Prep Baseball Report

GHSA Week 1 Scout Blog


PBR Georgia Staff

The Georgia Scout Blog provides insider information and scouting notes from the PBR Scouting Staff during the season. This running blog will feature information on underclass prospects, unsigned seniors, draft prospects, and anything else that is notable. We will provide a wide range of information, including player evaluations, velocities, pop times, home to first times, and more. Simply put, the Georgia Scout Blog is loaded with information …

St. Francis v Holy Innocents (2.11.20)

Harry Cain, RHP, Saint Francis, 2021
Uncommitted arm who will surely get some attention as the spring and summer progress. 6-foot-5, 215 pounds; long limbed. Arm action is very short, but has explosive action. Short stride for size. Fastball has some sink to it at 85-87, touching 88. Had three innings of scoreless pitching for the Knights in his start. CB had multiple swing and misses at 72-75; currently a loose 12/6 pitch, but showed more bite when at the knees and below. A very interesting arm with a lot of upside to work with.


Blessed Trinity v Cambridge (2.12.20)


Dominick Marcoccio, RHP, Blessed Trinity, 2020
Wofford commit. 6-foot-5 230-pounds, lanky, athletic frame right-handed pitcher. First start in his high school career. Went 3.1 innings, striking out five, one walk, two hits, and zero earned runs. Fastball sat 88 for the first two innings, popped a 91 in the second inning. He threw the slider early and often. Had the ability to throw it for strikes any time in the count. He did a great job tunneling his slider with the fastball especially when he was ahead in the count. Slider was 74-76 with tight spin. Clean, effortless delivery with a really strong lower half. He really gets down the mound on the slider. He had it back up on him a few times, but was able to make an adjustment right away. Looked comfortable from the wind-up even though he has been used to relieving. Velo did not drop when he was in the stretch and working with the slide step with runners on base. Expect him to have high strikeout numbers this spring with his ability to pound the zone and throw the slider in any count with sharp break.


Jake Lankie, RHP, Blessed Trinity, 2023
Georgia commit. 6-foot 145-pounds, lanky, athletic frame with a clean arm action.The freshman came in to close the game out for the Titans. He looks extremely confident and composed on the mound. Very mature for his age, the moment did not seem to bother him at all. Lankie has a really clean and effortless delivery that projects more velocity to come. His slider is good, but will only get better with time.  His delivery looks much cleaner than when we saw him in August. Fastball was 83-86 with good movement, stayed down in the zone and dominated the lower-half. Used the slider as his out pitch, and threw it off his fastball. 


Evan Bilson, SS, Blessed Trinity, 2021
Uncommitted. 5- foot-7 155-pounds. Short, quick twitch, athletic frame. Could play anywhere on the field. A tough out in the box supplied the offense early with a couple gritty at bats. Has a really good idea of the strikes zone, and does not try to do too much, especially with 2 strikes.Good runner, a threat on the bases. Ideal top of the order candidate.  

Aiden McSherry, RHP, Blessed Trinity, 2020
6-foot-5 200-pounds. Large, lanky frame has shown major improvement from the fall. He has really cleaned up the delivery, and seems to be throwing more strikes because of it. The fastball was 86-87 with really good life. He gets down the mound strong, and gets really good extension. He was first out of the pen in a close game. He walked the first two, but settled in after that with two big strikeouts. The breaking ball has good depth, and he is throwing it much more consistently for strikes. Expect McSherry to be off the board soon. He has had a great start to the season. 

Casey Young, RHP, Cambridge, 2020 
Gardner-Webb commit. 6-foot 195-pounds. Fastball was up from the fall. Topped out at 87. Settled in at 83-85. Throws a heavy ball with arm side run. Curveball was sharp at 70-71. Once he found his rhythm he looked really strong. Has a really strong base, and stays in his lower-half throughout the delivery. He stayed composed despite some errors on defense. 


Paulding County v Chapel Hill (2.12.20)

Colin Hynek, 1B, Paulding County, 2021
6-foot-1 190-pounds. Long, lanky frame can move really well. Smooth swing with really good rhythm and timing. Slight hitch in the load, but can make up for it with bat speed. Long strided runner looks really athletic over at first base. Looks like he could play in the OF as well.  Anxious to see how he is progresses throughout the season. 


Mason Tanner, SS/RHP, Paulding County, 2021
5-foot-10 165-pounds. Athletic two-way player. Starting on the mound for Paulding County then moved to SS. Fastball 80-82. He works out of the stretch, and still stays on his back-side really well. Really easy, fluid motion that allows him to throw strikes. Stayed down in the zone, and had a good CB when he got on top of it. Some arm side run when he works down. Went 3.1 innings, and gave Paulding the win. 

Pope v River Ridge (2.12.20)

James Tibbs, OF, Pope, 2021

Florida State commit. The 6-foot, 185 pound left-hander went 1-3 in the game, but still showed plenty of the skills that make him a top-15 player in the state. Tibbs got his money’s worth at the plate, at times to a fault. A bad ball hitter, Tibbs showed very quick hands and looked to hit mistake pitches up in the zone. Tibbs had competitive at-bats, making for tough outs. Tibbs will be one to follow this spring and next for the Greyhounds.


Reid Robertson, LHP, Pope, 2020
Dallas Baptist recruit. Had an impressive outing for the Greyhounds, going 4 IP, 5 H, striking out 6, walking 0, and giving up 1 ER. Clean, quick arm from a ¾ slot. Showed well with secondary pitches, ones that Robertson has immensely improved on since the last time we saw him. FB sat 83-86 with ASR, CB had 12/6 shap at 72-74 and was located well. Changeup was the tone-setter with deceptive sink at 75-77. The most impressive part of Robertson was the ability to repeat delivery, and locate all pitches low-in-zone.

Danny Crabtree, RHP, Pope, 2020
Cleveland State CC recruit. 6-foot-1, 170 pounds. Crabtree got the win on the mound, going 3 IP, 1 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 R. Nice job of pounding the zone and challenging hitter all night. FB sat 82-83, mostly straight. Curveball came from a slightly decelerated arm, but threw it in all counts, with confidence; 68-73 with loopy break. Showed changeup to left-handed hitters at 77; pulled the string a couple times get chases out of the zone.
Kobe Braddock, 3B, River Ridge, 2020
Uncommitted. 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with a proportionally strong build. Advanced bat-to-ball skills. Had a standout game with two hits, including a triple. Calm stance with quiet rhythm. Level swing and stays on line. Good athleticism at third base. Showed off ability by snatching a line drive ona jumping for.
Marietta v Campbell (2.12.20)


Carlson Reed, RHP, Marrieta, 2020

West Virginia commit. 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-handed pitcher, broad shoulders, strength throughout the frame, especially in the lower half, advanced development in legs. Arm works long on the back-side, accelerates quickly out front to an over-the-top slot, finishes strong through release. Fastball sat 87-90 with life. Slider played at 73-76, more downward action that sweeping life, did get additional lateral movement when throwing glove-side, showed good shape, lacked late bite to induce swing and misses but there was enough to generate weak contact, especially when thrown away. Has a starters build and the stuff will only get better the further into the spring he gets. Went 3.0 IP, allowed 3H, 2R, struck out 6, walked none.


Michael Braswell, RHP/SS, Campbell, 2021
South Carolina commit. 6-foot, 165-pound two-way prospect, lanky, athletic build, much more to come as he continues to fill out. Arm action is long and clean on the back-side to a ¾ slot, quick arm speed, some effort in delivery. Really rears back in his delivery, gets his shoulders uphill and then drives front-side down through release, falling off towards first base. aggressive intent with three pitch arsenal. Fastball sat 85-87, touched 88 and 89, late armside life, ran the ball under right-handed hitters regularly. Changeup, maintains arm speed and creates deception off his fastball, has heavy fade and sink to it, swing and miss type pitch, may be one of the best in his class. Curveball, 11/5 shape, 72-74 depth, sharp action as it drops. Really good feel for offspeed, is able to maintain arm speed and slot which disrupts the batter and allows for little time to pick up the pitch. Went 3.0 IP, allowed 2H, 1BB, and struck out 7, struck out the first five batters of the game and six of the first seven. At the plate, he sets up in a crouching stance, loads all of his weight onto his back-side, transfers weight well and is in-sync by the time his stride foot lands. Very quick hands have strength and allow for him to whip the barrel through and gain extension. Collected two hits in the game.
Andrew Herrmann, LHP, Campbell, 2021
Wofford commit. 6-foot-3, 190-pound left-handed pitcher, long, lanky frame, really starting to fill out in all areas, looked to be in mid-season form, commanding three pitches.  Arm works long to a high ¾ slot, does a very good job of hiding the ball on the back-side, strong front-side. Fastball sat 82-85 with armside run and sinking action. Curveball, 11/5 shape, controlled the zone with. Changeup, 75-76, sinking action. Garnered swing and misses with all three pitches. Entered the game in a high pressure situation and appeared to thrive off it. With men on first and third with no outs, he came in and struck out three straight batters. Went 3.1 IP, allowed 1H, 1BB, 1HBP, and struck out 8.


Flowery Branch v Lanier (2.12.20)

Zander Sechrist, LHP, Flowery Branch, 2020
Tennessee commit. 6-foot-2, 165-pound left-handed pitcher, lean, but strong athletic proportional build narrow slightly slopes shoulders. Works out of a ¾ slot with quick, loose arm action.FB 84-87 avg command of two-seam quick AS life. Commanded four seam, down angle, direct. Uses on both on both sides of plate CB 73-76, commanded, has true CB depth, also shows SL character. Sechrist showed an advanced feel for pitching using both sides the plate with both the CB and the FB.  He used a two seam FB w/quick arm side life & 4 seem very direct down angle FB. The breaking ball had true CB depth as well as SL character. He pitched aggressively to both sides the plate throwing both theFB&CB backdoor and under a Righties hands in any count. He showed great tempo while dealing up 5 shutout innings and only 1hit. He’s not ready to go out right now, velo is light and so is the body, but the key components are firmly in place. Tennessee is getting a strong competitor.


Andrew Armstrong, LHP, Flowery Branch, 2020
Florida State commit. 6-foot-2, 150-pound left-handed pitcher, lean, lanky frame, athletically built.  FB sat 85-89, stiff front leg and arm recoil led to scattering the FB.  CB came in at 75-76 with SL character. Armstrong worked 1inn of shutout, 0 hit baseball for Flowery Branch, using a quick FB with sinking life combined with a more slider character, sweepy CB to make quick work of the final inning of the game against Lanier HS. He shows a quick high leg kick with a long low 3/4 angle slot to keep hitters uncomfortable in the box. His two pitch mix is effective, FB is scattered mostly but can throw strikes, better feel for the CB. Should be tough on left hand hitters future bullpen
Zachary Murray, RHP, Lanier, 2020
LSU commit. 6-foot, 165-pound right-handed pitcher, long frame with proportional strength. Works out of a high ¾ slot. FB sat 84-90 with a curveball that came in at 74-77 and a an advanced changeup at 76. FB has good down angle with running sink, lacks command. CB has SL character, command inconsistent.  CH has plus deception off the FB with the same sinking character, only threw twice but both for strikes. Got in trouble almost every inning w/BB. Showed toughness pitching out of a one out, runners on second and third in the first inning. Combination of BB and errors are what hurt Murray, both drove his pitch count up and he ran out of gas in the third, even though they left him for 4.2 IP. This guy's best days are still in front of him.  College before pro and he may have a chance, has to learn to command the big time movement of the FB. The sinking life deception combination on the FB/CH are plenty to put him in starter category. 


Harrison v Lambert (2.12.20)

Brian Drakeford, RHP, Harrison, 2020 
Tusculum commit. 5-foot-11 175-pounds. Drakeford looks like he has worked hard since the fall. The fastball was up to 88 in the first inning. Very athletic arm with good life and run on the fastball. Stays down in the zone, and attacked with the FB early. Once he went through the line-up he started using the SL more and added on more strikeouts. He had 5 strikeouts in a row at one point. SL was 72-75, kept hitters guessing with it. Could bury it or flip it over for a strike when needed. Mixed in the change-up a few times at 77-78. Tusculum is getting a good one in Drakeford. 


John Armstrong, RHP/3B, Harrison, 2020
Auburn commit. 6-foot 180-pounds. Possible two-way player in college. Was at the top of the order for Harrison and played 3B. Really solid in the field. Clean arm action and footwork at third. Can flip it from different arm angles. On the mound he stays in the sidearm slot, but can throw it from over the top as well. The fastball sat 85-88 was up to 89 with a heavy run and sink. from the side slot, got up to 91 when he went up top. Slider is frisbee like. Starts at a RHH hitter and ends up in the zone. Dominated the inner third of the plate on RHH’s, very tough pitch for them to hit. 


Braden Bamburowski, LHP, Lambert, 2021
Uncommitted 6-foot-3 180-pounds.  Well built, lanky frame that shows athleticism in the delivery. Really smooth and effortless delivery. Comes off the back-side a little early, but still shows good follow through. Fastball was up to 85 in the first. Played at 80-83 the rest of the game. Showed a good 3-pitch mix. Went to the CH later in the game, and showed good downward action. CB was 69-71, and CH was a little firm at 76-77. There is definitely something there with the 6-3 frame. The velocity will come, he will be a good follow this spring. 


Cartersville v Etowah (2.13.20)

Micah Earwood, RHP, Cartersville, 2021
Uncommitted. 6-foot-3, 175-pound right-handed pitcher, long, lanky frame, has the build to be able to add significant mass and strength to his presently lean frame. Arm action is long to a low ¾ slot. Fastball sat 82-84, touched 85, 86, armside run action due to action and slot. Changeup 77, some heavy sink action, created swing and misses as it dropped off the table. Curveball, 70-72. An interesting prospect given how much filling out his frame still has left to do.