Top 20 Stories of 2018: No. 19 Limited Series Preview No. 2

This week, PBR Florida will be hosting its first annual Limited Series tournament, held from Friday, June 1 through Sunday, June 3. The Limited Series was created to give teams a platform to play in an exceedingly competitive atmosphere in a tournament setting that will allow their players greater visibility within a smaller setting, all taking place at IMG Academy.

Each game will be thoroughly promoted and scouted by both the national and state directors on our PBR staff – and teams will play four games each at minimum. In an endeavor to establish more exposure for teams and players, our staff will provide roster packets and information for all attending college and professional scouts, as well as generate pre- and post-event content. And, as always, we’ll be updating our Scout Blog throughout the tournament where we will write reports on the participating players and overall game recaps.

For the complete schedule, teams, and rosters CLICK HERE.

Today, we’ll continue our pre-tournament coverage by highlighting some potential standouts in this next group of six teams invited.

BASEBALL UNIVERSITY 17U

The Tampa-based Baseball University program is taking three teams to this weekend’s Limited Series: a 17U, a 16U, and a 15U squad. The 17U roster is packed with some significant talent, led by the nationally ranked RHP Dylan Eskew (Sickles; Miami). The righty Eskew is the the No. 161-ranked 2019 in the country because of his projectable frame that fits in great with his already clean and easy arm action. We have not seen Eskew since the fall, so our staff is eager to view the progress he’s made over the course of his junior season. Another nationally recognized right-handed arm, Mitchell LeRoy (Freedom; Hillsborough CC), has the size and strength to have made a notable jump since our staff saw him at Preseason All-State. Joining Eskew and LeRoy is the tooled-up Justin Turk (Steinbrenner; uncommitted), who’s the No. 19-ranked outfielder in Florida’s 2019 class; the athletic catcher Danny Gutcher (Gaither; South Florida), ranked No. 12 at his position in his state’s class; and Daniel Bernstein (Sickles; Kentucky), another catcher prospect with some power potential.

FCA BASEBALL

Fellowship of Christian Athletes, based out of Melbourne, will be bringing with them a 17U team with a few seriously talented players, including Florida’s No. 101-ranked 2020 prospect Ian Farrow (Merritt Island; uncommitted). He’s a strong athlete with a feel for the barrel at the plate, making him one of the tournament’s most intriguing uncommitted prospects. Our staff will also be getting its first in-person look at middle infielder Andrew Brait (Viera; Central Florida) in nearly three years. He’s the No. 28-ranked shortstop in Florida’s 2019 class who flashed some promise entering his freshman season in both the infield and in the batter’s box, so we’re eager to see how far he’s come since.

GATORBALL 17U

From the University of Florida’s backyard, Gainesville’s Gatorball program is taking a 17U and a 16U team to Limited Series this weekend. Their 17U team has a few noteworthy prospects we’ll be watching closely, none of whom are yet committed: RHP Dominick Madonna (Villages Charter), 1B Cal Gilliam (Columbia), and RHP Caleb Dix (Crystal River). All three, however, have spots within Florida’s top-150 prospects in the 2019 class. It’s a team full of skillful uncommitted players, meaning they should have an extra set of college scouts watching them this weekend. Their lone commit is 2020 RHP prospect from Virgina Collin Bosley-Smith (Wilson), who’s verbally committed to Duke.

FTB ROCKETS 16U

Florida Travel Baseball’s second team at Limited Series will be participating in the 16U bracket. They’ll be led by the class of 2020’s No. 17-ranked catcher, Caleb Pendleton (Jensen Beach; uncommitted). Pendleton currently stands out for his defensive abilities behind the plate, but there’s an offensive profile here to dream on, making him a high follow moving forward. Apart from the Jensen Beach backstop, the rest of this roster is filled out with a ton of Jupiter-area prospects we’ve yet to see in person, so our eyes will be peeled.

SWFL NATION 2020

Fort Myers’ Southwest Florida Baseball program will be attending Limited Series with both a 2019 and 2020 team. Their 2020 squad includes the Florida Gulf Coast commit, C McFaddin Moise (Ida Baker). Moise is the No. 23-ranked catcher, nationally, in the class of 2020. He’s a top-50 prospect within his Florida class, and this weekend will mark the first time we’ve gotten a live look at the Ida Baker product. Trey Bacon (Sickles; uncommitted) joins Moise on this roster. He’s a shortstop prospect with a lot of athleticism who’s still developing his offensive game.

ELITE SQUAD 16U

Just like the 17U team, the roster Elite Squad will taking to the 16U tournament is stacked with a revolving door of next-level prospects at each position. Timothy Manning (Cardinal Gibbons; Florida) and Jordan Carrion (American Heritage; Florida) are two prospects who are actually listed on both rosters, so it remains to be seen how they’ll be used at Limited Series. Even if those two spend most of their time on the 17U team, this 16U team will have no problem filling the gaps. In Carrion’s spot at shortstop, the No. 29-ranked 2021 prospect in the nation, Dorian Gonzalez Jr. (Belen Jesuit; uncommitted), would slide right in – he’s also the No. 2-ranked shortstop in his state’s class. Another prominent member of this team is Enrique Bradfield Jr. (American Heritage), a Vanderbilt commit, who’s ranked No. 42 in the country in the 2020 class. Joining the aforementioned as nationally ranked 2020 prospects on the roster are: 3B Giuseppe Ferraro (American Heritage; Miami; No. 118), RHP Ben Vespi (American Heritage; Central Florida; No. 158), RHP Nate Thomas (St. Thomas Aquinas; Miami; No. 255), and SS Lucas Nido (Gulliver Prep; uncommitted; No. 340).

And here’s a few more 2020 prospects on this roster who may be poised for a breakout in the tournament: C Kolbe Aven (American Heritage; uncommitted), Coby Mayo (Marjory Stoneman Douglas; Central Florida), and Ari Arteaga (Epiphany Catholic; uncommitted).

RELATED NEWS