Orange County Roundup

With the season quickly approaching the midway point it was time to circle back and check in on some of the top prospects in the Orange County area. Last week I took in three games last week that featured some of the top teams and players in Orange County giving me the opportunity to lay eyes on numerous committed and uncommitted players for a second, third, and in some cases, a fourth time this spring. Several commits headed to schools in the Pac-12, ACC, Big West, and Mountain West were on display. More than a few are featured in my scouting reports below, along with some extremely capable uncommitted players.

On Tuesday, Orange Lutheran travelled to St. John Bosco to take on the Braves in the first of a three-game series.   It was a big third inning propelled the Lancers to victory in this contest. The offense was led by Garrett Frechette, Chad Born, and Evan Adolphus, who all drove in runs in the frame; Frechette tripled, Born doubled. One of the top uncommitted 2020 pitchers,Christian Rodriguez of Orange Lutheran, picked up the win with a complete game, three-hit, seven-strikeout performance. Left-handed pitcher,David Hays, a Nevada signee pitched well enough to win, but lacked the offensive support he was looking for. Hays posted seven-strikeouts with only five hits while walking three on one hundred pitches.

I then headed over to Mater Dei for the nightcap to complete my Trinity League double header for the day. Santa Margarita was in to take on the Monarchs to begin their three-game series. Mater Dei took advantage of the home field and got things moving in the right direction in the first inning, scoring off an error. From there it was the Monarchs offense and pitching led by 2019 RHP Hunter Cope (Arizona) who picked up the win in a six inning, three-hit, nine-strikeout performance. 2019 RHP Alex Schrier (Santa Barbara) lasted four innings allowing three-hits, and striking out four for the loss. 2022 RHP Matthew Porchas (Santa Margarita) showed well by pitching two strong innings of his own, striking out two. The No. 1 player in the PBR California 2022 player rankings, Alonzo Treadwell, led the Monarchs offense with two hits while Chase Nenad collected two hits for the Eagles.  

Wednesday I headed over to Orange Coast College where I saw Newport Harbor clash with Corona Del Mar in the annual “Battle of the Bay” for the first time with both teams a part of the grueling Sunset League.  The Sea Kings watched the game slip away early and couldn’t recover in a 12-3 loss to the Sailors. The Sailors racked up seventeen hits on the afternoon. John Olmstead, Clay Liolios, and Cameron Mahaffy led the charge for Newport Harbor, all collecting three-hits apiece. Mahaffy, a Cal Poly SLO signee, earned the win in the contest posting seven strikeouts, allowing seven hits on 97-pitches, over five innings. Reece Berger and Kieran Sidebotham each had multiple hits for CDM in the loss.

Let's take a look a closer look at notes/video on the players that stood out to me last week. 

2019 RHP Cameron Mahaffy the Cal-Poly SLO signee is a 6-foot 175-pound athletic pitcher/outfielder with modest-sized, strong, compact frame, with some physical projection remaining. All offerings come out of a standard three-quarter-arm slot, which adds to his deception. Displays clean arm action with a repeatable delivery. There is a hint of effort in the delivery, but has a solid feel for the craft and advanced pitchability that keeps him ahead of hitters.  There is some swing and miss on his secondary pitches, but his value lies on inducing ground balls and attacking the lower part of the strike zone. Mahaffy plays with the shape and velocity of his breaking stuff, which presents varying depths. In this viewing his fastball sat 84-87, topping 88. Also threw a get me over BP cutter registering between 80-83. Showed tremendous feel for his curveball, throwing it in any count for a strike with superb spin and shape at 67-71. Featured a slider with tilt at 73-76. Saw the changeup in between innings, but did not see one in the game, tells me that he doesn’t completely trust it, but it is developing currently.