Impact P/C Showcase

who looked good? what coaches were in attendance? anyone surprising?

 

It was a little difficult to notice everyone, as there were 47 pitchers and equal amount of catchers. Most if not all pitchers did not get/take ample time to warm up properly, but Impact did a great job in organizing the event. It was held inside the Elon gym where thankfully it was warm (important for ol' Braves).

It was well attended by many DII & III coaches and Pro Scouts. I did not count the number, but all the seats were filled and many had to stand against the wall to make their observations.

From the Charlotte area, the one's I noticed that appeared to do well was AJ Mason, TJ Worrell and JJ Rollins. AJ & TJ appeared to be about 80% of peak and I really noticed how strong JJ has become. He also displayed a quick release, even though he was in a lot of pain, taking a ball off his wrist. He said it deadened his left arm. I did not see Michael Najaka and Joey Cutler.

It is tough to evaluate a batter in a cage....love to have seen them face live pitching

One thing I noticed...Elon, obviously, started their signings of players by alphabetical order. Patrick Adams, Mitch Adkins and Ryan Basham. And those guys looked terrific with their 'pens....the general consensus is that Mitch will never play on the field at college....Pro scouts love him!

As usual, Andy did a great job and continues to show that he is the "master" at promoting.

 

I also liked, in particular Tyler Trice (P, Burns) on the mound, and catchers Jay McConnell (C, East Gaston), Ron Causey (C, Wesleyan) and Brett Bartles (SS, AL Brown).

Trice has an easy fluid delivery where the ball just seems to explode out of his hand. Nice loose arm.

McConnell showed possibly the strongest arm from the catcher corp. He can also "smack" the ball.

Causey had great technique, footwork and a live arm on his throws to 2nd. He showed the cleanest and best all-around from the catchers with McConnell a close second.

Bartles has the great fundamental footwork that you want out of a middle infielder. He showed the best out on the field during infield.

Quite a few of the OF's showed very good arms with good carry on their throws, but it was hard to pick up names from the stands of who was who.

A lot of guys showed well. You could see that it's still very early in the season, but, overall, the players all looked solid. It looks to be a good year. There weren't any huge surprises to me. The players you expected to shine, did. Elon has a great incoming pitching staff from the 04 class. Between Adams, Adkins and Basham, it's hard to pick who you like best.

obtw: The viewing angles weren't great for a spectator (but the spectators aren't important in something like this). It was set up for the college and pro scouts and they had great seats (darn it ... i gotta get me one of them passes). I'm sure that more than one phone call was made to D1 schools after the event about "who looked good".

 

Very well put Braves. I must say that I enjoyed it. (I've been dying to see some baseball for a couple months now) It's the first event of this type that I've attended that my son wasn't in and to tell you the truth, I believe I enjoyed it more with out him. (no expectations and not nearly as nervous)

As NC put it, it's a little early to expect anybody to really stand out, but there were a few that looked like they could've started yesterday. I'm sure that all the coaches and scouts in attendence were very much aware of that. Speaking of coaches and scouts, I thought it was well attended, one of the players I was talking to made a comment to me about it. I think most of the pro scouts left early in order to attend a local college game but all in all it looked like a good turnout. Like Braves said, Andy does a great job of getting coaches and scouts to come out to the showcases. We are fortunate to have someone in our area that has as much comittment to HS baseball and it's players as Andy.

I actually got there a little late so I missed about a third of the pitchers. As NC mentioned, it was difficult to know who all the guys were from a spectator's stand point (couldn't hear their names) and most of the ones that I know have already been mentioned by Braves and NC so I won't repeat.

I see on Impact's site that they are having open workouts for '05, '06, & '07 grads. Do yourself and your player a favor, get him to one of these work outs it may be the smartest thing you'll ever do for his future.

 

The showcase was a good scratch to the itch I have for the real sport!
I thought as the only underclassman in the showcase TJ Worrell did not look like an underclassmen. He pitched well and looked to have good extension on his pitches. Trent Ashcraft from Tenn hit very well in the cage.
I was surprised from the great turnout of kids before the spring season gets underway. There were kids from NC-SC-Va-Tn-NJ-WV-Md and Ga!
I also thought there was a good turnout from the scouts and coaches. I did not count but there were around 40-45 scouts and coaches. The organizations and schools I recognized were-
Arizona Diamondbacks
KC Royals
TB Devil Rays
Pittsburgh Pirates
Anaheim Angels
Boston Redsox
MLB Scouting Bureau

Louisburg College
Lenoir CC
Walters State CC
There were many others. Not as many schools as pro as this was in a quiet period for D1 schools.
Juco's have no quiet or dead periods!

I second RC get to one of those Open Workouts!

Thanks to Andy Partin for another avenue to showcase our kids!

 

How did Raleigh-Cary area players do?

 

Give me some help, Jere. Not knowing where evrybody was from. Can you be specific with some names?

 

DeRatt - Green Hope
Kelly - Lee County
Hayes - Lee County
Hatcher - Garner
Phillips - Lee County
Primus - Garner

 

Zach Phillips was not there!

 

Ryan Basham reached 88 on one gun and 87 on another.. not bad for early February..