Each week, the Prep Baseball Report Oregon staff will highlight some of the top performers across the OSAA landscape in this ‘Diamond Notes’ article. Players mentioned below had impressive performances across the board in a given week.

If interested in submitting a player to be mentioned in next week’s edition of ‘Diamond Notes’, shoot a direct message on Twitter to @PBR_Oregon or via email to [email protected]

For now, here are the players that popped from the first week of OSAA action, spanning from March 12th to March 20th.

DIAMOND NOTES

+ Expect to see a lot of performances like last week’s from LHP Ian Umlandt (Sherwood, 2022; Oregon commit) as the season roars on. One of the state’s top pitching prospects, Umlandt didn’t allow an earned run across five innings, punching out 12 and walking none. He allowed just two hits, but made up for it at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance that included two doubles and two RBIs in the contest.

+ One of the louder performances we’ll likely see all spring on the mound came from RHP Noble Meyer (Jesuit, 2023; Oregon commit). A top-tier prospect in the Pacific Northwest’s junior class, Meyer took the mound against South Eugene and flat-out dominated, punchng 10 batters out on 50 pitches across four scoreless innings. We’re eager to see how he does as the spring progresses, especially should he continue to ascend his stock as a legitimate draft prospect in the 2023 circuit.

+ INF/RHP Ky Hoskinson (McMinnville, 2022; Cal State Bakersfield commit) set the tone early for McMinnville in the season opener, helping lead the Grizzlies to a 10-0 victory over Gresham. Hoskinson pitched four innings, recording 11-of-12 outs via the strikeout in that span - doing so on 58 pitches.

+ Jesuit had themselves quite the week, winning all three of their games. A huge chunk of that success came from both INF Ryan Cooney (2023; Oregon commit) and CIF Hayden Smith (2022; uncommitted). Cooney had an all-around impressive week, finishing with six hits in total. His first performance was the loudest, as he clobbered two home runs, doubled, and scored four times - all out of the leadoff spot. Smith finished the week with four hits, but he homered twice in the Crusaders’ second game and finished that contest with five RBIs. Jesuit is firmly the top team on our current rankings and with these two, as well as several other offensive weapons, they don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

+ It’s been quite the offensive surge to start the year for left-handed hitting OF Jonathan Fritz (Newport, 2022). Fritz currently leads the state in home runs with five, and he’s batting .538 with 10 RBIs in 13 at-bats over the course of four games.

+ In front of our staff on March 16th, RHP Logan Plunkett (Westview, 2022; Puget Sound commit) turned in a strong start for the Wildcats in an eventual win over Grant. Plunkett hurled five strong innings, striking out five batters in the process and earned a mention in our Oregon HS Scout Blog.

+ Left-handed hitting INF/RHP Finbar O’Brien (La Salle Prep, 2023) is 6-for-12 to start the season with two doubles and nine RBIs. O’Brien pitched one inning on the week as well, striking out all three batters he faced.

+ A multi-sport athlete, RHP Sam Oviatt (Springfield, 2022) made his presence felt on the diamond last week after pitching a complete game shutout in a 1-0 win over Churchill. It took Oviatt just 73 pitches in total to go the distance, holding his opponents to just two hits in the win.

+ Another senior arm that turned in a quality outing in week one was Nik Radosavljevic (Valley Catholic, 2022), striking out 13 batters on the road against Molalla last Wednesday.

+ RHP Max Gregg (Corvallis, 2023) threw a five-inning perfect game against South Albany last week. In his flawless outing, Gregg punched out 10 batters on 57 pitches in an eventual 10-0 win for his squad. Still uncommitted, Gregg is an interesting prospect to monitor. He’s 6-foot-5, 200-pounds and comes from a family of rich athleticism with his dad having played professional baseball.

+ Following up Gregg’s performance was 1B/RHP Garrett Holpuch (Corvallis, 2022; Centralia commit). The 6-foot-6, 215-pound senior tossed five shutout innings against Crescent Valley the following day, striking out 10 and walking one, in a 7-1 victory.

+ Senior LHP/OF Hank Kern (McDaniel, 2022) took the mound last Thursday and went 6.1 innings against Forest Grove. Kern dominated, striking out 14 batters while allowing just one hit across his outing and he walked just one batter, too. He chipped in offensively as well, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.

+ An All-Conference selection last season as a freshman, RHP/INF Austin Vaughn (Crook County, 2024) is picking up right where he left off in 2021, striking out 10 batters against Grant Union last week.

+ INF/RHP Kaden Harris (Milwaukie, 2023) punched out 12 batters in four innings of work against Astoria. He provided plenty of production offensively for Milwaukie as well, adding in a single, scoring twice, and swiping three bags.

To follow along with all of our OSAA coverage, click HERE.

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