Maryland Unsigned Senior Games: Early Thoughts

We’ll begin with the offensive standouts from this year’s Unsigned Senior Games starting with our offensive MVP Tyler Blittersdorf. The left-handed hitting catcher/outfielder was 3-for-5 with a double and two triples on the day. Blittersdorf is quiet at the plate and has an explosive, compact swing. He really uses his lower half well and stayed in the gaps all day, showing present pull-side power during BP. Blittersdorf is a versatile player that can play multiple positions including catcher, corner outfield, and some third base.

Another big time, uncommitted, offensive threat that had a nice day at the Unsigned Senior Games was Walter Johnson High School’s Noah Cerrud-Osmer. The big 6-foot-2, 220 pound outfielder had and exit velo of 95 mph and took a nice BP. He, like Blittersdorf, showed little wasted movement at the plate. Hitting from a wider base and open stance, Cerrud-Osmer starts with his hands pre-loaded and has a short, quick, rock-back load. Strength and power is present with him and he backed it up during the game, going 1-for-3 with a double smoked in the gap, an RBI, and two sharply-hit loud outs.

Linganore High School’s Jacob Ference also showed strength at the plate during BP. The 6-foot-2, 190 pound catching prospect hits from a balanced, slightly open stance at the plate and showed good lower half movements and quick hands. He squared a few balls up in the game but had nothing to show for it. Behind the plate, Ference has a quiet body and receives the ball well. He displayed a very quick transfer and put five throws on the money at second with pop times ranging from 1.82-1.95. Graham King of Urbana HS and Jacob Conover from Appoquinimink HS (DE) also showed their ability to catch and throw during the workout. King’s pop times ranged 1.94-2.08 with a velo of 76 mph. He also put up an 84 mph exit velo and added 2 RBIs in the game. Conover was equally impressive behind the plate, with pop times ranging 1.96-2.08, a velo of 74 mph, and an exit velo of 88 mph.

Top outfielders on the day included Luca Giallongo of St. John’s College, Jerras Murray of Howard HS, Derrick Booker of Archbishop Curley, and Garrett Mcilhenney of Calvert Hall. Giallongo flew through the 60-yard dash with a blazing time of 6.63 and threw 84 mph from the outfield. He was also 2-for-3 in the game displaying a short swing with quick hands and fast bat speed. Murray took second in the 60-yard dash with a quick 6.70 and went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in the game. Murray took two really nice rounds of BP squaring up several line drives and showing his ability to spray the ball to all fields. Hitting from a wider base with hands pre-set, he showed some of the quickest hands and fastest bat speed on the day. Booker took third in the 60-yard dash posting a 6.72 and showed the ability to track down everything in the outfield during the game. Hitting from the left side, Booker is a gap-to-gap type hitter with some pull side power. Mcilhenney showed patience at the plate, walking twice and squaring one up hard for a base hit back up the middle. He was another speedy outfielder that ran a 6.81 60-yard dash and can go get it in the outfield. Mcilhenney competes at the plate and attacks the baseball with intent. His fluid rhythm and smooth back load coupled with quick hands, a short compact swing, and explosive lower half allow him to spray gaps, get on and cause havoc on the base paths.

On the infield, Xander Waddell from Old Mill HS, Ferris McIlmail from Urbana HS, and Tyler Stanley from Colonel Richardson HS stood out at the plate and in the field. Waddell is an athletic switch hitting middle infielder who was smooth and showed great actions at shortstop. He plays with active feet, shows soft hands and a quick, clean transfer. At the plate, Waddell barrelled up several balls in BP showing gap-to-gap power and nice lower half involvement. Waddell threw 79 mph across the diamond, had an exit velo of 80 mph from both sides and went 1-for-3 in the game. McIlmail was a vacuum in the infield all day, showing athleticism, soft hands, and the ability to make a variety of hard plays look easy. McIlmail was 80 mph across the diamond and went 1-for-3 in the game with a line drive to left field. McIlmail hits from a balanced, athletic, slightly open stance at the plate with little wasted movement and fluid rhythm. He showed a quick bat and ability to shoot the gaps with one line drive after another in BP. Stanley hits from a wide base and square stance at the plate. He displayed a smooth rock-back load, quick hands, short compact level stroke, and nice lower half involvement. Stanley took two solid rounds of BP with line drives working gap-to-gap and sent a double into left field during the game. In the infield, Stanley shows athleticism and moves well, playing through the ball with soft hands as well.

A few two-way guys that really stood out from Tuesday’s Unsigned Senior Games at Harford CC were Loy Hickmon of St. John’s College, Aaron Winsker of Hereford HS, Patrick Defeciani of Clarkstown North (NY), and Joseph Davis of Appoquinimick HS (DE). Hickmon had a solid day in the infield and went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double over the left fielder’s head. He posted a 6.97 60-yard dash, 82 mph velo across the diamond, and an 81 mph exit velo. Hickmon is athletic and smooth in the infield with fluid actions and a quick, clean transfer. With thunderstorms cutting game two of the Unsigned Senior Games short, Hickmon came back on Wednesday for the Top Prospect Games at Towson University to throw an inning of work. On the bump, Hickmon sat 82-84 mph running it up to 86 mph with a 71-73 mph breaking ball, and a 75 mph change-up. Winsker is also a middle infielder that plays with active feet and shows smoothness in his game. He showcased soft hands, quick clean transfers, and a strong 81 mph velo across the diamond from shortstop. At the plate, Winsker is a line drive gap-to-gap type hitter with occasional pop. On the bump, he was up to 82 mph with some arm side run, a 65-73 mph breaking ball and 67-69 changeup. Defeciani showed soft hands and good footwork around the bag at first to go along with two solid rounds of BP. He stays behind the ball well and gets good extension through contact, showing the ability to spray line drives in the gaps during BP with some pull side power. On the mound, the lefty topped out at 79 mph with a 58-60 mph breaking ball and a 61-63 mph changeup. And finally, Davis put up some solid numbers across the board as a two-way guy. He threw 85 mph from both the outfield and from third base, recorded an 83 mph exit velo, and sat 81-83 mph during his inning of work while striking out three of five hitters faced. His breaking ball was 67-69 with tight spin and changeup was 69-71 with some dive.

PITCHERS TO NOTE:

• Pete Marchineck of Calvert Hall was up to 83 mph, striking out four of ten hitters over two innings of work. The long lefty hides the ball very well and throws with a short arm action from a lower three-quarters slot. Surrendering only an infield hit and double on the day, the lefty overall was pretty nasty to face first thing in the morning.

• Another lefty that turned some heads with sound mechanics and a fastball up to 81 mph on the day was Kenneth Dollenger from Rising Sun HS. Dollenger retired the first 6 batters in the two innings he worked and got two weak ground balls that were booted behind him. He works quick and is able to repeat his mechanics with ease. His fastball showed nice arm side run and his slider was tight with sharp late break at 73-75.

• Due to the late afternoon thunderstorms, Robert Jurney and Hayden Snelsire both threw a bullpen. Jurney sat 80-81 mph with a long, loose, and whippy arm action from a really low three-quarters near sidearm slot. Jurney’s mechanics are sound and he creates good arm speed through his release. Projectable 6-foot-2, 155 pound frame with plenty of room to fill out and get some more out of his arm. Breaking ball sat 69-71 with tight 10/4 shape and changeup was 67-68 with fade. Snelsire hid the ball well with a quarter corkscrew delivery and featured a sneaky quick fastball at 81 mph. He also threw a nice, tight 11/5 shape curveball and true 10/4 slider at 63-65 mph. Capping his four pitch repertoire was a 63-64 mph changeup.

Quick run through of some other guys who notched a hit in this year’s Unsigned Senior Games.

Logan Handwork C/3B North Point: (1-for-3) with a triple.

Brett Swift 3B/OF James M. Bennett: (1-for-3) with a double.

Justin Acal SS/2B Tuscarora: (1-for-3)

Will Behm 1B/3B Dulaney: (1-for-2)

Jacob Gill LHP/OF Patuxent: (1-for-3)

Ryan Kulick 1B/RHP Howard: (1-for-3)

Kristopher Lotharp SS/OF Middletown (DE): (1-for-2)

Cael Orem C Perryville: (1-for-2)

Collin Reed OF/RHP Dr. Henry Wise: (1-for-3)

Be sure to check out our continued coverage of the 2018 Maryland Unsigned Senior Games next week as we release our positional notebook’s!