Prep Baseball Report

2018 18U Trials: Wednesday Notebook


Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

CARY, NC—The Stripes squad of the 18U National Team trials swept an intrasquad doubleheader Wednesday, beating Stars 3-1 and 5-0. Three home runs were hit between the two games, but the main standouts were a couple of undersize right-handers with good breaking balls.

RHP Jack Leiter (Delbarton HS, NJ) started for Stars in the first game and mostly cruised through four innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six. The run came in the first inning after a leadoff single by SS Kyren Paris (Freedom HS, CA). The California recruit stole second and moved up to third on a wild pitch before coming home on a single by CF C.J. Abrams (Blessed Trinity Catholic HS, GA). Leiter, who stands at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, was pretty dominant after that, using his curveball to get four of his six strikeouts. Though inconsistent, it’s a sharp pitch fluctuating between 11/5 and 12/6 shape with depth at 73-75 mph. He also mixed in a short, darting slider at 79-82, which accounted for his other two strikeouts. His fastball was 88-92 and he showed feel for a fading changeup at 81. Leiter has a compact delivery, seemingly keeping everything in line and within a narrow lane down the mound before he spins off his front leg to the first base side.

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