OPTERRA SOLUTIONS INVITATIONAL Scout Blogs
March 4, 2024
The Opterra Solutions Invitational provided some of the top teams and talent from around the state. PBR was on hand to watch these great teams and players over the course of the weekend.
As this 8 team tournament started on Thursday and ran through Sunday with Lexington bringing home the title in a very exciting game.
Below are are notes and videos of some standouts from each team in the tournament.
OPTERRA SOLUTIONS INVITATIONAL
Hunter Phipps 2024 RHP Dutch Fork, College of Charleston Commit
Phipps opening outing of the season was an impressive start for Dutch Fork in game 1 of the Opterra Solutions Invitational. The former Future Gamer from 2022 and College of Charleston signee pitched in the low 90’s in the 1st inning including topping out at 92 with the fastball. He pitched at 86-88 the rest of the way and mixed in a good slider at 79-81.
2024 Hunter Phipps RHP@ForkBaseball @HunterPhipps21 @CofCBaseball Commit and #FG22 Alum
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
FB: 90-91, T92
SL: 79-81
Impressive first inning for the Dutch Fork right-hander. Sharp breaking slider and moving the FB to both sides of the plate. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/RLuJXivZ30
Jachin Davis 2026 RHP Stratford
Davis squared off against Phipps in game 1 of the tournament in what turned out to be a very good pitchers duel for about 4 innings. Davis topped out at 84 and pitched most of his day in the low 80’s. He mixed in a slider in the mid-70’s and did a good job changing speeds and locating. He should win a lot of games for Stratford in the coming years.
2026 RHP Jachin Davis@StratHSBaseball @davis_jachin
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
FB: 81-83, T84
SL: 74-75
3 scoreless innings so far. Doing a good job working ahead and missing barrels. Changes speeds well. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/JfUYP9Otqg
Carson Bolemon 2026 LHP Southside Christian, Wake Forest Commit
The Wake Forest commit got his first in over a year coming back from Tommy John. He faced off against Wren in what turned out to be a very good matchup. He appears to have added some muscle as the frame has filled out. He only got a few innings of work but was as impressive as ever with a fastball at 88-90, a slider at 76-79, and a changeup at 79. I would expect him to be dominant again for the Sabres just like he was as an 8th grader.
2026 Carson Boleman LHP@SabreBaseball @carson_bolemon
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
Strong first inning of work for the Sophomore lefty. Plenty of movement on the FB sitting 89-90. Power breaking ball 79-80. Has also mixed in a changeup. @ShooterHunt @WakeBaseball commit. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/aEXDlCJ9Qf
Tyler Bolemon 2025 C Southside Christian
Tyler had a solid day behind and at the plate for Southside Christian on Thursday. The left-handed hitting Catcher squared up multiple balls early in the game including driving in a run that gave the Sabres an early lead. He does a good job receiving and managing a very good pitching staff and has a strong arm behind the plate.
2025 Tyler Bolemon C@SabreBaseball @TylerBolemon
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
Junior Catcher gives the Sabres an early lead with this RBI 1B. Solid defender behind the plate as well. @FMUSports commit. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/zx8ZZrl6II
Evan Allen 2024 RHP/INF Wren
Allen is a big kid that can do a lot of things for the Hurricanes. He has a good swing at the plate and the ball jumps off his bat. He found the barrel multiple times on Thursday against some tough arms from Southside Christian. He had a huge go ahead RBI late in the game that ended up being the difference in the game. Allen is a veteran player that will help Wren win plenty of games this year.
2024 RHP/INF Evan Allen @wrenhsbaseball
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
Solid day at the plate for Allen. Found the barrel multiple times including this RBI 1B to give the Hurricanes a 5-4 lead in the 6th. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/IH0x8cWCOW
Macon Leppert 2025 C Blythewood
Leppert is an intriguing player for the Bengals. We saw him last year in the spring break tournament at Blythewood and he was solid behind the plate. He appears to have turned the corner offensively as well. He faced some very tough arms from West Ashley on Thursday and put together some solid at-bats. He has plenty of power from the left side of the plate as he had an RBI 2B to the right-center gap in a comeback effort that came up short. Impressive player that will be fun to follow this year and next.
2025 C Macon Leppert @BaseballBengals @maconleppert15
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 1, 2024
Follows Penfield with an RBI 2B of his own. This one almost got out to right-center. Bengals trail 3-2 in the 6th. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/dCvpPNeXR1
Matty Brown 2024 LHP West Ashley, North Greenville Commit
Brown was a very fun pitcher to watch in game 3 on Thursday. The North Greenville signee worked through some trouble early on and eventually settled in and started cruising through a very good lineup. The Senior left-hander was 86-88 and sat there for much of the game as well as showcasing a very good curveball in the low 70’s. He did a good job of throwing it for strikes as well as getting swings and misses. He should have a big year for West Ashley before moving on to the Crusaders.
2024 LHP Matty Brown@WAHS_Baseball
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) February 29, 2024
Up to 88 here in a scoreless 1st. Throws from multiple arm slots and mixes in a nice breaking ball and changeup. @NGUBaseball commit#Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/DS8qMtE9P3
Zach Russell 2024 RHP/INF West Ashley, South Carolina Carolina
Russell is one of the more athletic arms in the state. Got the start against a tough Lexington lineup who did a good job battling against him. The right hander has a quick athletic ¾ arm slot and his fast is 88-90 while touching 91 mph on the day. FB has some arm side run to while showing some sink to it while down in the zone. Slide is hard with more horizontal break to it while sitting 80-84 mph. The pitch got better the more he threw it in his outing. On this day his change up was his best off speed pitch. Showed great sinking action at 80-82 mph with good arm speed. Tons of projection in his frame will be a fun one to follow over the years.
‘24 Zach Russell of @WAHS_Baseball with a quick athletic arm a feel for a good change up while mixing in a hard slider.
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 2, 2024
FB - 88-90 T91
SL - 80-84
CH - 80-82@zachruss1414 @GamecockBasebll commit#Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/0SrvVfMqca
Ben McMillan 2024 RHP/1B West Ashley, Charleston Southern Commit
The Charleston Southern signee had a very productive evening on Thursday for the Wildcats. In their first game of the day, he swung the bat well including a 2B and hitting another ball hard. In the night game against River Bluff he got the start on the mound and threw the ball very well against a talented lineup. He was in the mid-80’s most of the night topping out at 85 with a slider in the low 70’s. He is going to be a big contributor and could really West Ashley make a deep run into the playoffs this season.
2024 RHP/1B Ben McMillan @WAHS_Baseball @BenMcMillan24
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 1, 2024
Settling in here for the Wildcats. Mid-80’s FB mixed with a breaking ball in the low 70’s. Has also swung the bat well today. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/7qgdokVcPS
Palmer Hornick, 2026, SS, Dorman
Consistent player that always plays the game at a high level when we see him play. Shows good defensive actions in the infield along with range and arm strength to play short at a high level. In the batters the box always seems to give quality at bat to go with a short quick athletic swing. On this day he did it 3 times. In his first AB drew a BB then followed it up with a hard hit line drive single and then in his third at bat some tough luck with a hard hit line drive the shortstop made a diving play for a force out on, for a fielder's choice. A baseball player that plays the game hard and the right way!!
‘26 Palmer Hornick of @DormanBaseball with his second hard hit ball of the day. Robbed of a hit here by a great diving play by SS. Good left handed swing with good feel for the barrel. @Palmer_Hornick #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/dAz4XUhmym
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 2, 2024
Connor Wells, 2027, LHP, Dorman
The top player in the state in his state and one of the top players in the country and he showed why again in his brief outing. This tall lanky uber projectable frame shows why it is so easy to dream on but also has the present stuff. This tall left header throws from a ¾ arm slot while getting good arm side run on his fastball and sitting 83-87 mph. His breaking ball shows good depth and break to it and showed he can throw for strikes as well as use it for a put away pitch, CB was 75-76 mph. Will only continue to improve the more and more he pitches. The skys the limit for this young man!
2027 Connor Wells of @DormanBaseball top ranked player in his class in the state and one of top arms in country. Long loose lanky frame FB has armside up while CB has good action down in the zone. #JFG23 Alumi
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 2, 2024
FB - 83-87 mph
CB - 75-76 mph @ConnorWells012 @ShooterHunt… pic.twitter.com/FUXC4WzgD9
Jackson Burton, 2024, RHP, Lexington
Burton is a fun one to watch pitch and compete. Really does a great job of keeping hitters off balanced and attacking them. Going after a very talented West Ashley lineup, they had no idea what was coming. At any time and any count he could throw any pitch for strikes. 3 pitch mix with a fastball, slider, and change up, with all being very good pitches. Was able to move his FB around the zone for strikes while it sat 83-85 mph. Breaking ball was a very late breaking pitch while at 74-76 with good depth to it. Change up had impressive sink and fading action while being thrown from FB arm speed at 80-82 mph. Impressive day on the mound, but its also something we have seen him do a lot of. Going to be a great pick up for some college!!
‘24 Jackson Burton of @BaseballLex doing a great job of keeping hitters off balance. Great feel for 3 pitches and throwing them all for strikes.
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 2, 2024
FB- 83-85
SL- 74-76
CH- 80-82@Jacksonb_06 #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/jZbirlK0it
Maddux Medeiros, 2027, 3B, Brookland-Cayce
Young player for the Bearcats that holds down the hot corner. Going to be one of the staples in this lineup for some time to come showed off his ability to handle the bat. Showed off a short quick swing with some pop while taking a fastball that was running in on his hands and driving in down the left field line for a double. Showed good balance in the box and a flat stroke with good plate coverage.
‘27 Maddux Medeiros of @BaseballBearcat with a RBI 2B. Good short compact swing. #Opterra24 pic.twitter.com/b9jFL5GLtU
— Prep Baseball South Carolina (@PBR_SC) March 2, 2024
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