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Grant and Will's SoCal Scout Notes (July 14-17)
08/03/2022

Grant and Will’s SoCal Scout Notes (July 14-17)

Over the course of the 2022 Five Tool California Summer Season, staff members Grant Carver and Will Bonn will be at select games to provide extra scouting coverage for select games. Scout notes have no bias and players of note in no particular order from the Five Tool California SoCal events will be highlighted.

There will be a wide variety of players in these notes from uncommitted players to Division 1 commits to Division 3 commits and to junior college commits. Some games may have a few players noted while others may have a plethora, all dependent upon performances during the games and events.

Listed below is the Five Tool Scouting Staff Notes from the Five Tool California Junior & Senior AZFC Qualifier.

1) Sonny Rios, SoCal Bulldogs:

SoCal Bulldogs’ Sonny Rios came through in the clutch during his game that I watched in the Junior and Senior AZFC Qualifier. The right handed hitter went two for three on the day and came through when his team needed him. He roped a game tying two RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, and that same inning he came around and scored the game winning run on a passed ball. The Anaheim (CA) product showed gap to gap pop with both a triple down the right field line and a two RBI double to the left center gap. To go along with his bat, the 2023 uncommitted dude has a good glove at short, showing easy lateral movement as well as a good first step reading the ball off the bat well. Rios had a solid game and was successful in the clutch for his team when they needed it most.

— Will Bonn, Five Tool California

2) Jeramiah Sotelo, CBA Titans:

CBA Titans’ Jeremiah Sotelo put on a show in the game I attended during his event this weekend. The right handed pitcher pitched a complete seven innings while allowing two hits and racking up eight punch outs. The 2023 uncommitted stud had his fastball sitting 77-80 MPH and his curveball around 71-73 MPH. He filled up the zone during his outing and was attacking every hitter he faced with aggression. The La Mirada (CA) product has some good two seam movement on his fastball, which was maybe his most successful pitch. The curveball had a sharp late 12-6 break and caused a lot of swing and misses from batters, especially in out counts. His quick delivery and short arm motion kept the tempo of the game going and kept him in cruise control while he mowed down his opponents. Sotelo had an incredible outing and has the stuff to repeat it next time.

— Will Bonn, Five Tool California

3) Anthony Hernandez, Trojan Warriors:

Trojan Warriors’ Anthony Hernandez did it all from both sides of the ball at a game I watched during the Junior and Senior AZFC Qualifier. The right handed pitcher pitched four and one third innings, striking out seven batters and only allowing three hits in the process. The 2025 uncommitted dude from Ayala (CA) was pitching with intent and has good tempo on the mound. Hernandez creates good drive from his back leg and follows it up with a whippy arm motion. The fastball has some downward action to it and the breaking ball looks a bit like a slurve, where it is dropping while diving away from right handed hitters. At the plate, the right handed hitter went two for four and scored a run. He showed a smooth swing and an approach that is gap to gap. Hernandez got it done from both sides of the ball and is a guy to watch going forward.

— Will Bonn, Five Tool California

4) Noah Wong, Juggernauts Baseball:

Juggernauts Baseball’s Noah Wong had a solid outing during his event this weekend going five innings while racking up eight strikeouts, allowing two hits, and giving up just one earned run. The right handed pitcher has a unique pitching motion which works to his advantage. He is very upright during his delivery which forces his arm motion to be on top of the baseball, creating downward action on his pitches. This delivery and motion works in his favor as he is able to get good downward action on his fastball and also creates a sharper break on his curveball because he is able to stay on top of the pitch. The 2023 uncommitted prospect’s fastball has movement as if it were a sinker and the curveball moves like a 12-6 with late downward break. The United Christian Academy (CA) product also hits his spots as he only allowed one walk during the five innings he pitched. Wong flashed the command and pitch movement that you always love to see out of a guy on the hill.

— Will Bonn, Five Tool California

5) Colin Kidd, Total Baseball Vipers:

Colin Kidd of Total Baseball Vipers was dialed in on the mound during the Junior and Senior AZFC Qualifier. The right handed pitcher went three innings, allowed only two hits, struck out seven batters, and allowed just one run. The 2023 uncommitted product out of Laguna Beach (CA) pounded the zone with a downhill fastball that flashed good arm side run. The curveball was sharp and had good downhill movement, causing batters to chase balls out of the zone. He showed a change up at times as well that had a good sink to it and dove a bit into right handed batters. The 6’4 righty is not afraid to go right after the opposition with his short arm delivery and creates good drive off his back leg. He keeps his glove side shoulder tight throughout his delivery which helps keep his body on plane to the plate. Kidd is a talented pitcher and should only go up from here.

–Will Bonn, Five Tool California

6) Griffin Naess, Total Baseball Vipers:

Another player from Total Baseball Vipers that stood out this weekend in the Junior and Senior AZFC Qualifier was Griffin Naess. The 2023 uncommitted stud out of Laguna Beach (CA) struck out five batters through six innings of work while only allowing one run in the process. Standing at 6’6, the right handed pitcher showed off his live arm with his fastball sitting 87-88 MPH and a slider at 76-77 MPH. Naess uses every inch of his frame to gather power into his delivery. He creates good drive with his back leg and shows a very whippy and long arm motion that allows for him to get as much velocity as he can on his fastball. The delivery is over the top which allows him to get on top of his fastball creating downward motion on the fastball. As for the slider it is hard to tell out of the hand whether the pitch will be a heater or a slider due to how hard he throws the slider. Naess has a live arm and has room for even more growth out on the mound.

–Will Bonn, Five Tool California

7) Max Senesac, CBA Bears:

CBA Bears’ Max Senesac has been putting on a show all summer and this weekend was no different.  The catcher tallied up two doubles, a home run, four RBI’s, and scored two runs. The right handed hitter has a very smooth and relaxed swing at the plate. He shows good rhythm when timing up pitches, swaying slightly back and forth. As the pitch is delivered, he uses a hover leg kick and holds until he uncoils and throws his hands towards the pitch. The 2023 uncommitted dude showed good pull side power as he crushed a home run to left and then doubled to left center splitting the outfield. Behind the plate, the St. John Bosco (CA) product recorded a pop time of 1.9 seconds, quick to set his feet and finding a throwing lane before showing off his arm by throwing out the runner at second. Senesac is a quality player both defensively and offensively and has been proving it all summer.

–Will Bonn, Five Tool California

8) Evan Miranda, Scorpions Baseball:

Scorpions Baseball’s Evan Miranda was dominant on the mound during his outing at the Junior and Senior AZFC Qualifier. The right handed pitcher pitched six scoreless innings and struck out ten batters. The Orange Lutheran (CA) product was able to ramp up the velocity sitting 87-89 MPH with his fastball, while his curveball sits between 68-72 MPH. The 2023 University of Texas commit has a sharp and slow curve that keeps batters off balance with the 20 MPH difference between the fastball and the curve. Miranda fills up the zone and is comfortable to throw any pitch in his arsenal at any point in the at bat. The delivery is very relaxed and as he goes through his wind up his arm action is quick coming through the zone. He is an imposing pitcher on the mound with an effortless delivery, making him a legit dude.

–Will Bonn, Five Tool California

9) Matteo Ashby-Miles, Old Skool Baseball:

Old Skool Baseball’s Matteo Ashby-Miles impressed at the plate during the game I caught this weekend. The right hander went 2-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Ashby-Miles has smooth bat control and moves it quite a bit in his load up. The 2023 uncommitted product out of Del Oro (CA) is athletic at the plate and has quick hats that go to the ball easily to draw contact. His swing is perfect for producing base hits consistently, and that is exactly what he did in this one. Ashby-Miles is a guy that you can feel comfortable with at the top of your order and was setting it p for the rest of his lineup all weekend.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

10) Ethen Rowland, NC Valley Baseball:

I caught an impressive outing on the hill from NC Valley Baseball’s Ethen Rowland in this weekends event. The 2023 uncommitted right hander from Thomas Downey (CA) went five scoreless innings while striking out six batters. Downey was getting ahead in counts for just about every batter using his running fastball. That allowed him to turn to his big curveball, which featured a huge drop and velocity change that got hitters knees to buckle. His mechanics were very balanced and they were getting the job done for him in this one. It was as clean of an outing as it gets for Downey and he should be watched as he goes on.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

11) Noah Sims, SoCal bandits:

Noah Sims of SoCal Bandits was on cruise control in one of his outings in his event this weekend. The right hander went four scoreless innings while racking up eight strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Sims mixed up his pitches a lot and it was resulting in a whole lot of swings and misses. Hs repertoire of quality pitches for a guy at his stage was very impressive. The 2025 uncommitted dude from La Salle (CA) flashed a changeup that was maybe his most impressive pitch as it fell off a cliff late. Sims found himself circling the mound quite a bit in this one and the confidence only seemed to grow as the outing went on.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

12) Luke Leggitt, NC Valley Baseball:

Another pitcher from NC Valley Baseball that showed out this weekend was Luke Leggitt. He went six shutout innings and struck out eight batters while allowing just one hit in the outing that I saw. The 2024 uncommitted right hander from Lodi (CA) keeps his balance over his front leg extremely well, which helped him snap off breaking balls and locate them where he needed to. His fastball has some late run to it and he kept it in the lower part of the zone, getting weak hits if the hitters were lucky enough to hit it at all. Leggitt had advanced mechanics and was pin pointing his spots, which is always beautiful to see on the mound.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

13) Brock Wirthgen, CBA Bears:

CBA Bears’ Brock Wirthgen flashed legit stuff on the bump this weekend in his event. The 2023 uncommitted dude from Orange Lutheran (CA) showed a fastball that sat 82-83 MPH and hit 85 MPH that was setting hitters up perfectly for his secondary pitches. Wirthgen went with a 71-72 MPH slider for his breaking ball and it had a devastating break on it, making it the perfect out pitch. On top of that, he used a 71-73 MPH changeup a little bit to keep hitters honest. The big right hander worked from the stretch the whole game and his mechanics out of the position were impressive. All three of his pitches were impressive, which is always a good sign for a starter going forward.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

14) Tyler Tellenbach, AMG Elite:

It would be nearly impossible to contribute to a win more than AMG Elite’s Tyler Tellenbach did this weekend for his club. On the mound, the right hander went six scoreless innings and racked up six strikeouts. The 2024 uncommitted dude out of Palos Verdes (CA) also went 2-3 with a single, a double, a walk, and an RBI at the plate. On the mound, Tellenbach falls towards first base a bit to create some momentum and he was able to locate his pitches while doing it. The curveball looked the most impressive, as it was thrown hard and had a sharp downward break to it. A two way stud like this deserves attention and Tellenbach will get just that if he continues to perform like this.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

15) Logan Brady, CBA Bears:

Another pitcher from CBA Bears that looked dominant this weekend was Logan Brady. Brady through a no hitter through five innings and struck out eight batters. Even as his team was pouring it on, he kept sharp and stayed in cruise control. The feel that this 2023 uncommitted dude out of Pacifica (CA) had for his curveball was awfully impressive, as he used it a ton and in any count he was in. The usage of his curve like that made his fastball seem even harder, especially when he would locate it up in the zone. Brady was absolutely incredible on the mound when I saw him and it will be fun to watch him grow.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California

16) Joaquin Salcedo, Piranhas Baseball 2023:

Piranhas Baseball 2023’s Joaquin Salcedo was churning out hits like it was nothing when I saw him playing this weekend. In one of his games, the big right handed bat went 3-3 with two singles and a three run double. Salcedo keeps his hands high as he loads before slowly bringing them down as his lower body gets ready to go. The 2024 uncommitted stud out of Arroyo (CA) has a powerful swing but combines it with impressive bat to ball skills, which always makes you a threat at the plate. This is a bat that should continue to produce in a big way as he goes on.

–Grant Carver, Five Tool California.