Draft League Scouting Notes - June 1

Mahoning Valley @ West Virginia

West Virginia and Mahoning Valley ran out a slew of power arms on Tuesday night in a matchup that saw five different hurlers touch 95 mph or higher. After four scoreless innings from Black Bears starter RHP Ethan Sund (North Park), RHP Kobe Robinson (Chattanooga St. CC) came out of the bullpen to post a 46.4-percent CSW% (42.4% whiff rate) with a 93-94 mph (T95) sinker (Max HB 20.2”), striking out four over two scoreless frames. 

RHP Trevor Tietz (Jefferson College) followed Robinson with his best and longest outing of the season, punching out three in two innings. Tietz generated Tuesday’s best velo, topping out at 96.5 mph, and he sat comfortably at 93-95 for the entire outing, generating seven whiffs on 11 swings (63.6%, 20 total FB) with his plus riding fastball (Max IVB 22.9”). The right-hander once again showed feel for executing multiple secondary pitches, effectively mixing in an 80-83 mph slider with an 86-88 changeup that he uses against hitters on both sides of the plate. RHP Jeffrey Wilson (Pensacola State) was up to 95.1 mph in the ninth and induced a pair of whiffs with his slider. 

RHP Deylen Miley impressed in his Scrappers debut by striking out three of the five batters he faced out of the bullpen (with his team already trailing, 10-0, in the fourth). Miley parked his heater at 94-95 mph, averaged 2300+ spin and had a Max IVB of 22.9” in the outing, throwing it 18 times for a 50% CSW%. RHP Jacob DeLabio furthered his growing reputation as being one of the League’s best bullpen pieces with another dominant performance. Tasked with tossing two innings for the second time in the past week, DeLabio responding by racking up three strikeouts while posting Tuesday’s second-highest pitch velocity at 96.2 mph. He sat 92-95 mph with a Max spin rate of 2603 RPM and a Max IVB of 22.4”. DeLabio’s slider was 85-87 mph with 2500-2700+ spin, netting him a pair of whiffs on three swings.  

Offensively, all but three of West Virginia’s starters tallied at least one hit on Tuesday. INFs Jake Reinhardt (North Park) and Christian Lucio (Florida Southwestern) collected multiple hits, with the duo combining to score three runs in a 4-for-7 performance. Lucio reached base three times in the contest, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a 95-mph triple to right field, while Reinhardt finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. OF Jason Thomas (Hillsborough CC) made his one hit count, lacing a three-run home run (94 EV; 21 LA; 354 FT) over the left-field wall.

3B Jesse Pierce (Grayson) and OF Cooper Swanson (Florida State) both went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Swanson also had what would have been his second home run of the season robbed by Scrappers CF Sam Crail -- a ball that was hit 404 feet at a 107-mph exit velocity. Crail was the only Mahoning Valley player to make his mark on the game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored from the leadoff spot. 

Frederick @ State College

Spikes starter RHP Cade Carlson (Lincoln Trail) combined with four relievers to allow just four hits in State College’s 3-1 win over Frederick. Carlson surrendered just one hit over four scoreless frames, posting five strikeouts against three walks. The right-hander once again displayed a deep arsenal, mixing an 88-90 mph fastball with a pair of breaking balls and a fourth-pitch changeup. RHP Louis Davenport (Eastern Kentucky) racked up four strikeouts while sitting 91-93 mph over two innings in relief of Carlson. RHP Blake Seigler (USC-Aiken) followed with a perfect seventh, striking out two. He was up to 93 mph with his fastball and also recorded the day’s third-highest breaking-ball spin rate, topping out at 2794.1 rpm with his swing-and-miss slider. RHP Kiernan Higgins (Shippensburg) flashed some impressive stuff in the ninth while notching a punchout. He ran his heater up to 94.7 mph in the outing and posted the day’s top two spin rates, reaching 2889.4 and 2885.3 rpm with his slider and curveball, respectively. 

C/1B Jack Anderson (State College of Florida) reached base three times for the Spikes, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored from the five-spot in the lineup. UTL Myles Austin (Chipola) also reached base three times and drove in a pair of runs from the bottom of the lineup, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, while INF Brady Brecklin (Illinois Central) and OF James Jett (Lincoln Trail) each tallied a hit and a walk.  

After racking up six strikeouts over two innings in his Frederick debut, RHP Dwayne Marshall (Maryland Eastern Shore) induced a whiff with each of his three pitches on Tuesday en route to eight strikeouts in four innings. He posted a 41.2% whiff rate and 37.2% CSW% with his fastball, which averaged better than 91 mph, with a max velocity of 94.7. Marshall also induced whiffs on five of nine swings (55.6%) with his 78-81 mph curveball. OF Dominique Collie (Weber International), a former D-backs international signee out of the Bahamas, was a bright spot for the Keys’ offense. He collected half of the team’s hits and scored its only run in the contest, going 2-for-3 with a double and walk. 

Trenton @ Williamsport

The Crosscutters’ staff was stingy Tuesday, with four different pitchers combining for 14 punchouts while yielding just five hits in a 6-1 win over Trenton. Starter RHP Nick Cosentino (State College of Florida) led the way by fanning six over four one-hit frames while showcasing a fastball up to 91.1 mph. Cosentino generated a pair of whiffs with his low-70s curveball and posted a 52.9% whiff rate with his upper-70s changeup, throwing the offering 29 times (43.9% usage) in the outing. 

LHP Eduardo Rivera -- a 17-year-old, 6-foot-7, 240-pound southpaw from Puerto Rico -- ran his big fastball up to 95 mph for the third time in as many outings. He sat 92-94 mph at around 2400 RPM and, more importantly, showed better control of his stuff compared to previous outings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three in two innings. RHP Tyler LaPorte worked the seventh and eighth innings, sitting 93-95 mph (T96), while LHP Holden Christian (Loyola Marymount) once again showed excellent pitchability while bumping 90 mph during a two-strikeout ninth.

All-time Division II strikeout leader LHP Zach Parish (Missouri Southern) fired four hitless frames for the Thunder, striking out a pair and walking two. The southpaw induced at least one whiff with each of his four pitches, working at 87-88 mph (T89). LHP Chandler Brierly (Stevens IT) was up to 93.1 mph out of the bullpen, while RHP Logan VanWey (Missouri Southern) topped out at 93.5 while notching three strikeouts in two scoreless frames. 

OF/2B Trey Steffler (Missouri Baptist) continued his hot hitting for the Crosscutters with a two-run single in the fifth inning that left the bat at 98 mph. 2B Christian Olivo (LCA, P.R.) would add a two-run single followed by a UTL Noah Hemphill (Missouri Baptist) RBI double in the five-run frame.