2026 Bakersfield Summer ID: Quick Hits

September 15, 2026
Steven Hardesty
Assistant Director

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BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. - This past Saturday, September 12th, the Prep Baseball California team hosted the Bakersfield Summer ID at West High School in Bakersfield, Cal. This was an open event for all high school classes (2027-2030), and gave our staff an ample look at some of that area's and surrounding areas' top players.

Around 20 players made their way to West High School and participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball California staff. For a closer look at the showcase details and the technologies we had on-site to assist our in-person evaluation for all in attendance, click here.

To start the day, all position players in attendance were electronically measured for height, weighed in, and recorded grip strength readings. From there, they ran a 60-yard sprint, with all split times being gathered using VALD Technologies' laser timing system. Upon completion of the athletic and body testing portion of the day, the players went into offensive evaluations with multiple rounds of batting practice, where TrackMan Technologies and Blast Motion swing trackers were in use to gather batted ball and swing data on players in attendance, in addition under going Vizual Edge testing and VALD Jump testing. This was then followed by defensive evaluations at their primary and secondary position (OF, C, SS, 1B), with arm strength being measured via a Stalker Radar gun and skill evaluations by our staff on hand. Once the batting practice portion of the event was completed, we shifted into the pitching portion of the day with pitchers throwing bullpens from the main mound with TrackMan Technologies running to gather pitch data.

Today, we will be looking at some of the top overall performers from the event, found below. For all of the event information, please click here.

BAKERSFIELD SUMMER ID: STANDOUT PERFORMERS

Logan Miller LHP / OF / Centennial High, CA / 2027

Our first look at Logan Miller came back in January of 2025 when he attended the Central California Preseason ID and showed the makings of a potentially strong across-the-board profile. Now, about 20 months later, he returned to show off his improvements since that initial look; it was an impressive display for Miller. He was amongst the leaders in several categories on both the position player side and pitching side with real potential to either pitch at the next level or provide an impact LH hitting profile from the OF. Miller displayed sound athleticism and arm strength to handle all three OF positions, including an 85 MPH OF velocity with accuracy. At the plate, his lofted LH swing produced consistent ball-in-the-air contact to the pull side, launching five homers over two rounds, with several being no-doubt blasts off the bat, including one that traveled to the top of a large tree in RCF. Miller gets to his power with relative ease, uncorking a swing with hand quickness, bat speed, and torque. As good as what Miller did at the plate and in the OF was, his bullpen session was amongst the most impressive, running his FB in the mid to upper 80's and peaking at 89 with carry through the zone, averaging over 2200 RPMs of spin on the offering. He backed it up with a quality sweeper in the low 70's flashing whiff potential and the feel for a mid-to-upper 70s CHG that he efficiently kills spin on. The operation is athletic, with repeatability of the motion and arm stroke that should give him the potential to start at the next level should he focus on pitching long term. An uncommitted 2027 Miller should quickly make his way onto the boards of college programs hunting for strong profile players to impact their program.

Zach Powelson RHP / RHP / Riverside Preparatory, CA / 2027

Powelson made the drive out to Bakersfield from the High Desert, but his trip was well worth it as the top arm in attendance, with a mixture of an easy operation, smooth, quick arm speed, strong present stuff, and the makings of a future next-level starter arm. Powelson lived in the upper 80s on his FB with an easy carryout of the hand that peaked at 90 MPH while averaging just a tick under 2400 RPMs of spin on the offering that has the shape and life to miss bats. He spun a low 70's SLD which he throws as an intended sweeper which has two plane shape with life late that can be a swing and miss spin offering. His CHG is a strong present pitch which executes with confidence out of the hand, showing late action to separate vertically off the FB shape while fading to the arm side. His three-pitch mix all show present ability with polish that can bring them to another level as he continues to mature. Uncommitted at present, this is an arm who needs to quickly become one that college programs are keeping tabs on going forward for their 2027 class.

Logan Ishida OF / OF / Centennial High, CA / 2027

Ishida was another Bakersfield product who we first got a look at during the 2025 Central California Preseason ID and now 20ish months later has come back to show what has the makings of an impact LH bat who can provide sound defense across the three OF positions or potentially at 1B. He ran a 7.1 60 on what was a wetter, slower track with longer OF grass that, likely on a drier surface or shorter grass track, would have been in the 6.9 range, maybe lower, to give him CF-potential athleticism. He relies on sound pure arm strength (84 MPH OF velocity) and accuracy that he keeps online around each bag during all his throws. At the plate was where Ishida took another step forward, unleashing an athletic swing with intent and leverage from straightaway CF to the RF foul line to blast HRs and line drive contact. Ishida's batted ball data was the most explosive and maybe the most consistent of any bat during the batting practice session. He reached over 101 MPH on his max EV while averaging nearly 95 MPH on all his batted balls with a 390 max distance. The underlying data gets even more interesting with a 73% sweet spot and 73% hard-hit rate, showing present feel for hard contact at the right angles to do damage. Another uncommitted 2027 out of the Bakersfield area who should be finding his way onto the board of college programs.

Ryan Birks SS / 2B / Frontier High, CA / 2027

Birks was in attendance at the 2025 Bakersfield Fall ID held at Cal State Bakersfield, where the switch-hitting MINF product showed plenty of interesting ability, but after a spring where he spent time on the mound for his Frontier High School program, he now adds an intriguing two-way evaluation for colleges. Birks has improved his athleticism, running a 6.8 60 on what was a slower track than normal, giving plenty of reason to believe he could run even better on a more conducive surface. At the plate, there is fluidity to both swings for Birks, with sound contact from the RH side to combat LH pitching, but his LH swing shows not only fluidity, but sneaky good pop for his size to drive the ball with authority in the air. His peak EV of nearly 96 MPH came from the LH side on a 350+ foot HR to straightaway RF; across both sides of the plate, he averaged nearly 86 MPH of EV with a nearly 80% sweet spot rate, putting the ball in the air at quality angles from each side of the plate, showing his hitting potential. Defensively, he is a clean mover with sure hands, rhythm to his footwork, and an accurate low-80s-range arm that profiles soundly at 2B with some flashes of potential for SS. Birks, for good measure, demonstrated interesting upside as a RHP with a consistent mid-80s-range FB that peaks at 85.5 MPH, with potentially more in the tank on a day he is solely focused on pitching, with an athletic operation and present quickness to the arm speed. He showed feel for a trio of offspeed offerings, including a pair of sound breaking balls, with his SLD showing the best whiff profile and the makings of a quality mid-70s CHG, which he throws with confidence. Another uncommitted 2027 out of Bakersfield who should begin to attract attention from colleges based on their preferences for his solid overall two-way profile.

Kayden King C / RHP / Liberty High, CA / 2029

King was one of a few underclassmen in attendance at what was predominantly an upperclassmen-based event, but the rising sophomore at the defending CIF-Central Section D1 champion Liberty opened my eyes pretty quickly. King is soundly built at a present 6' 167 lbs., with broader shoulders and room to fill strength as he matures, but add in the intriguing athleticism he showed off during the testing portion of the day, there is plenty to love about his upside, including a 7.2 range 60 on a slower track; add in a 27" max vertical, and there is explosiveness in his toolset. During batting practice, that upside potential showed up in his batted ball data, peaking just under 80 MPH, but living in the range consistently while nearly half his contact went in the sweet spot range. His defensive profile is strong at present, with natural feel for his receiving, handling older, more advanced arms effectively while showing a solid present arm with a 2.05 pop time and 74 MPH catcher velocity. While there is still some rawness to his game as anticipated for a sophomore, his solid present profile has upside in it and, as he continues to mature across the board, is going to be a name to follow closely from the Bakersfield area.

Names of Note:

With an excellent crop of talent in attendance, these five players showed toolsets of note, beyond the five players above.

+ '28 INF/RHP Bryson Lewis - Bakersfield Christian High School

+ '27 3B Elijah Alvarez - Sultana High School

+ '28 3B Nathan Valencia - Ridgeview High School

+ '29 RHP Joshua Rodriguez - Clovis North High School

+ '28 RHP/INF Jared Orosco - Highland High School (Bakersfield)