Impact at Lenoir Rhyne

please post a report from this year.Let us know what kinda unknown gems turn up!!

 

Anyone have a report from the Impact showcase at Lenoir-Rhyne?

 

It was a fun day at the ballfield and Gym!

First of all I left at 8:30 stopped in Burlington for a biscuit and arrived at LR at 11:30. It was 170 miles from the house to the field. When I got there I met a man and his son that had driven from Virginia to attend the event. He had a 1:20 minute drive. The next kid that showed up was Andrew Rash and 08 utility player from SC that is headed to Virginia Tech next year. He had a 1:15 minute drive to LR. So Im sitting there thinking "Im from NC this guy is from Va and this guy is from SC and I had the longest drive." Dang it what the heck is going on?"

The event was outstanding. I hung out with Braves for awhile and got the chance to meet his son. Man what a great young man. And that kid is a monster Im telling you. I got to hang out with one of my former AAU players Sean Madden now a RHP at LR and that was great. Numerous posters on this site were there and it was alot of fun to hang out with them and talk baseball.

The event got started with a defensive workout. The outfielders threw from right field to 3b and homeplate. There were several guys that stood out for having outstanding arms with great accuracy. To me the guy that stood out above everyone for arm strength was 09 Bryan Goodwin from Rocky Mount HS. But there were other guys that looked very good as well.

Then the infielders took ground balls and made throws to first base. There were around 8 guys taking grounders at SS. To me the guys that stood out were Garrison Lassiter , Levi Micheal , Tyler Hanover , Pratt Maynard and Cam Cockman. I thought Maynard looked the best Ive seen him. He is a corner guy but at SS he looked great. Great footwork , soft hands and a fluid throwing motion with an absolute cannon for an arm.

Then the first baseman took ground balls and made throws to third. To me I thought Micheal Roth from Riverside HS , SC was tops. This USC committ is just so good around the bag. His hands are so good and his footwork around the bag is very advanced. Plus he has a hose as well. This guy is so good at first base.

The catchers were up next and there were around 15 of them. They got around 5 or 6 throws to second base for pop times. Several guys looked very good. I didnt have a stop watch on them so I will wait and let AP post the results on his site. But a couple of guys stood out as far as arm strength and accuracy. But several looked like they posted some good times from just eye balling it.

Then all the posistion players took BP. They took two rounds and got about 10 swings per round. Almost all took the bp with wood. Most of these guys have signed with college programs already and there were a ton of pro scouts in attendance. There were some good rounds taken and a couple of bats broken as well. Again three or four guys stood out to me. They squared up alot of balls and showed some nice power with the wood on a very chilly day. But again I will let Coach Partin post who his staff thought stood out.

Then the posistion players that were not catchers and did not pitch were free to leave. The catchers and pitchers went inside the gym to throw bullpens. There were a couple of guys imo that will sky rocket from their performances today. One a RHP and one a LHP. Believe me this is the best 25.00 bucks they will probaly ever spend. Again sorry but I think its best Coach Partin report on this and Im sure he will soon.

08's I was impressed with -

Josh Allman - Swain HS - Tenn - Josh is a lhp with a filthy curveball and a ton of life on his fastball. His delivery is very smooth and deliberate. He pounded the strike zone the entire bull pen session. Josh is a kid that really knows how to pitch and I can see why he has been so good in HS. As he gets bigger and stronger I really believe he is going to make a big jump on the velocity side. But the fact is he is one tough guy from the leftside on the hill. He looked very good imo.

Andrew Wyant - Fred T. Foard - USC Upstate - I stood behind AW while he threw his pen. Man everytime I see this kid he just gets better. His command was outstanding and his 2 seamer was really getting some great movement on it. His breaking ball was sharpe and nasty. And the kid has some juice on the baseball with a very clean delivery. Add in the fact he is at least 6'4 with a great athletic frame with plenty of room for growth and I think this kid is going to blossom in college. I was very impressed with him

Chad Rothlin - Fred T. Foard - UNNC - I watched Chad pound the zone with strike after strike with three different pitches. His fastball has a ton of life on it and he can flat out paint. His slider is just plain sick. I used to call him little Rothlin but I can't do that anymore. This kid grows like a weed. Chad is so darn good. And like AW he just seems to get better everytime you see him.

Jim Leggett - Rocky Mount HS - Leggett is a strike throwing machine. Everything was knees and below and the catcher never moved his mitt. Fastball , change up , cb - it didnt matter. Strike after strike after strike. Jim imo has the best change up in NC hs baseball. He can throw it on any count and anytime and hit his spots. It has that nasty sink down and away and he can throw it with tremendous accuracy. His delivery is very solid and he consistently repeats it pitch after pitch. He looked to be in that 85-86 range to me.

Zach White - North Davidson HS - Wake Forest - Zach was lights out. His arm looked so fresh and the ball was just jumping out of his hand. Zach is just nasty. He comes at you with tough arm angles and his delivery is the same regardless of the pitch he is throwing. His curveball and change were very good. And his fastball was outstanding. I dont know what the velo was but it was very good imo. This guy carves people up. I have always said "Zach White gets good hitters out. Some guys can blow away average HS hitters but get pounded by good hitters. Zach carves up good hitters." Man I love to watch this big boy throw the baseball.

Jason Brown - South Stokes HS - Jason looked very good. Like the other guys I was really impressed with he pounded the strike zone with all his pitches. He was down in the zone and his fastball had a ton of life on it. He has a very good curveball and it was working quite well today. This guy is going to be a nightmare for the HS teams that face him this year. He looked very good today.

There were more but I will post on them later and Im sure other posters there will as well. And of course Coach Partin will have a full report on his site soon Im sure.

There were several 09's that were absolutely awesome imo. After Coach Partin posts his report I will post on the rest of the 08's I was impressed with and the many 09's that impressed.

These are just my thoughts. Im sure others have theirs. I would love to hear other peoples thoughts that attended the event. By the way their were a ton of professional scouts at the event and several college coaches. And there were players from NC SC VA and Tenn in attendance. Anyone that loves seeing talented players throw the baseball needs to make sure they pencil this event on the calender for next year.

 

Any chance of getting the high school the two kids that you feel will sky rocket (one RHP, one LHP)?

 

Lets just say

they WILL sky rocket. Kid gets an invite. He pays 25 bucks. He lights it up. It will happen for them now.

Last year I took an a guy totally off the radar up to this event. AP would not charge the kid the fee. He understood the kids financial situation. I took care of the fee in spite of AP saying dont worry about it. The kid not only got numerous offers but was drafted and got 7th round money. He was just named one of the top 5 hs pitchers drafted last year by Baseball American based on his performance in his first pro season.

How any kid that gets this type of opportunity can not attend is beyond me. But Im sure some do have good reasons to not attend.

I will let Coach Partin give the skinny on these guys I dont think it would be fair for me to spoil it. But if anyone else that was there wants post go for it. I was hoping this would happen for this young man. And is sure was nice to see it.The LHP I did not know. But believe me he was the real deal as well.

 

Thanks, good report.
I'd be interested in knowing which MLB teams were represented and who you see going in the first ten rounds.

 

Who I saw

Gary Randall and Freddie Suggs from the Major League Scouting Bureau. I saw the area scout for the Tamp Rays , Cleveland Indians , Boston Red Sox , Two scouts with A's , Houston Astros and to be honest with you at least 15 more for several other teams. I also was told a couple of scouting directors were in attendance. There were several college coaches in attendance as well.

As far as the top 10 rounds you know thats hard to say. There are so many factors with the draft. Signability etc. But the talent level was there for sure. Im telling you being in that gym and seeing so many guys with that kind of talent in one place is so much fun.

 

Thanks. It was about this time last year,when alot of people had two NC players in the top ten HS players in the country.
Things look a bit different this year.
I saw that Lassiter was the #2 prospect @ the Under Armour showcase in Tuscon recently, so maybe he is moving up.
Surprised not to see Messer on the roster since he lives so close to Hickory.

 

I can understand

Some guys are not ready to turn it loose this time of year or may have other things going on. Im sure they have a good reason and I respect that decision.

My post about not understanding why someone would not come if invited was meant for the guys that have not signed with a college yet. But again I dont know everyones situation so I probaly should have left those comments out.

 

I am always amazed at how Coach May can work the crowd and watch the players at the same time. I believe out of the 200+ players, parents and coaches in attendance he spoke to all of them, plus throwing bp as well. Nobody can out-multi task Kenny.

The talent level was just amazing (as it is every year). I felt like it was Christmas Day opening packages. I can not explain well the treat it is to watch all of these players on one field exhibiting their skills.

I don't like to point out certain players because I could not see them all...and the one's I leave out may have shown some of the best tools.

Unlike Coach May, I can not multi task. I'm standing around talking to old friends and meeting new one's...while missing the actions of some I wanted to see. If you can keep this in mind, I will mention those that did catch my eye, but in no way am I suggesting these were the only one's. In fact, I'm not going to mention the one's that I have seen before...rather I would like to mention some of those I haven't.