Rising Stars Games ID Scouting Reports: Outfielders

Follow @PBRCaliforniaFollow @LesLukachFollow@Clemmens_PBRFollow @Jacked_23Follow @JoeyCohen20

New Episode LIVE now! - At The Yard Podcast

ORANGE, CALIF. - The Rising Stars Games ID showcase came through SoCal with a stop at spacious and scenic Hart Park in Orange, home of the 2019 DIII National Champion Chapman Panthers and Orange Lutheran baseball teams. For many players it was an introduction to what PBR California is all about, which of course is baseball. With the 2025 class about to start their first year of high school, it was a great introduction to modern baseball with TrackMan and Blast Motion technology on hand. 

CLICK HERE FOR SORTABLE PLAYER STATISTICS INCLUDING TRACKMAN AND BLAST MOTION DATA

Outfielders 

Cameron Birmingham, Aquinas (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: 2B/C
Body: 5-8, 170-pounds. Sturdy frame. Strong lower half. Room to fill out in shoulders.
Hit: RHH. Feet are shoulder-width apart and he has a slight bend in his knees. Real balanced base. Hands are up around his ear and sets up with a flat bat.  Load is quick and hands and feet work in sync. Pushes his hands back a bit creating a bit of bat tilt and then fires a real whippy barrel. With a peak hand speed of 25.2 he is already above average for his level.
Power: 91.00 max exit velocity. Single and double type power. Hits a lot of line drives and ground balls. 66% of his round was groundballs during batting practice. Power numbers will rise as strength does.
Arm: RH. OF - 78.00 mph. Short whippy arm action. Throws from the ear. Arm strength can increase if arm action gets cleaned up.
Defense: Moved well laterally and fielded balls smoothly to both sides. Stayed low to the ground when approaching the baseball and gained good ground through the ball on his throws.
Run: 7.93 runner in the 60. 

 

Jake Funderburg, Cathedral Catholic (CA), 2025
Positional Profile: 2B/SS
Body: 5-9, 145-pounds. Size potential, plenty of time and room to develop, showed some speed.
Hit: RHH. Even in the box, leans over front side, leg kick load to hitting position, two-hand finish. Blast Motion scores 50/45/47. Average to slightly above across the board at this class is a good indication of current and future hitting potential.
Power: 82.00 max exit velocity
Arm: RH. OF - 73.00 mph. Arm worked from a medium arm swing, inconsistent release point, 4/5 accuracy on throws.
Defense: Positioned himself well, choppy footwork around the ball, fast in the gaps and to the ball.
Run: 7.28 runner in the 60. 

 

Justin Heffler, St. Augustine (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: 1B/OF
Body: 5-11, 165-pounds. Long, lean, athletic frame. Room to pack on strength.
Hit: RHH. Wide and just slightly open stance. Balanced base with his hands held right around his back shoulder. Real relaxed, limited movements.  Quick and medium size leg kick, as he transfers his weight onto his backwide well. Has a quick hitch in his hands as he loads and then fires his quick hands. With a max exit velocity of 97 mph, it shows the potential of developing into a big power threat
Power: 97.00 max exit velocity
Arm: RH. INF - 79.00 mph. OF - 81.00 mph. Short over the top arm action. Arm can stick on the left side of the infield. Showed accuracy from other arm angles. OF- Arm action gets a bit longer from the outfield.
Defense: IF- Good lateral movement. Quiet, fluid footwork. Funnels ball to hand well and gets rid of it quickly. OF- Stays low to the ground and gains good power from his legs when working through groundballs and throws.
Run: 7.46 runner in the 60. 

 

London Hudson, JSerra (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: OF/RHP
Body: 6-0, 170-pounds. Slender build with present athleticism. Longer limbs. Some projectability is there in the frame.
Hit: RHH. Is slightly open with his feet and hips in stance. Closes his hips back up with some internal rotation in his load. Hands stay tight to his body throughout the load as he uses a pretty small foward move. Pretty direct approach to the ball that is steep-on plane. Let the ball get deep and let his hands play inside the ball. Used the middle of the field throughout his round. 
Power: 89.00 max exit velocity
Arm: RH. C - 66.00 mph. INF - 64.00 mph. OF - 69.00 mph. Below average arm. From the outfield all throws were accurate 1/2 hops. Throwdowns he was 3/5 accurate and throws were more higher arcing that came down toward the bag.
Defense: OF: Showed a solid approach to the ball. Attacks it with decent momentum. Needed extra steps to set up crowhop. 1B: Average actions in terms of feet and glove skills. Solid fundamentals around the bag when receiving throws. C:Decent footwork. Gains ground towards second. Average in quickness in getting to release.
Run: 7.65 runner in the 60. 

 

Dal Jones, Orange Lutheran (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: 1B/LHP
Body: 5-7, 160-pounds. Average build with some present strength in his legs.
Hit: RHH. Hands are tight to his body in stance and work back as he uses his toe tap trigger. Let the ball get deep throughout his BP round which made him work inside the baseball and resulted in many oppo batted balls. Direct and steep path to the ball which resulted in 5/9 batted balls being GBs. 
Power: 85.00 max exit velocity. Current singles hitter. Timing to where he catches the ball more out in front combined with bat speed increases should result in better post-impact power results.
Arm: RH. OF - 74.00 mph. Higher arcing throws that came out of a shorter elbow release. 4/5 accurate during the defensive workout.
Defense: Average defensive actions. Fielded balls on his back leg. Fields it clean and transitions into crow hop cleanly.
Run: 7.81 runner in the 60. 

 

Daniel Morge, Thousand Oaks (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: 2B/OF
Body: 6-2, 175-pounds. Long, lean frame with room to add mass.
Hit: LHH. Sets up open with some slight bend in the knees and holds his hands high behind his ear.  Gets his foot down early and his hands drop down into a loaded position with a bit more of an upward swing creating some lift. Once he gets his foot down there is a lot of movement going on and the head level changes right before he starts his swing. Above average on plane efficiency of 65% showing ability to keep his barrel level and in the zone for as long as possible.
Power: 88.00 max exit velocity
Arm: LH. INF - 77.00 mph. OF - 80.00 mph. Whippy arm action with consistent accuracy from 1B and the OF.  Slightly 3/4 arm slot with some cross body arm action.
Defense: 1B- Good fundamental fielding mechanics. Fields ball with two hands and transfers close to his body. Footwork looked natural around the bag and has good reach when receiving throws.
Run: 8.05 runner in the 60. 

 

Owen Smyth, Cathedral Catholic (CA), 2025
Positional Profile: 2B/SS
Body: 5-11, 175-pounds. Medium build with a sturdy base and proportional limbs.
Hit: LHH. Neutral stance, some hand movement even with the head before the bat slots in. Leg kick triggers the load.  Hands work upward through the ball creating some loft. Barrel can lag at times when hands are late getting loaded.
Power: 84.00 max exit velocity
Arm: LH. INF - 68.00 mph. OF - 73.00 mph. Short arm action at 1B that stays tight to his body. Quality transfer/throw skills.
Defense: Showed the ability to move laterally to both sides. Fielded balls well during a challenging round in the defensive workout.
Run: 8.75 runner in the 60. 

 

Austin Torres, Polytechnic (CA), 2024
Positional Profile: SS/OF
Body: 6-0, 160-pounds. Long and lean build. A projectable frame that should add strength and athleticism as he continues to develop in HS.
Hit: RHH. Open in stance with bat rested at his shoulder. His front leg swings into his backside where he gets some internal rotation. Bat worked on a more steep path toward the baseball. Inconsistent post impact results as he was able to barrel LD's up in the middle at times but also got caught being just a bit too steep and late which resulted in flared popups to the right side. 
Power: 82.00 max exit velocity. Current singles hitter. Blast metrics show room for improvement in all segments. Changes in swing path and point of contact should help as well.
Arm: RH. OF - 80.00 mph. Shorter arm action. Lower lining throws. 4/5 accurate one hops.
Defense: Aggressive approach to the ball. Attacks the ball with decent momentum. Average glove skills and exchanges. Doesn't need extra steps to get off crow hop.
Run: 8.25 runner in the 60. 

 

Isaiah Walz, Yucaipa (CA), 2023
Positional Profile: 2B/SS
Body: 5-9, 140-pounds. Athletic build, speedy actions, looks the part of a middle-infielder.
Hit: RHH. Wide in the box, hands held high, two-hand finish. Quick actions overall with some present natural strength in his swing.  Blast Motion scores 38/48/37 show his swing alignment to bet his best swing indicator. Getting his bat to stay on plane through the zone longer biggest area in need of improvement.
Power: 90.00 max exit velocity
Arm: RH. INF - 81.00 mph. OF - 85.00 mph. Arm showed well from both the infield and outfield with velocity readings indicating such. Did a good job keeping his throws low from the outfield and utilizing the long-hop or no-hop approach, helping him going 5/5 on target throws. Quick arm action from the infield showing helped play up his arm and give him a chance to stay on the left side.
Defense: Positioned himself well both in the infield and outfield. Showed intent and that he had a plan with each ball hit his well. Sure handed.
Run: 6.66 runner in the 60. 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
2021 PBR Future Games (California Invite)	CA	07/28	LakePoint Sports
PBR Junior Future Games	NATIONAL	07/28	LakePoint Sports
PBR West Coast Games (California Invite)	CA	08/13	UNLV & College of Southern Nevada
Northern California Academic Games	CA	10/16	Menlo College

RELATED TOPICS