Draft League Scouting Notes - June 3

Williamsport @ State College

State College fired on all cylinders Thursday in a 10-1 win over the Crosscutters. That was especially true for the Spikes’ pitching staff, which saw three hurlers rack up a combined 15 strikeouts while allowing just four hits and two walks. Starter RHP Jared Kengott (Emporia State) paced the Spikes on the mound with his second straight eight-strikeout performance. He sat 89-92 mph over five innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and a walk. Kengott was effective with his secondary pitches in the outing, posting CWS rates of 31.2 and 32.3% with his curveball and changeup, respectively. He threw his 83-86 mph changeup 31 times in the outing, inducing eight whiffs on 22 swings (36.4% whiff rate). 

RHP Payton Rice (Cumberland) worked three hitless frames in relief of Kengott, striking out four and walking one in his best Draft League performance to date. Rice averaged 91.5 mph and topped out at 93 in the outing, throwing his heater 13 times, while his power slider checked in at 86-90 mph. He dominated with the latter offering, recording eight whiffs on 10 swings en route to a 60% CSW%. RHP Blake Seigler (USC-Aiken) was up to 93.3 mph -- the day’s top pitch velocity -- and had his high-spin slider on full display as he struck out the side in the ninth. 

Offensively, UTL Myles Austin (Chipola) and 2B Mark Vierling (Missouri) combined to go 4-for-9 with four RBI from the top two spots in the lineup. INF/OF/RHP Michael Slaten put the Spikes ahead for good in the fourth inning with his first Draft League homer, a 395-foot solo shot that left his bat at 103 mph. Austin tacked on an RBI single in the following inning and added another in the eighth, with Vierling’s two-run single capping the Spikes’ four-run frame. INF Tyler Heckert (John Logan JC) reached base three times and drove in a pair of runs, going 1-for-2 with two walks a run scored. 

Starter RHP Tyler LaPorte was the lone Crosscutters pitcher to not allow a run on Thursday as he notched a strikeout while working around a walk in the first inning. LHP Holden Christian (Loyola Marymount) allowed two runs on a pair of hits and walks while fanning four over three innings. He was up to 90.7 mph in the appearance, while INF/RHP Josh Bostick (Howard) bumped 92.3 over two innings in relief of Christian. 

OF/1B Hogan McIntosh continued to swing a hot bat as he accounted for half of the Crosscutters’ total hits with a 2-for-4 performance. MIF Isaac Nunez (South Florida) recorded the team’s only extra-base hit -- a line-drive double in the second inning that had an exit velocity of 101.6 mph. 

West Virginia @ Trenton

After pushing across one run over the first six innings, the Black Bears’ offense came to life to score seven runs over the final three frames in an 8-1 win over Trenton. INF Freylin Minyety (Wabash Valley) led the way as he recorded a trio of run-scoring hits including a double as part of a 3-for-4, three-RBI performance. C Ryan McCoy (Wabash) also collected multiple hits in the rout, going 2-for-5 with a 101.8-mph RBI single, and INF Jake Reinhardt (North Park) finished 3-for-4 with an RBI double. OF Cooper Swanson’s (Florida State) RBI triple in the eighth inning had an exit velo of 102.6 mph, and he also had a 103.1-mph fly out earlier in the game. In total, all but two West Virginia starters collected at least one hit.   

West Virginia’s staff collectively did not have its best stuff on Thursday but still got the job done, with four hurlers combining to allow one unearned run on seven hits while striking out 12. Starter RHP Ga’Von Wray, a Georgia Southern commit, scattered four hits over three innings, issuing two walks and fanning three. He once again showcased a deep arsenal, mixing his T91.5-mph fastball with a cutter, changeup, curveball and slider. 

RHP Zach Ottinger (West Virginia) recorded five of his six outs via the strikeout in relief of Wray. He was up to 92.6 mph with his fastball and recorded a 66.7% whiff rate on his slider, throwing the low- to mid-80s offering nine times. RHP Luke Summers (Fontbonne) delivered three scoreless innings out of the Black Bears’ bullpen before giving way to RHP Jeffrey Wilson (Pensacola State) in the ninth. The two hurlers were as high as 92.3 and 92.4 mph, respectively, in the outing.

RHP Garrett Hawkins (University of British Columbia) turned in a solid start for the Thunder, yielding one run on four hits with three strikeouts and zero walks in four innings. He was particularly effective with his fastball, generating seven swinging strikes (26.9% whiff rate) with the 90-93 mph offering. RHP Ethan Routzahn (St. John’s) needed just 10 pitches to complete a perfect sixth out of Trenton’s bullpen. 

Leadoff man 2B Dexter Swims (Missouri Southern) was a bright spot offensively for the Thunder as he went 2-for-5 and scored the team’s only run. On top of his two hits, Swims also generated a 107.1-mph exit velocity on a groundout. C Shawn Vazquez (Felician) reached base twice, going 1-for-1 with a walk and a 105-mph single.