Diego, UT / 2024Rankings State Rank: 49 / POS: 10
Uncommitted
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Key players lost to graduation
Sam Silversmith
Gabe Perkins
Dallas Larson (D1 football - Weber State U)
Tyler Easter
Patrick Swanson
Players who graduated in 2022 and are now playing college baseball*
Sam Silversmith (Mt Jacinto)
Gabe Perkins (Antelope Valley)
Tyler Easter (Western Nebraska)
Who is your X Factor to your success
Our young core of Freshmen and Sophomore that will contribute to Varsity. They will be key to our continued success alongside our core returners.
Returning players who were named All-Region / All-State
Malik Harris, Sr. (Region 15 MVP)
Zach Carlson, Jr. (All State)
Andrew Lombana, Jr. (3A State Playoff MVP)
List players you feel have college baseball potential*
Malik Harris (Memphis signee)
Carlos Calata
Zach Carlson (Northwestern signee)
Andrew Lombana
Caden Fenger
Matt Odell
Castle Huggard
Hayden Mezenen
Tage McKinley
Nick Richardson
Lange Livonius
List players in your region you feel have the potential to play professional baseball, either out of HS or College*
Malik Harris
Andrew Lombana
Zach Carlson
Coaches Summary and Outlook
2023 is going to be a big proving year for Juan Diego Baseball. Although we return the core of five key starters at the varsity level, we lost five crucial seniors last year that helped us to a state championship in 2022. And we will be looking for big contributions from our sophomore and freshman class at the varsity level in key positions, including catcher, and middle infield.
Of the 25 games we have scheduled this spring, only 10 of them are at the 3A level. We have started the year with three wins, and one loss against good competition and look to continue that trend throughout March prior to region play and our invite only tournament at Bishop Gorman high school.
We have a lot to prove this year. We move up to The 4A classification next year in a really tough region and we want to go out of 3A with another successful campaign. Our team is hungry to compete and prove that last year was just the beginning of a renewed dominance that Juan Diego had just over 10 years ago. Last year was our 7th state championship, and 18th region championship since our school was built in 1999.
We are a young competitive group that is eager to prove we can play with anybody anytime in any place. Although we only have an enrollment of 650 students, we feel like we can play with anybody and look forward to proving that again this year.
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Taylor Berg (Head Coach)
RELATED NEWS
JEFF SCHOLZEN (BIO)
Scholzen was brought on as the Utah Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report after serving 9 years as the Four Corners Scouting Supervisor with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-2020). Prior to his run with the Brewers, Scholzen worked for the Los Angeles Angels for 11 years (1999-2010), serving in a similar capacity as the Four Corners Scouting Supervisor. In all, Scholzen served as a full-time scout for 20 years. Scholzen also received a 2002 World Series ring for his contributions as a scout.
With the Angels, Scholzen created an Angels Scout Team, in which he coached the likes of current and former major league players: Kris Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Greg Bird, Tyler Wagner, Aaron Blair, Joey Rickard, Donn Roach, Johnny Field, Taylor Cole and Paul Sewald to name a few. During his run with the the Angels, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Angels rookie ball affiliate with the Pioneer League Orem Owlz, helping guide the Owlz to the 2005 and 2007 Pioneer League titles.
Prior to becoming a professional scout, Scholzen served as the head coach at Southern Utah University between 1993-1997. At the time, Scholzen was the youngest Division I head coach when he was first hired at 24 years old. The Southern Utah baseball program was dropped after the 2012 season. While coaching at Southern Utah, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Alaska Goldpanners in 1995, as they won the Alaska League Championship.
A native of Utah, Scholzen played at Hurricane HS and was twice named 1st team All-State and an AAU HM All-American, before moving on to Utah Valley CC and Eastern Oregon University, earning All-Conference honors on three separate occasions. Scholzen played in the Angels’ organization from 1991-1992.