Northern Louisiana Preseason I.D.: Catcher Analysis

Logan Carter C / 2B / Converse, LA / 2023

Athletic 5’10” 150 lbs. frame with room to add strength.  Starts in a slightly open, slightly tall, balanced stance with hands held at shoulder height and the bat head laid back slightly.  Simple load and stride to get to center.  Hands dropped as front foot landed at times with uphill extension that produced a max exit velocity of 74 mph.  Behind the plate, showed average footwork, catching the ball slightly out of his crouch.  Short arm action, slightly pauses at the top before releasing.  Recorded a positional velocity of 69 mph with pop times of 2.09-2.20.  Ran an 8.09 in the 60.

Cooper Devall C / 1B / Sulphur , LA / 2023

Physical and compact 5’10” 180 lbs. frame with present strength in the lower half.  RHH hits from a slightly tall, balanced, and slightly open stance.  Simple load and stride to get back to center.  Flat bat path with slightly uphill extension and present pull side power.  Max exit velocity of 90 mph.  Quality receiver and blocker behind the plate.  Receivers from a slightly taller stance.  Above average transfer with athletic footwork, using a short and quick arm action to release the ball from a high ¾ arm slot produced a positional velocity of 65 mph with pop times of 2.10-2.25.  Throws were accurate with backspin and carry.  7.68 in the 60.  Offensive catcher to follow in the 2023 class.

Bryce Fontenot C / SS / Sulphur, LA / 2024

Athletic 5’8” 145 lbs. frame with plenty of room to add strength.  Starts in a balanced and athletic stance, slightly crouched over.  Uses a toe-tap load and stride to get back to center, bringing his hands back as the front foot plants.  Worked out of his lower half at times with a slightly uphill bat path and pull-side extension.  Max exit velocity of 83 mph.  Behind the dish, did a good job of staying down in his crouch, creating realistic throw downs to 2B.  Short arm action, releases the ball from a ¾ arm slot that produced a positional velocity of 69 mph and pop times of 2.07-2.20.  Ran a 7.40 in the 60.

JC Hendrickson C / 2B / Many , LA / 2024

Tall, lean 5’11” 150 lbs. frame that should continue to fill out.  Starts in a slightly tall, balanced, and athletic stance with rhythm in his hands held at shoulder height.  Simple load and stride to the baseball.  Bat path was slightly uphill with good extension that produced a max exit velocity of 75 mph.  Behind the plate, showed athletic footwork and soft hands.  Transferred into low ¾ arm slot with a short arm action that produced a positional velocity of 67 mph.  Posted a 7.81 in the 60.

Thomas Marsala C / St Frederick, LA / 2022

Physical and projectable 6’2” 190 lbs. frame with some room to add strength.  Balanced and athletic set-up for the LHH with some rhythm in his hands.  Uses a simple load and stride.  Stayed on his backside at times too long, which caused him to spin off balls.  When the backside got through, there was some gap to gap power.  Max exit velocity of 91 mph.  Quality receiver with above average footwork and a quick release behind the plate.  Arm action was short and quick, releasing the ball from a ¾ arm slot that produced a positional velocity of 77 mph, one of the day’s best and pop times of 1.97-2.13.  One to follow in the 2022 class

Henton Roberts C / OF / Neville, LA / 2022

Physical 5’11” 185 lbs. frame with wide shoulders and strength in the lower half.  Ran a 7.08 in the 60.  Starts in a balanced and athletic set-up with his front foot turned inwards before using a simple load and stride to get back to center.  Hands are held high working down to the baseball with slightly uphill extension.  Finished in his back leg with present gap to gap power.  Max exit velocity of 92 mph.  Stayed down in his crouch with athletic footwork before releasing the ball from a ¾ arm slot that produced a positional velocity of 77 mph with pop times of 1.94-2.07 with backspin and carry.  One to watch in the 2022 class.

Braedan Sterling C / 3B / Plain Dealing, LA / 2022