The 2021 High School Baseball Season is right around the corner and our staff couldn't be more excited to get back out on the road to see all of the talent across our great state.  The 2023 class has been a very deep and talented class, especially, at key positions up the middle of the field.  In today's edition of "The Five", we give you five players to keep an eye on this spring in the 2023 class.

 

1.  RHP Jon Robert Tollett (Ruston HS):  6'2" 165 lbs. athletic frame with room to add strength.  The RHP had a standout performance at the 2020 Louisiana All-State Games.  Low 3/4 arm slot with a quick arm action and good extension.  Pounds the zone and keeps the ball down with his 81-82 mph FB, topping at 83 mph with some late life, running in to RHH.  CB is a "get me over" pitch that he can consistently land for strikes at 71-72 mph.  SL was his out pitch with good depth, spin, and horizontal break, that sat 75-76 mph.

 

2.  SS Jake Smith (Rosepine HS): Athletic, 5'11" 155 lbs. frame.  The Rosepine product had a great summer and has a real chance to stick at SS.  Advanced footwork in the infield with soft hands.  Shows no wasted movement during the transfer; bringing the ball straight from his glove to his ear, releasing the ball from a 3/4 arm slot.  Throws to 1B are accurate and show carry.  RHH starts from a tall, slightly open stance, using a leg kick to get back to center.  Barrel gets on plane early with good extension.  Stays balanced throughout his swing as well, showing present gap to gap power.  

 

3.  SS/2B Gage Trahan (Sulphur HS):  Stocky, athletic 5'9" 170 lbs. frame.  Trahan is a "throwback" type of player, who grinds out at-bats.  Begins in an athletic, upright stance with rhythm in his hands.  Uses a modified leg kick to get into the hitting position.  Advanced understanding of the strike zone.  Does a good job of working counts into his favor and is a good hitter with two strikes.  Stays behind the ball well with good extension, using the whole field to hit, showing some present pull side power.  High baseball IQ on the dirt.  Advanced footwork with a short, quick arm action that produces accurate throws with backspin and carry.

 

4.  OF/LHP Landon Schmitz (Kinder HS):  Athletic 5'11" 170 lbs. R/L OF.  Extremely good athlete who posted a 6.51 60 time at Elite Squad Gulf South's Scout Day in September.  Starts from a tall stance, rhythm in his hands, with a short and simple load.  Gets out of his lower half at times.  Direct bat path with good extension that produced a max exit velocity of 88 mph.  Good reads and jumps in the OF with athletic actions, releasing the ball from a high 3/4 arm slot.  Aggressive throws from the OF with backspin and carry produced a positional velocity of 86 mph.  

 

5.  C Zach Schoenborn (Parkway HS):  Strong, physical 6'1" 195 lbs. frame.  The LHH catcher has continued to create buzz around his name, after one of the best performances at the 2020 Louisiana All-State Games.  Starts in a tall, open stance, gliding out with his front foot to get back to center.  Flat bat path with good, slightly uphill extension through the baseball.  Creates bat speed by keeping his weight back as long as possible, before attacking the baseball.  Produced a max exit velocity of 94 mph, consistently squaring up balls to all fields.  Good receiver with strong hands.  Average footwork with a quick transfer and release produced pop times of 1.92-2.05 and a positional velocity of 75 mph.  Also, ran an improved 7.36 in the 60.