Prep Baseball Report

Scout Blog: Buford vs Dacula


Justin Goetz
Assistant Scouting Director

Although we’ve seen our fair share of unbelievable games this year, Buford vs Dacula stands out in the Top 3 for best games. You had two extremely young teams loaded with talent, but lacking experience. I knew going into this game, that both of these teams were only at the floor of their eventual ceiling as far as success goes. Dacula manufactured a run early but it was a tight game the whole way. Buford broke the game open due to some timely hitting from the heart of their lineup in the 4th and 5th innings. It was 3-4 going into the 7th, and the Falcons worked the bases loaded. Then projectable ‘24 3B Marquise Blackman stepped up to the plate. He took a well spotted low and away pitch up the middle for 2 RBI’s to take the lead! Then “The Slurve King” Aryan Varani locked down the save in dramatic fashion. I truly can’t wait to watch these 2 teams play again this spring.

Buford

2025, CF, Cannon Goldin
Ole Miss Commit. 6-foot, 180 pounds. What a week it was for our No. 1 player in the 2025 class. First he led off with a blockbuster commitment to the Rebels, and he followed that up with hits in each of the 3 games he played (2 oppo hits vs 93, 87 mph). To be able to continue playing at a high level with a whirlwind of craziness that went with his new commitment is just another example of the top of scale makeup we’re working with here. Goldin’s loud tools are far from the only reason he’s our top guy in ‘25, it’s really the intangibles that separate him. The approach is extremely advanced+disciplined and he consistently hits the ball where it’s pitched. I rarely ever see him to an unnecessary risk at the plate, which is very common in HS hitters especially underclassmen. One often overlooked trait he has is elite reaction time, which is often just labeled as twitch. But there are many parts to that. You have to recognize the pitch type and location first, then decide when to catch the ball on the barrel, then react with the proper swing path in a split second. After that you add in the rare quick twitch fibers, elite swing mechanics & force in hands, and all of these traits together allow him to let the ball travel so deeply and pepper 93 mph FB’s with ease.

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