Prep Baseball Report

Scouting Notes: Garnet Valley at Penncrest



By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

garnet valley @ penncrest (april 6)

The visiting Jaguars rode the left arm of Dalton Mayberry (Marist) and the bat of 2014 OF Sean Sarbaugh to a 7-2 Central League victory on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

MayberryMayberry (right) went six strong innings, allowing four hits, four walks, and two HBP, while tallying ten strikeouts. He throws from a high-3/4 slot, mainly pitching with an FB at 83-85 that had some armside action and a solid 11/5 CB at 67-69, racking up five strikeouts on each pitch. He also mixed in a slider with late cut action that gave him two distinct breaking balls. Mayberry's rhythm and command were better out of the wind-up, as he has a slight head jerk and jumps at the hitter a bit, moreso out of the stretch. He pitched mainly armside with his fastball, but got hitters to chase elevated ones with some riding action out of the zone late in counts.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound right-handed hitting Sarbaugh starts from an upright, open stance. He has a tendency to work around the ball and hook it, but he does have some juice in his bat. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

2014 SS Andrew Bechtold didn't come away with much to show for his offensive efforts, but he flashed some of the tools that led him to give a verbal commitment to Maryland recently. The switch-hitter has an athletic frame with room to add strength. He exhibited a soft glovehand and solid arm strength from the left side (he also topped out at 85 while pitching the 7th inning). He posted a 4.56 home-to-1B time on a turn from a left-handed at-bat in which his hands worked through the ball nicely and he lined out to center.

For Penncrest, left-handed hitting 2014 OF Ron DiMatteo, who has a solid 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame, put together a couple of nice at-bats. He lined a triple over the center-fielder's head against Mayberry in the 1st inning, posting a 4.56 home-to-1B time on a turn on his way around the bases. He also hit a deep flyout to center against Bechtold in the 7th inning that registered an 88 mph exit velocity. DiMatteo starts with his hands forward and draws them back a long way in his load, during which he incorporates a toe-tap and rocks to his backside. He also recorded five strikeouts against two hits and one walk in 2.2 IP, working almost exclusively armside with a 75-77 FB and 69-72 one-plane breaking ball from a 3/4 slot.

DonnellyUncommitted 2013 catcher Shane Donnelly (right) showed above average arm strength with significant carry. He struggled as a receiver and will need to shore up that aspect of his game in order to solidify himself as a front-line backstop at the next level. Donnelly ripped a double to right-center in his third at-bat, a result that his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame should allow him ample opportunity to do more of going forward as well.

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