Opening Day is a little less than 3 weeks away. Jeff Scholzen (Utah Scouting Director) jumps in to the 2025 season coverage with our annual preseason team previews, where we will take notes from coaches, and highlight returning players, newcomers, and some sleepers. Over the next couple of weeks and leading up to opening day, we will be highlighting some of the top programs in the state with our team previews.

As our ardent readers are aware, Team Previews are answered by the Head Coaches of those programs and the scouting reports embedded in the PBR player profiles of the top players, are written by state scouting director Jeff Scholzen, the states only full-time MLB Area Scouting supervisor ever. 

With data partners Trackman Baseball, the leaders in measuring the ball flight and its characteristics off the bat for position players and out of the hand for pitchers. No one does it better. Blast Motion captures key swing metrics in evaluating the efficiency of the swing and where a player's swing is good or bad and what needs to be worked on. Vald Performance measures the 10 yard, 30 yard and 60 yard dash splits as an athlete with the Smart Speed Plus. Vizual Edge eye trainer and testing computer software is an industry leader and because most professional baseball players have excellent vision, it is thought that if one could improve a player’s visual skills with sports vision training, one might be able to enhance offensive baseball performance 

This season as in every past season, stats are collected across the state at the end of that week's play, with input from coaches, assistant coaches and ultimately myself in putting together comprehensive player content on a weekly basis with the following. 

1. Weekly Utah Power 20 Overall Team Rankings (Monday)

2. Player and Pitcher of the Week, along with other notable player performances (Tuesday)

3. Player Spotlights throughout the spring of top players who are making their mark on the HS scene in capturing college recruiting looks. 

4. I will be scouting games throughout the Southern Utah area and Grant Scholzen will be covering Salt Lake and Utah County areas as a video scout and posting player videos on X/Twitter for college marketing purposes on a weekly basis. 

Quick Footnote: Only 7% of all HS baseball players will play college baseball and the elite of that group, which consists of only 2% will play at the D1 level. These are the players I’m watching and gleaning information on. This is determined by objective data from events, as well as the subjective eye evaluations, honed from my 30 years at the college and professional level. 

Juab by the Numbers

Head Coach:  Josh Park (3rd Year)

Classification: 3A

Region: 12

2024 Win-Loss: 21-8

State Playoff appearances in last 10 years:  10

State Championship appearances last 10 years: 1

State Championships last 10 years: 1 ~2023 3A State Champions

2025 Preseason PBR Ranking: TBD

Key Returners with Grade/Class/Position

Park Reports:

3/13/24

Week One: March 4-10 IP 6.1 H 3 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 SO 12 The BYU commit and two-time Prep Baseball Future Games alum, committed as a SS, but the 3 sport athlete, who will be hanging up the pigskin next fall, to focus on the diamond headed into his senior year. Park has a variety of tools, and playing the MIF, or in the summer roaming the OF, the arm plays at any position, and the arm was on display last weekend on the mound, as Park threw 6.1 inns of shutout ball with 12 K outs vs the defending 5A state champion, the Timpanogos Timberwolves.

2/24/24

Although still a lean, skinny uber projectable frame and build, Park impacted the baseball with added strength compared to last summer, where his high 90’s EV’s, maxed out now at 100.8 at the Preseason All-State and remained easy in doing so. The bat path is direct and flatter with a slight uphill path, that is a natural on-plane path, that when he catches the bottom half of the baseball, the ball shoots to the right and LCF alleys with backspin carry. Not a lofted approach, but one that suggests hard line drive contact with the occasional pull HR power, but the path leans towards using his 6.7/60 speed to leg out 2B’s and 3B’s for his extra base hit power. The glove is still steady and lacks flash of most SS’s, and his hands are soft and quiet out front and makes easy transfers with low to mid 80’s velocity across the diamond. A natural type gazelle running gate, makes Park fun to watch run and the profile and my gut tell me he can be a quality 3B or slide over to the keystone and be a taller offensive 2B base type at the D1 level. The athleticism continues to impress and I really look forward to seeing what type of year 2024 holds for Austin!

RHP Jimmy Larson: 2025/OF

Kai Hansen: 2025/C/RHP

Treyson Coombs: 2025/OF

Maddix Stowell: 2026/INF

Players who graduated in 2021-2024 and are now playing college baseball or "Committed"

Cooper Ford- College Southern Idaho

Kanyon Mattenson - Colorado NW

Garrett Hoffer - Salem University (WV)

Rayden Steele: Doane University

List players you feel have college baseball potential

Austin Park 2025

Connor Cowan 2025

Luke Marostica 2027

Porter Howard 2027, LHP 6’7”

Kai Hansen 2025

List players in your region you feel have the potential to play professional baseball, either out of HS or College

Ryan Oakey- Union 2027/RHP (6’4” 88 mph+)

Dylan Watahomigie: 2027/RHP

Gannon Labrum - Union 2026/OF

Brady Anderson Canyon View 2025/LHP

List the names of returning players who were named All-Region / All-State and their graduation year (Please specify either award or both awards)

Austin Park: All State/All Region

Connor Cowan: All State/All Region

Kai Hansen: All Region 2 team

Luke Marostica: All State HM, All Region 2 team

Please provide a summary of your teams outlook and preview to your upcoming season (Please be as thorough as possible, as this will used in a potential content article preview of your team)

The Wasps return a lot of varsity experience from the previous two years. With three returning starters from the 2023 State Championship team. We will be replacing starting pitcher Kanyon Mattenson with several new arms to the staff. Excited to see how this veteran group comes together with new guys fitting for varsity spots. The pitching appears to be deeper than past years, but will depend on how the young arms develop. We return the majority of our starting pitching with Austin Park and Connor Cowan. Also, return most of our starting infield and catchers, including both catchers Kai Hansen and Luke Marostica. It will be a lot of fun to see how this team comes together for a run at a 3A state title. This team will be tested early wirh a loaded preseason schedule against traditional top upper classification power house programs.

~~ Head Coach, Josh Park

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SCOUTING DIRECTOR (BIO)

Scholzen comes to Prep Baseball after serving 9 years as the "Four Corners" Scouting Supervisor with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-2020). Prior to his run with the Brewers, Scholzen worked for the Los Angeles Angels for 11 years (1999-2010), serving in the same capacity as the "Four Corners" Scouting Supervisor (UT, WY, So-ID, Las Vegas, AZ, CO, NM and El Paso). Scholzen received a 2002 World Series ring for his contributions as a scout with the Angels. 

With the Angels, Scholzen created an Angels Scout Team, in which he coached the following MLB players: Kris Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Greg Bird, Tyler Wagner, Aaron Blair, Joey Rickard, Donn Roach, Johnny Field, Taylor Cole, Andy Burns and Paul Sewald to name a few.

During his run with the the Angels, Scholzen also served as the hitting coach for the Angels rookie ball affiliate in the Pioneer League, the Orem Owlz, helping guide the Owlz to the 2005 and 2007 Pioneer League titles, which earned Jeff two more championship rings.

In Scholzen's 20 year scouting career, he was credited with the signing of 6 MLB players starting with:

Brandon Wood, SS, Angels 2003, 1st Rd ~ Efren Navarro, 1B, Angels 2007, 50th Rd ~ Donn Roach, RHP, Angels 2010, 3rd Rd ~ Tyler Wagner, RHP, Brewers 2012, 4th Rd ~ Payton Henry, C, Brewers 2016, 6th Rd ~ Ryan Aguilar, 1B/OF - Brewers 2017, 31st Rd ~ Scholzen also had an additional 3 players added to various clubs 40 man MLB rosters over the years.

2019 (14th Rd) draft pick, RHP-Paxton Schultz from Utah Valley U, is currently in AAA (Buffalo Bisons) with the Toronto Blue Jays, and former 40 man Brewers rostered RHP (Utah Tech) Dylan File, just recently signed a AAA contract with the Seattle Mariners.

Prior to becoming a professional scout, Scholzen served as the head coach at Southern Utah University between 1993-1997. At the time, Scholzen was the youngest Division I head coach in the country, when he was first hired at 24 years old. The Southern Utah baseball program was dropped after the 2012 season. While coaching at Southern Utah, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Alaska Goldpanners in 1995, as they won the Alaska League Championship. Scholzen also recruited and coached World Series RHP-Ryan Jensen of the San Francisco Giants, who would earn a top 5 finish for NL Rookie of the Year in 2002. Scholzen and Jensen had the unique opportunity, to be on opposing sides of the ledger, when Scholzen's Angels and Jensen's Giants squared off in the 2002 MLB Fall Classic.

Scholzen also had the pleasure of coaching Jensen's roommate and back up catcher, Kyle Turner who has worked in professional/major league baseball for 24 years. Kyle currently is in his 14th season with the big league Kansas City Royals and serves as the clubs Head Athletic Trainer. Turner was instramental, while a young player for Scholzen at Southern Utah, in introducing Scholzen to his first wife, the late Heidi Dalton Scholzen, who passed away in December of 2014. A native of Utah, Scholzen played at Hurricane HS and was twice named 1st team All-State and an AAU HM All-American, before moving on to Utah Valley CC and Eastern Oregon University, earning All-Conference honors on three separate occasions. Scholzen played in the Angels’ organization in 1991.

Scholzen was married to his late wife Heidi for 20 years and their union produced four children - McKyla 28, Miranda 25, McKenzie 23 and the couples only son, Grant Scholzen 19, played 2B/3B at D1 WCC school, the U of the Pacific (Pacific Tigers) on scholarship, in 2024 and transferred to Salt Lake CC.

After Heidi's passing in 2014, Scholzen married Cami Macias Scholzen, a widow herself and the same age as Heidi and the couple now have been married 9 years. Between both families, Jeff has 3 grandchildren and 5 step grandchildren (8 total). The Scholzen's reside in Hurricane, UT in the bottom left SW corner of the state, near the most iconic and scenic national parks in the country.