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PBR Louisiana Scout Blog - Week 1

March 4, 2022
Alex Armand
Louisiana Scouting Director

The Louisiana Scout Blog provides insider information and scouting notes from our Scouting Staff during the high school baseball season. This running blog will feature information on underclass prospects, unsigned seniors, draft prospects, and anything else that is notable. We will provide a wide range of information, including player evaluations, velocities, pop times, home to first times, and more. 

Continue to check back here, as the Louisiana Scouting Staff will add scouting reports, upon the completion of each week.

 

Monday, February 21

 

-2023 LHP Kade Anderson (St. Paul's HS):  The LSU commit has been the state's top ranked player in the 2023 class, since he first stepped foot on campus over two years ago.  Anderson again turned in an outstanding performance on opening night against Catholic BR HS, to only solidify his top spot even more. In the first inning, he came out at 90-92 mph with his fastball, topping out at 93 mph, which is the best that we've seen out of the southpaw.  Not only was the velocity up a tick, but his command was there as well, as he was able to locate in, out, up, and down.  He flashed a true "12-6" curveball at 73-77 mph for strikes and swing and miss, as well as a 77-80 mph fading change up to right-handed hitters.  Anderson finished his 5 IP with 8 K's and 0 ER.

 

-2024 INF/RHP Trip Dobson (Catholic BR HS):  With 2022 CJ Sturiale (Louisiana Tech Signee) out for the first few weeks of the season; Catholic BR was definitely looking for a middle of the order type of bat to step up and Dobson has been that guy through the first week of the season.  Kade Anderson was inducing a ton of weak contact and was a tough draw for hitters on opening night, but Dobson seemed to be on time from his first at-bat.  He took a couple of great swings in his first at-bat against Anderson, eventually popping out.  Then, during his second at-bat, he squared up an Anderson fastball, up in the zone, for a double down the left field line.  

 

-2023 LHP Prescott Marsh (Catholic BR HS):  The Bears have a plethora of arms, real arms, to choose from and on opening night, they gave the ball to Marsh, a junior left-hander.  His fastball wasn't overpowering, by any means, as he was consistently 79-81 mph, but he was able to work ahead of almost every  hitter, and mixed in a big curveball and changeup to keep hitters off balance.  He finished the night giving up 0 ER over 5 1/3 IP, while striking out 6 and walking 1.  

 

-2024 RHP Aidan Grab (Mandeville HS):  Projectable 6'4" 170 lbs. frame with long limbs and plenty of room to add strength; Grab is a guy that has continued to gain momentum, leading up to the season, after a nice summer and fall with the Knights Knation organization.  Facing a tough Central BR lineup on opening night, Grab turned in a solid outing.  Grab ran his fastball up to 84 mph, sitting mostly 81-83 mph.  His CB was a bit slower at 63-65 mph and was more of a "get me over" pitch.  He finished with 5 K's and 2 BB's, while giving up only 3 hits over 4 IP.  Definitely an arm to follow moving forward in the 2024 class. 

 

-2023 SS Nic Schwing (Mandeville HS):  Schwing came away a favorite at our All-State Games this past fall, mainly because of the bounce that he played with defensively and his arm strength across the diamond.  Offensively, in this look, he didn't do much with the bat, but not many did facing Jimmie Johnson.  However, he did continue to show that he has the ability to play the left side of the infield at the next level.  During the game, Schwing had the opportunity to make and made nearly every play that you would want your shortstop to make.  He showed a good internal clock on balls right at him, fluid actions and footwork on forehand and bounder plays, and flashed off his arm strength (89 mph infield velocity) on a tough backhand play in the 6 hole. 

 

-2022 RHP Jimmie Johnson (Central BR HS):  The Wildcats have arguably the deepest starting pitching rotation in Class 5A this year and Coach McClure decided to give the ball to the Southeastern Louisiana signee for opening night.  The demeaner and poise that Johnson displayed screamed, "I'm in control of this game", and that is exactly what he did.  Johnson sat 84-87 mph, topping out at 88 mph with his fastball and he was able to maintain that velocity throughout the contest.  He was able to land a late fading changeup to both right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters, as well as a "11-5" shaped 70-72 mph curveball and 76-78 mph slider.  Johnson took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before giving up his first hit in the 7th, which was the only one.  

 

 

Sunday, February 26

-2023 SS Gage Trahan (Sulphur HS):  Trahan has long been known as one of the better left-handed hitting middle infielders in the 2023 class and showed just that in this look.  In the 3rd inning, against a soft-tossing right-handed pitcher, Trahan stayed back on a breaking ball to hit a single to left field.  What was even better to see, was his work during pre-game in and out.  The McNeese State commit showed soft hands and fluid actions and improved footwork on balls to his left and right.

 

-2023 UTIL Luke Benoit (Sulphur HS):  Physical 6'0" 190 lbs. frame with present lower half strength; Benoit is a guy that we've had the opportunity to see over the course of the last 12 months, as he's attended a couple of our events.  A right-handed hitter; Benoit has a simple set-up in the box and direct path to the ball with a gap to gap approach.  In this look, we saw Benoit take a couple of good at-bats and singled in the 4th inning to centerfield.  Positional versatility is something that makes him very interesting, as we've now seen him play third base and catcher for the Tors, and  that versatility should also be appealing to college recruiters as they start to get back out on March 1. 

-2022 CF Zeb Ruddell (Neville HS):  Ruddell had the most impressive batting practice at our All-State Games, in October, where he displayed quick hands and plus bat speed, on his way to launching a couple of balls way out of Alex Box Stadium.  Not only can Ruddell hit and hit with power, but he's also a really good runner as well.  During his first two at-bats, he got out front on off-speed pitches, but used his speed to get two infield hits, turning in run times of 4.07 and 4.19 down the line.  In his third at-bat, he turned on a fastball on the inner half for a double off the right field wall, just missing a home run.  A LSU signee; look for Ruddell to continue to put big offensive numbers for the Tigers this spring.

 

-2022 LHP Vinny Collins (Sulphur HS):  Fans around the state know that Sulphur is led on the mound by Junior Jake Brown, a LSU commit.  Coming into this spring, Collins and a few other guys were in line to fill out the rest of the Tors starting rotation.  Against a good Neville HS lineup, he turned in really good performance.  The LSU-Eunice signee isn't overpowering, as he pitched mostly 79-82 mph with his fastball, while mixing in a low-70's curveball and developing changeup.  Working ahead of hitters and throwing strikes is the name of the game and Collins did just that for the Tors.  He finished his 6 IP, giving up only 2 ER, while striking out 5 and walking 0, and did so with only 72 pitches (56 strikes | 16 balls).  

 

-2025 C Presley Courville (Barbe HS):  Starting as a freshman at national powerhouse Barbe is a tough feat in itself, but starting behind the plate, is even tougher, but Courville has done just that for the Bucs.  One of the biggest reasons that Texas A&M offered Courville this past fall and eventually received a verbal commitment from him, was his defensive abilities and the vocal leadership traits that he possesses for a freshman.  What's more exciting for the Bucs and the Aggies, is the offensive production and strides that he's making.  Against Calvary Baptist HS, Courville hit in the two hole of a loaded Barbe lineup and came through with a big 2 out, 2 RBI opposite field single in the 4th inning to break the game open and put the Bucs on top 5-0. 

 

-2023 1B/LHP Jackson Legg (Calvary Baptist HS):  Physical and imposing 6'3" 200 lbs. frame.  Legg has been recovering from Tommy John surgery over the summer, but he still found a way to impact the game against Barbe and it was with his bat.  Facing the state's top ranked 2024 prospect, in Landon Victorian, hit were tough to come by for the Cavaliers.  Legg took some good at-bats off of Victorian and recorded a pull-side single in the 4th inning. 

-2024 CF Aubrey Hermes (Calvary Baptist HS):  Hermes was one of the most interesting prospects that we saw all weekend.  A two sport athlete (excellent wide receiver for the football team), he plays with a bounce all over the field and has a lean and wiry frame that projects to add more strength over the coming years.  Again, this was a day that was tough on hitters and Hermes blistered a fastball to centerfield, for a single, to collect the Cavaliers only RBI of the game.

 

-2024 RHP Landon Victorian (Barbe HS):  Projectable 6'3" 185 lbs. frame; Victorian turned in a solid outing for his first start of the year for the Bucs.  On a super cold and frigid morning, he was able to run his fastball up to 89 mph, while sitting 85-88 mph, and was able to hold that velocity throughout the contest, thanks to increased physicality and strength gained during the off-season.  Victorian also mixed in a developing 70-73 mph "slurvish" breaking ball and a 74-76 mph changeup.  

 

-2023 LHP Jake Brown (Sulphur HS):  Brown turned in one of the best pitching performances that we've seen, to cap off a stellar opening weekend of high school baseball.  With each look, it feels like Brown continues to add strength to his 6'2" frame, especially in his lower half.  In this start, he faced off against Calvary Baptist on a cold and dreary afternoon; conditions that are far from ideal for a pitcher, but that didn't bother the LSU commit.  He ran sat 85-88 mph with his fastball and maintained that velocity from the first to the last.  The fastball command that he had could only be described as special, as he was able to locate in, out, up and down, rarely missing his target, on route to throwing a complete game no-hitter, while striking out 17 and walking 0.  If the velocity can tick up a few MPH this spring, do not be surprised for Brown to gain some helium heading into the summer circuit, as MLB organizations shift their focus to the 2023 draft class. 

 

 

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