By John Nolan
PBR Virginia/DC

Prep Baseball Report Virginia/DC recently hosted its first youth tournaments, the September Shootout and the Columbus Day Classic, in Northern Virginia. Teams from ages 9U up to 15U participated in a very competitive event. Here are a few of the 15U players that stood out over the weekend.

Kai Boyd, LHP, Patriot, 2018
Boyd is a lanky lefty who throws from a side arm slot with a choppy drop and drive delivery. His shoulders are closed as he strides out to a slightly closed landing, creating a crossfire delivery that has a lot of deception. His fastball has some late sink to it and ran 71-72, touching 73 and he pounded the bottom of the zone with it.

Chris Chaney, RHP/MIF, St. James (MD), 2019
Chaney is an athletic player with a very projectable frame. On the mound, the throws from a high three-quarters arm slot with a smooth, explosive drop and drive delivery. He has a short, loose arm action and a lightning quick arm. His fastball had late run and sat 78-81, touching 82. His slider has tight, late 11/5 break and ran 66-67. The pitch has the potential to be devastating as he gets stronger and improves the spin rate on it. At the plate, he has a fluid swing and an explosive lower half that generates good bat speed. He is short to the ball and has a line drive approach and uses the entire field well, barreling the ball consistently.

Brody Mack, LHP, Potomac, 2019
Mack is a lanky lefty who throws from a high three-quarters arm slot with a drop and drive delivery. His shoulders are level and closed as he strides out to a closed landing, creating a classic lefty crossfire and good deception. His fastball ran 69-73 and he pounded the strike zone with it. He also threw a big, 1/7 breaking curveball that ran 59-63.

Hank Pavco-Giaacia, IF/RHP, The Potomac School, 2019
Pavco-Giaacia has an athletic frame. At the plate, he hits from the right side and has an athletic stance and a smooth back load with a short stride. He has an explosive lower half that generates a fast bat and he maintains his balance throughout his swing. He has a short swing path and gets good extension through the ball with a gap-to-gap approach and decent power. On the mound, Pavco-Giaacia throws from a low three-quarters arm slot with a quick arm that generates easy velocity. His shoulders are uphill and closed as he strides out to a square landing and an athletic finish. His fastball was 77-79 with late run. He threw a tight curveball that had late 10/4 break because of his low arm slot that ran 72 and a very good running changeup that was 70-73. He commanded all three pitches very well.

Lyle Miller-Green, RHP, Lake Braddock, 2019
Miller-Green had an abbreviated outing. His arm is quick and generates velocity with some effort. His fastball ran 76-77, touching 78 with good downward plane. Miller-Green also threw a sharp, 11/5 curveball that ran 67. 

Seth Richards, LHP/OF, Oakton, 2019
Richards is a lanky lefty who throws from a high three-quarters arm slot with a drop and drive delivery. He has a long, loose arm action and a quick arm that works. His shoulders are closed and uphill and he creates good angle and deception with a slightly closed landing. Richards’ fastball ran 72-73 and he hides it well. His breaking ball has sharp 1/7 action and ran 62. The pitch has a lot of potential as he gets stronger and tightens the spin on it. His changeup is straight and has good armspeed, running 66. He pounds the zone and is a heck of a competitor, shutting down a good Stars White team in the Columbus Day Classic Championship Game. In the outfield, he gets good reads on the ball and has a strong arm.

Max White, RHP, Centreville, 2018
White throws from a high three-quarters arm slot and has a long, loose arm action and a quick arm that generates velocity with normal effort. He has a smooth drop and drive delivery and his shoulders are uphill and slightly closed as he strides out to a square landing before falling off as he finishes. White’s fastball sat 72-73 and touched 74 with slight sink to it. He also threw a sharp 12/6 curveball that ran 63. He showed good command of both pitches.