top pitchers

I know this topic is top pitchers, but I just decided to give a quick rundown on a couple of the players-don't hate me for it.

 

Not at all...but you can't leave off Wil Boyd either.

 

Yes, Wil did play for the Storm for a short time period, he played for the Charlotte Royals in most of his AAU career, but nontheless, he was another Storm player along with Isaac Harrow-another one that I forgot.

 

a little bit

I've played against just about all of the pitchers mentioned on this site at some point during my career and can tell you a little bit about all of them:

Madison Bumgardner-I talked with a few scouts and some of my coaches and they told me that on the gun this year he has touched 94. As for facing him, thats legit. He throws hard and he is right on top of you when he releases. He might have the best potential of all the pitchers this year but hes not there yet. He's a thrower and he will come at you with the fastball and not a whole lot else. He also struggles a little bit fielding the bunt which probably led to there loss last year in the playoffs.

Ryan Morris-I've never been a huge fan of the hype. Unlike Bumgardner to me his fastball just doesn't seem that heavy. Sure its coming pretty good but to me its flat and the curveball is easy to pick up. I've seen him for about 18-20 innings and honestly I was expecting more.

Patrick Johnson-He throws hard with a good-breaker. As a right handed batter I would much rather see Bumgardner or Morris out there than this guy. Throws to many fastball late in the count though which costs him at times but the biggest problem is he just doesnt have "it" yet. You don't get the feeling that he would give anything to be out on that mound, I just felt like we would get to him eventually because he didn't care about it enough.

Trent Roughlin-I don't know what kind of numbers show up on the radar gun but unless he has improved tremendously in the past year the hype around this kid is purely on potential. He doesn't have a pitch that he can consistently throw over the plate. His fastball being the worst which led him to have to pitch backwards alot. Probably will help him down the road because he has had to learn to throw that breaker away from peoples bats in order to stay in the game. Which before this year he hadn't done a whole lot.

Ben Gibbs-Nowhere near the talent level of the other guys mentioned so far but this kid attacks the zone and comes after you with everything hes got. Last year in one of the best conferences in the state he went undefeated with average stuff. He battles. Enough said. One of those guys when your facing him that you hate to lose to, but you would love to have him on your team.

Ryan Leach-We all heard how good Tyler was, but his little brother has far better stuff and actually pitches instead of just throwing. You might not like him, especially if you have played against him but the kid gets it done. My personal favorite out of this years pitchers although the upset might not be there. He has the best curveball in the state, he has a good changeup, and an above average fastball, and he will throw them at any count. Ive personally seen him dominate games completely without throwing a ball over 87 mph. In high school he is as good as there is, but you don't have to tell him or his daddy that, they already know.

 

Talk about jumping in with both feet.......welcome to TBR!

 

Just for curiosity sake when is the last time you faced one of these guys or saw them pitch this year....I've seen 4 of the 6 you mention pitch this year and they have all been pretty solid.

I got to see Morris pitch this past week along with about 12 Pro Scouts looking on....he was throwing a 91-92 mph heater consistently with some serious movement at the plate....I didn't hear anyone talk about how "flat" it was....but, they could be wrong.

I got to see Bumgardner a few weeks ago and he dominated the game.

Although we welcome all comments / observations on the board we hope to keep everything positive regarding the players....if you check out the ERA's, Opponents Batting Avg's and Strike Outs for the guys most of the "Hype" is for real.

Keep posting but avoid the player / parent bashing. Welcome to TBR.

 

Catawba Valley Storm versus Carolina Blaze

Sorry to get off topic but you brought back some good memories. During the time these kids were 11 and 12, these two teams played many outstanding games against each other. The highlight was in Cooperstown where these 2 teams, out of 48 teams, played for the championship that week finishing at 1:00 in the morning after playing 5 games in one day. All the California and Florida teams were the favorites but NC baseball showed everyone how good we were that week. This was a big rivalry but both teams really respected the other team. Many players from the Blaze have gone on to lead their high school teams also. Seth Maness outstanding pitcher at Pinecrest, Matt Brooks ,pitcher with Broughton, Matt Zeblo, Broughton middle infielder, Michael Caddell Middle Creek SS, Brett Eibner/ outstanding hitter in Texas, Michael Rooney SS at Cary, Logan Isaacs SS at Wakefield, Richard Royal pitcher/catch at Terry Sanford, Brad Moore infielder/pitcher at Athens Drive, Mike Knox outstanding power hitter at Apex.
These kids were a special group who always enjoyed playing the Storm. What a group of players that came from both teams. THere was allot of talent on the field that night in Cooperstown. I just did not realize how much.

 

Sorry to get off topic even more, but look at that Kernersville Cardinals team that won the national championship.

Jason Rook - App St, pitcher and infielder
Zack Holderfield - Pfeiffer
Addison Johnson - Clemson, could get drafted
Dusty Ackley - UNC, possibly drafted
Wes Hobson - App St
Jamie Serber
Trevor Mullins
Stefan Morris
Lee Stewart - Randolph Macon

 

SuperJon,

We will get back on topic in a minute...the old memories are coming back (some of the nightmares when we played Kernersville). This was a great team to watch and play against.

This was a great age group...we could do a thread on the NC players from this age group that have committed to play at the next level....the list would be pretty imppressive.