Scouting Notes: Early Season Independent School Games

Thu March 21, 2013

By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

On the eve of Opening Day for games across the state in the PIAA, here are a a few notes from Independent School games around Southeast PA over the past few days.

Germantown Friends @ Penn Charter (March 13)

  • Cohen2014 SS Steve Cohen started Penn Charter's season off with a bang, ripping a double to left-center on the first pitch he saw leading off the bottom of the 1st inning. He ran a 4.47 home-to-first in a later at-bat on a soft, damp track, so he should post above average running times under better conditions (he did show a 4.06 on a drag bunt). Cohen has good pre-swing set-up and rhythm and is aggressive in the strike zone. He gave away his fourth and fifth ABs of the game getting a bit jumpy and chasing pitches too far out in front of home plate, but we can likely chalk that up to it being the first game of the year and him facing below average velo. Cohen made all the plays at short, showing an average arm and playing through balls well with his feet.

  • 2015 OF/C Kenny Bergmann reached base all five times, including two walks, two line-drive singles, and an opposite field double. He has a developed, muscular frame, especially for someone his age, and an above average arm. At the dish, Bergmann showed a short stroke and a good feel for the barrel. He is a below average runner and he can certainly work to improve his routes in the outfield, although he will likely end up starting behind the plate before his Penn Charter career is over.

  • Penn Charter 2016 Util/RHP Joey Lancellotti did not appear at all intimidated by starting his first game in a Quaker uniform.  He attacked the baseball and showed a very aggressive approach at the plate.

  • Germantown Friends 2014 SS Connor Biddle is not blessed with the same size as his brother Jesse (Baseball America's #1 prospect in the Phillies organization), but that doesn't prohibit him from having success.  Biddle hit from an open stance and showed good rhythm in his swing.  He lined a single to center his first AB, staying inside the ball well, and followed that up with two walks.  He slings the ball across the diamond from a lower than normal slot and may profile best as a second baseman at the next level.

Hill School @ Episcopal Academy (March 20)

  • On a cold, blustery day, it was not the prettiest effort on either side.  Episcopal Academy 6-foot-6 2014 RHP Adam Seibert filled up the box score with 7 K, 4 BB, and 4 HBP in 3 IP. His FB sat at 83-85 in the first inning, when he posted five of his free passes. Seibert dips his back shoulder coming out of his balance point and struggled to get on top of the ball for much of this outing, missing high and seeing his fastball flatten out. When he did get downhill, his ball had some run and sink. Seibert commanded his secondary pitches (CB 67-68, CH 71-72) much better than his fastball. In fact, the worst swings taken against him were when he used his off-speed stuff early in the count to set up his fastball late.

  • Hill School 2013 LHP Seth Regensburg carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but it wasn't all smooth sailing for him. He qualified for the "effectively wild" label, tallying 6 BB and 2 HBP, to go along with 8 K, in his six innings of work. His fastball sat at 79-81 and he mixed in a slurvy breaking ball at 61-62 and a change-up at 68-69. Regensburg throws from a 3/4-slot and works fast with good tempo. He didn't always finish his delivery, but, when he did, his fastball had some cross-fire action that bore in on right-handed hitters.

  • Breaking up Regensburg's no-hitter with an opposite field double was EA's 2015 1B John Minicozzi. The left-handed hitter, who consistently put the best swings on the baseball of anyone in either uniform, showed good bat speed and has the potential to put up some nice power numbers.

  • EA 2013 SS Doug Trimble hit a couple balls hard the other way, including an RBI base hit in his fourth at-bat. Trimble possesses above average arm strength and very good accuracy across the diamond when he maintains a high slot (occasionally he will drop his slot and throws will sail on him). He did a nice job tracking a pop-up in a tough wind.

  • Trimble's defensive counterpart at The Hill, 2013 SS Kyushik Nam showed plus infield actions with soft hands, an average arm, and average foot speed.

  • The biggest bolt of the day was an opposite field home run off the scoreboard in left field by 2013 C Adam Regensburg from The Hill. Behind the dish, Regensburg's arm was a bit erratic, so it didn't always let his solid arm strength with carry play the way it could.

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