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VENTURA, CALIF. - With the opening day of CIF High School baseball season rapidly approaching teams are putting the final touches on their preparation for opening day. For this Saturday matchup, I made a trip down the 101 freeway from Ventura into the Westlake Village area for a matchup between a pair of programs that have strong League title aspirations in the upcoming 2025 spring season in the visiting Santa Barbara Dons taking on the Oaks Christian Lions.

Santa Barbara is coming off a 2024 Channel League title who return a heavy majority of the key contributors to that roster and this was my first opportunity to get a look at the squad as a whole to see the development of some pieces who caught my eye last spring, plus a very intriguing new addition to the varsity level.

This was my 2nd look at the Oaks Christian squad during the fall/winter baseball schedule, but in this look I got an extended look at the pitching skillset of an interesting uncommitted '25 two-way, continued depth on a highly talented '28 and gaining more information on a '25 MLB draft prospect.

Let's dive in now on the 10 players who caught my eye for the 10 inning scrimmage.

DEEP DIVES:

+ '27 OF/RHP Tosh Whitworth (Santa Barbara High School)

A name that has been buzzing for me around the Central Coast region since the end of last high school season through the summer and into the lead up for the 2025 season as been the two-way talent Whitworth. An athletically built RHH who shows emerging strength in his frame especially within his legs, but has plenty of projection for future strength gains Whitworth slotted into the 3 hole for the Dons lineup on the day and showed very well at the dish. The swing itself starts from a high hand set with depth rearward in the load to separate his hands from the body in the turn that allows him to get uphill with his bat path in a profile that shows solid feel to hit, but has interesting power projection for his present/future (multiple reports of upper 90/low 100 EV batted balls through the summer). His bat speed is solid at present, but as he matures and continues to add more strength/athleticism to his body it should continue to trend upwards giving him an intriguing ceiling for how he profiles as a position player. On the day he worked a strong at bat to open the day versus Latshaw falling behind 1-2 early in the count, but settling in to spit on a pair of pitches outside the zone to get back to a 3-2 count before drawing a BB. In his second plate apperance vs. Hanley he got to a pitch on the outer half of the dish showing his plate coverage and solid barrel feel that resulted in a solid L-4. His third at bat showed a bit of the polish that is needed to his offensive profile (which did appear against Latshaw also) when he got beat by a 2K FB up in the zone this is where bat speed will come into play as he matures to get his barrel to the elevated FB in the future. His final trip to the dish resulted in another solid at bat when he capitalized on a pitch towards the inner-half of the plate that he caught out front showing the loft/carry in the bat path with a deep fly to LF that squared a run for the Dons. 

As intriguing as the offensive profile looked it was also what Whitworth did on the mound that really opened my eyes. The delivery features a bit of a funky arm action out of the glove, but the arm speed is present with an athletic operation down the mound that he was able to repeat consistently over the 1.1 innings he pitched. Whitworth showed a FB that lived at 85-88 MPH during those two innings and gave me a pair of 89's with projection for more life to come on the FB. He backed it up with a strong CB which showed power in the break when executed down in the zone at 71-74 MPH. His control was solid for a '27 grad as he was in or around the zone throughout his outing. Similar to the offensive profile it's a strong foundation, but shows some rawness at present that will need to be polished to reach his potential. He profiles as a leverage reliever at present, but the frame, easy arm action, feel for 2 pitches with potential to add a 3rd don't be surprised if he makes a move into the Dons rotation later in his high school career. 

I, personally am intrigued by each profile for Whitworth as I could see a legitimate future for him going forward both as a hitter and a pitcher. It will be an exciting profile to follow on the Central Coast this spring and in the coming future to see where his path takes him.