Prep Baseball Report

PA Travel Baseball State Championships Team Review: West Hills Show



By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

and Greg Williams
Pennsylvania / West Virginia Director of Scouting

The inaugural Pennsylvania Travel Baseball State Championships concluded without a champion, as rain washed out the final day of competition, but twelve teams from around the region were still able to play from sun up to sun down on the Friday and Saturday of action. For each participating team we will highlight some of the top performers and prospects, continuing today with the...

West Hills Show

Seneca Valley 2018 right-handed pitcher Andrew Funovits showed a live arm out of an over-the-top slot on day two of the event. The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder pitched with a fastball that was fairly straight at 83-85 in the wind-up and sat 82 in the stretch with occasional tailing action. Also featured a tight slider with downer tilt at 74-77 and a change-up at 73-76 that has the potential to be a solid third pitch for him. A good athlete, he exhibited quick feet on pickoff attempts.

West Allegheny 2019 catcher Logan Malatak didn't have much in the way of offensive results, but took a number of good passes at the baseball and showed an ability to hit the ball hard to all fields. He also exhibited some athleticism with solid block-and-recover ability, while posting consistent pop times of 2.20-2.22 in between innings and during game play.

Seneca Valley 2017 IF/RHP Tyler Smith was a one-man wrecking crew in the Show's first game, going 3-3 with two well-struck doubles, making a number of plays defensively at shortstop, and pitching to contact for three effective innings. On the mound, he employed a big hip coil and pitched out of an over-the-top slot with a fastball at 77-80 and a big curveball with depth at 64-66.

A couple years behind Smith at Seneca Valley, 2019 right-handed pitcher Mark Trotta has plenty of room to add strength to his 6-foot, 145-pound frame. Incorporated an exaggerated hip coil in which he turns his back to the hitter and pitched with a fastball that sat 74-77. Disrupted hitters' timing with a floating off-speed pitch at 61-64 as well as an occasional abbreviated quick pitch wind-up reminiscent of the one employed by Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds seen here.

Physical Penn-Trafford 2018 first baseman Zachary Mancz went 3-8 with a double and routinely showed an ability to stay inside ball and hit it the other way with authority. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound left-handed hitter verbally committed to Pittsburgh earlier this month.

West Allegheny 2017 3B/C Justin Usenicnik used a flat bat path that stayed through the zone to repeatedly barrel the baseball on his way to going 2-7 with a double in four games.

PA Travel Baseball State Championships News