Maryland Scout Blog: Plenty of Uncommitted Prospects
April 2, 2019
The Maryland High School Scouting Blog provides insider information and scouting notes from the PBR Staff. This running blog will feature information on a wide variety of uncommitted talent as well as updates on committed and ranked players, as well as draft prospect. We will provide a wide range of information, including player evaluations, velocity, pop times, home to first times, and more. This running blog is continuously updated throughout the high school season and then also throughout the year and you will see what boots-to-the-ground really means.
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Severna Park
Evan Lewis RHP Severna Park 2020
Lewis was superb pitching a complete game two-hit shutout over St. Mary's in his first start of the season. The uncommitted 2020 RHP showed good command of his fastball and breaking ball throwing 75% of his pitches for strikes and hitting spots throughout. Lewis struck out five batters and sat 86-88 mph in the first while touching 89 and 90. He settled in at 85-86 mph for the remainder of the game with a sharp 11/5, 74-77 mph breaking ball. Lewis looks fantastic as he spend the off-season training hard. He's put on some good weight and is much stronger then he was last summer.
Jackson Merrill SS Severna Park 2021
Super athletic body type and 5-foot-11, 150 pound frame with plenty of room to fill out. Merrill got off to a blazing start at the plate on Friday afternoon against Centennial and followed it up with a 3-for-4 day against St. Mary's. The lefty hits from a balanced, athletic, open stance at the plate with a quick medium-sized leg kick load. He creates nice hand separation and showed excellent balance throughout. Short, compact swing and fast hands. Uses the entire field extremely well and stayed gap-to-gap. Great feel for the barrel and showed some speed on the base paths as well swiping a few bags over the course of the two days we saw him. Smooth, clean actions at shortstop making every play with rhythm and confidence.
Josh Horgan 3B Severna Park 2019
Strong, athletic body type. Hits from a balanced, open stance from the right side with hands back in a pre-loaded position. Slightly longer stride and does create some hand separation. Direct, level swing path to the ball with power present. Squared several balls up hard in the two games we saw him including a no doubt blast to left-center field on Friday afternoon. Solid at third base in the field - plenty to like from this uncommitted 2019.
Brendan Simonds LHP/1B Severna Park 2020
Big, solid body type. Hits from a balanced, open stance from the left side. Small front leg lift load and short stride length. Showed some rhythm at the plate and stays behind the ball really well. Short, slightly uphill swing path with present pull-side power. Interesting two-way player that hits in the middle of the lineup and toes the rubber.
Camden Handwerger OF/LHP Severna Park 2019
Athletic body type with room to fill out. Hits from a tall, slightly open stance with feet closer together. Uses a leg kick to load and creates nice hand separation. Showed a really good feel for the barrel squaring up several line drives and taking one off the fence in right field for a two-RBI double. Uses the whole field with a short, compact swing and showed off some speed on the bases.
St. Mary's
Andy Hood RHP St. Mary's 2019 (Salisbury)
Smaller, athletic body type. Small side-step wind-up and big leg kick into a tall, compact balance position. Smooth, down-to-out delivery landing square to the plate with an athletic finish. gets over front side well and throws from a high three-quarter arm slot with shorter arm action. Creates some arm speed through release and showed good command of both his fastball and breaking ball. Fastball sat 79-81 mph and touched 82 mph. Breaking ball had tight spin and depth with 11/5 shape at 70-73 mph. Showed the ability to throw any pitch in any count and really fielded his position well.
Brock Goodwin LHP St. Mary's 2019 (Monmouth)
Tall, athletic lefty came on in relief for an inning against Severna Park. Pitched a clean frame striking out one. Worked down and attacked the zone. Throws from a three-quarters arm slot with long arm action across his body as he lands closed to the plate. Strong lower half drive off the rubber and finish. Fastball sat 79-81 mph and breaking ball was 66-70 mph.
McCormick Buchner LHP St. Mary's 2020
Another athletic LHP from St. Mary's that came on for one inning in relief. Took only six pitches to record three outs in a clean sixth inning. Controlled side-step wind-up and smooth, easy delivery. Lands square to the plate and throws from a low-mid three-quarters arm slot with long arm action. Finishes more upright throwing with very easy effort. Fastball sat 79-81 mph and breaking ball was 70-72 mph with gradual 11/5 shape.
Luke Bessette RHP St. Mary's 2021
Tall, solid body type at 6'2'', 180 pounds. Pitched one inning of relief striking out one without allowing a base-runner. Only got one pitch below but full bullpen is on profile from our Preseason All-State event one month prior. Controlled side-step wind-up and leg kick into a tall balance point. Kicks from leg out in delivery with some lower half drive. Throws from a high three-quarter arm slot with long arm action and easy effort. Lands square to the plate with a slight recoil finish. Fastball sat 83-84 mph and breaking ball was 65 mph.
Chesapeake-AA
Dylan Young SS/RHP Chesapeake-AA 2019 (Chesapeake College)
Athletic two-way player for the Cougars. Started on the bump and threw five innings surrendering one run on two hits while striking out eight. Left a fastball up in the fifth inning for a homerun but other than that, showed excellent control throwing 74% of his pitches for strikes. Mixes his pitches well and has confidence to throw any of them in all counts. Controlled wind-up and slow leg kick into a compact balance point. Creates quick arm speed with shorter arm action and throws from a high three-quarters arm slot with regular effort. Lands square to the plate with a strong athletic finish. Fastball sat 79-81 mph and touched 82 mph with slight arm side run. Breaking ball has major depth and 11/5 shape at 69-71 mph. Also mixed in a change-up at 73-74 mph. Hits from a balanced, square stance at the plate. Creates some hand separation and showed a level swing path. Gap-to-gap line drive type hitter with occasional extra pop.
Colby Buckheit RHP Chesapeake-AA 2019 (UMES)
Pitched two innings in relief against Eastern Tech. Struck out the side in the sixth after allowing a leadoff base hit. Struggled to find his command a bit in the second inning of work walking two and surrendering two hits on pitches that missed spots. Altogether struck out five, none bigger than the final one to end the game and get himself out of the jam. Clean arm action throwing from a high three-quarter slot. Fastball 78-80 mph and breaking ball was 65-67 mph with big 11/5 shape.
Eastern Tech
Michael Birchfield SS/RHP Eastern Tech 2019
Athletic two-way player for the Mavericks. Started on the bump and threw four innings surrendering one run on five hits while striking out three. Up-tempo wind-up and leg kick into a compact balance point. Slight hesitation in delivery throwing with shorter arm action from a mid-three-quarters arm slot. Lands square to the plate and finishes falling off to the first base side slightly. Fastball showed some arm side run at 77-80 mph and touched 81 mph. Harder breaking ball at 68-70 mph with tight 11/5 break. At the plate, Birchfield really didn't get a chance to swing it walking three times in the game and got hit by a pitch in his fourth at-bat. The uncommitted 2019 prospect is athletic and balanced in the box starting slightly open. He showed a short, level, compact swing path and great plate awareness battling through some counts to earn his free bases. More of a gap-to-gap line drive type hitter with occasional extra power.
Cam Sklar SS/2B Eastern Tech 2020
Sklar led the Mavericks offensively against Chesapeake-AA going 2-for-3 with and RBI and two runs scored. Hits from a loose, athletic and balanced, slightly open stance at the plate. Gets nice hand separation in load with an average stride length. Direct, level swing path and showed some pop driving one out for a homerun. Does a nice job with his lower half and showed good balance throughout his swing.