2018 North Georgia Summer Trials: Top Prospects

June 21, 2018
Blake Davis
State Director, Georgia

Prep Baseball Report Georgia hosted its first ever open event Tuesday at River Ridge High School with 30 prospects from the 2019 through 2022 classes in attendance. Today's coverage will focus on three top prospects from the event. McEachern High School 2019 outfielder Victor Scott showed impressive tools, while a pair of two-way prospects -- 2020 Rhett Hammontree from Dalton High School and Dalton Strickland from Loganville Christian -- both showed strong projection at the plate and on the bump. Excited to kick of our event coverage with these three talents. Keep an eye out for our class breakdowns that will follow in the coming days.

Victor Scott OF/LHP / McEachern, GA / 2019

Medium framed scat back-type athlete who ran an event-best 6.50 60-yard dash. Low center of gravity with good first step and easy strides. He shows a strong arm (85 mph) from the outfield with good carry. Arm-stroke is clean and offers projection. Definite center fielder at the next level. Offensively, he has a good stroke with bat-speed and shows feel for barrel. Ball jumps off bat and has sneaky pop (88 mph exit velo). Scott does not engage his front side as much as he could and can get uphill at times trying to do too much. As he gets to his front side more, power has a chance to surprise some people. Minor adjustments at the plate will pay big dividends to a swing that is already solid. Always fun to see impact speed at a premium position from a young man who does some good things with the bat in his hands.

Rhett Hammontree SS/RHP / Dalton, GA / 2020

6-foot, 155-pound right-handed hitter. Sets up straight away, with nice relaxed hand placement and good rhythm to his load. Path is direct to ball with a high finish. Flashes projectable pull side power. Swing produces a lot of hard line drive contact. Ran a 7.18 60-yard dash and posted 88 mph exit velocity. Moves well defensively, showing good body control and the ability to make throws from multiple angles. Logged 83 mph arm strength across the diamond. On the mound, he pitches out of a high three-quarter slot with a loose, easy arm action. Delivery is fairly low-effort, incorporating a shoulder turn and hip coil at the top. Lands slightly crossfire and finish can get a bit upright. Fastball sat 82-83 and he has more in the tank when he learns to get over the rubber instead of rolling past his balance point. Throws both a curveball and a slider with tight spin in the low-70s. They can blend together at times, with the curveball showing more depth at its best. Has a solid feel for a mid-70s change-up and he maintains armspeed on all of his secondary offerings. Was around the zone with all four pitches.

Dalton Strickland OF/RHP / Loganville Christian, GA / 2020

As a young rising junior, Strickland sports an excellent 6-foot-2 180-pound frame. At the plate, the right-handed hitter uses a straight away set-up with hands cocked in a position of strength. Swing is long and strong with plenty of leverage. Strickland tries to elevate the baseball and has a slight uppercut to his stroke. When he stays back and lets the ball travel he shows the ability to drive the ball into both gaps. Defensively he moves well in the outfield and is an easy, relaxed fielder of the baseball who shows projectable arm strength out of a high overhand slot. On the mound, he offers an athletic, on-line delivery with high leg kick and good direction to the plate. The fastball is mostly straight but offers good downhill angle. Curveball shows good shape and rotation out of his overhand arm slot. The change-up is his third pitch and shows promise when down in the zone. Athletic delivery with feel for three pitches that all come from the same window.

2018 North Georgia Summer Trials Analysis