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Baton Rouge Summer Open: Preview Story

June 19, 2023
Alex Armand
Louisiana Scouting Director

Baton Rouge, LA - On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, the PBR Louisiana staff will travel to Zachary High School, to host the Baton Rouge Summer Open.  This event is currently set to host over 25 players, that includes some familiar names, as well as fresh faces.  

 

EVENT HISTORY

The last time we were at Zachary High School was in January for our Baton Rouge Preseason ID event.  That event helped us identify prospects that had make significant jumps in their development, as well as new prospects, ahead of the 2023 high school baseball season.  Prospects such as 2025 MIF Brock Laird (Natchitoches Central HS) showed the gains that he made over the fall at January's event.  The Natchitoches Central product increased his max exit velocity by 3 mph, and also increased his arm strength by 2 mph.  2025 RHP Cade Durbin (Parkview Baptist HS) really shined on the mound at January's event, and it carried over to the spring, as he enjoyed a really nice sophomore campaign.  Durbin pounded his low 80's FB down in the zone, while also ripping off some really good CB's with advanced metrics that included spin rates up to 2783 RPM's.

2023 ROSTER

There's a handful of players headed to Zachary HS on Tuesday, who we've seen before, and are excited to get an up-to-date look at, as well as a couple of new faces.  Let's check out a couple of those players below.

+ 2025 UTIL Andrew Clapinski (Catholic BR HS)

Athletic 5'10" 180 lbs. frame; Clapinski was sort of a "swiss army knife" for the Bears this past spring, as he has played a variety of defensive positions over the course of his young career so far.  Whether its in the infield at second base or third base, in the corner outfield spots, or behind the dish; Clapinski is as reliable as they come on defense.  At the plate, he's got a really simple and repeatable swing with a gap to gap approach and high-level bat to ball skills.  Clapinski always seems to be on time and he always puts together really good at-bats against high-level arms.  We're excited to see the gains that he's made on Tuesday.

 

 

+ 2026 OF Cody Corales (Mandeville HS)

Athletic and wiry 5'10" 165 lbs. frame with plenty of room to add strength.  We had the opportunity to first see Corales at the Knights Knation Opening Weekend event in Mandeville, LA, where Corales impressed with the bat in the 2026 class Homerun Derby.  He starts in a narrow and upright stance before using a leg kick load and stride to get to center.  Corales uses quick hands to whip the barrel through the zone with a flat path and extension to match with a two-handed finish.  One of our national scouts also got to see his bat play in game at the National Program Invitational at Lakepoint, where he squared up a mid-80's heater for an opposite field ground rule double below.

+ 2025 RHP Aiden Melna (St. Frederick HS)

Durable and physical 5'10" 205 lbs. frame.  We first saw the St. Frederick HS product this past spring against district rival Ouachita Christian.  Melna operates off the first base side of the rubber throughout a very controlled and repeatable delivery with a shorter and compact arm stroke, releasing the ball from a 3/4 slot.  His control was hit or miss early on, but after the 2nd inning against the Eagles, he really settled in to give the Warriors a quality start on the night.  The FB sat 83-86 mph, topping out at 87 mph and he mixed in a 78-82 mph SL with short and tight break as a two strike swing and miss offering.  He's definitely an arm that we're anxious to see on Tuesday.

 

ITINERARY

Date: Tuesday June 20, 2023

Location: Zachary Youth Park (1650 Mount Pleasant - Zachary Rd. Zachary, LA 70791)

Check-In Time (Position Players & Two-Way Players): 12:45 PM

Check-In Time (Pitcher Only's): 2:30 PM

 

MORE EVENT DETAILS

Click here to learn more about our tech partners that have enhanced the showcase experience for our players.  Partners like Trackman, Blast Motion, and Swift Performance have helped both our in-event evaluation process, as well as the compilation of our post-event scouting reports - and they're also a tool for our players to learn more about their measured and collected data that can be applied to improve upon their game.  Finally, please wear the proper baseball attire (hat, pants, molded cleats or turfs ONLY, NO spikes).  A numbered PBR jersey will be provided to each participant.