Eric
Orze

3rd Team All State: The DuPage Valley Conference Player of the Year and Co-Pitcher of the Year, Orze went 12-0 with a 1.05 ERA this spring. In 80 innings pitched he allowed only 51 hits, struck out 91 and walked nine, good for a minuscule 0.75 WHIP. If the mound work wasn’t enough, Orze also hit .331 and drove in 18 runs this spring for the Panthers. He’s committed to Northwest Florida State.  

4/30/14  Ranked No. 68 in the state, No. 335 overall. Long lanky frame, slender build, 6-foot-2, 160-pound right handed pitcher. Delivery works strictly from the stretch, up-tempo with some effort, upright finish with occasional recoil. Arm action is quick and clean, short backside action, lacks extension, quick late separation, high ¾ slot. Fastball worked steadily at 82-83 mph for most of the game, dipped slightly to 80-81 mph later. Doesn’t pith off of fastball, pitching primarily in the top half of the zone with it, when down shows good arm side run, upright finish and delivery prohibits him from getting fastball downhill. Showed advanced breaking balls with separation between the curveball and slider. Slider is aggressive and hard, showed late two-plane action with depth, swing and miss stuff, ranged from 75-78 mph, occasionally acts like a cutter at the top end. Curveball also has swing and miss action, excellent depth working on 12/6 plane flashing occasional 11/5 action, pitched at 68-70 mph, used it later in count, typically two strike counts, got four of six strikeouts on curveball. Orze primarily pitched backwards using his slider to get ahead of hitters as well as getting back into counts after falling behind. All of his pitches worked primarily out of top part of the zone, should see more success as his delivery works downhill. Orze also brings a moxy to the mound, has a presence and control of the game coupled with a competitive command of the zone.