On July 12, at Poway High School SportsForce was on hand to capture footage from the San Diego High School Baseball Showcase. The event was put on by the San Diego County Baseball Coaches Association and featured many of the best seniors throughout the county. In attendance were college coaches (including USD, LMU, University of Oklahoma and Long Beach State) and MLB scouts. The event was a great opportunity for the athletes to showcase their many skills with the hopes of reaching the next level.
The event consisted of four teams: South County, North County, East County, and a San Diego City team. During the morning, the North and South teams both ran the “60” (60 yard sprint) with scouts and coaches eagerly timing each player. After, both teams proceeded to take a 30 minute batting practice session, followed by a ten minute infield/outfield. The teams then played a nine inning game with slightly different rules. Each ½ inning consisted of a new pitcher facing a maximum of five batters, with the bases being cleared after three outs. During the afternoon, the same process was repeated by the East and City teams.
There were many impressive players throughout the day, but there were a few from each team who really stood out.
South County:
Agustin Lopez from Montgomery got the game started off on the right foot by blasting a home run to left field in the 1st inning. Lopez, a 6’1” RHP / 1B, also pitched a scoreless inning on the mound. He is coming off a very strong year on the mound where he had a 1.91 ERA and held opponents to a .189 BA. Hector Montes, an infielder from Bonita Vista, put on a very impressive power display during batting practice, belting numerous homers to left and center field. At 235 lbs, he was surprisingly fast, running his 60 in 7.47 seconds. Montes was dominant during his high school season batting .429 and hitting 7 home runs. Robert Lucero, a 6’1” outfielder from Chula Vista, displayed impressive power by hitting a home run during the game. He ran his 60 in 6.78 seconds which is above average speed for an outfielder.
North County:
Reed Reznicek, a 6’2” right-handed pitcher from Rancho Buena Vista, was the most impressive pitcher of the day. He struck out three during his inning of work, and kept batters guessing with an array of different pitches. He was helped by batters swinging at bad pitches, but for the most part, he consistently located his fastball on the corners and utilized his off-speed pitches which included a tight slider and change up. Jimmy Allen, also from Rancho Buena Vista, put together impressive at-bats throughout the day, which was capped off by an RBI double. Allen, a versatile player, can play both infield and outfield, and ran an impressive 6.88 second 60 yard sprint. Last season, he hit .387 with five home runs . Aaron Siliga, a left-handed outfielder and pitcher from Oceanside, is a scrappy player who can do many different things on the baseball field. He has a quick swing and hits the ball very well to left-center field. He also possesses a very strong arm in the outfield and has speed to cover a lot of ground. Last year, he hit .400.
East County:
Brian Carroll, a 5’11” center fielder from Granite Hills, impressed both offensively and defensively. During batting practice, he sprayed line drives all over the field with many of them actually leaving the park. Carroll showed off his strong arm in the outfield as well as his blazing speed. He ran his 60 in 6.8 seconds. His Granite Hills teammate, Jared Hunt, was equally impressive. A versatile player who can play all over the diamond, Hunt has a beautiful left-handed stroke with power to all fields. This was evident during his batting practice session, when he hit many balls out of the park. He capped it off by hitting a ground rule double to the deepest part of the park during the game. Evan Potter, a 6’1” shortstop from Grossmont, showed off his nice opposite field approach by hitting a triple to the right-center field gap. He also was very solid defensively, showing off his solid hands and making all the necessary plays.
City:
Casey Munoz, a 5’10” 190 lb. outfielder from Cathedral, did not hit anything but line drives throughout the day. Built more like a linebacker than an outfielder, Munoz constantly put good swings on the ball and did not appear fooled by any of the pitchers. During the spring season he hit a staggering .483 with five home runs. Dominique Brewington, a switch-hitting outfielder from Morse High School, showed off his dazzling speed by running the 60 in 6.73 seconds. With a batting stance similar to Curtis Granderson, Brewington impressed from both sides of the plate and put a lot of pressure on the defense due to his speed. Last season he hit .371 with 27 stolen bases . Connor Hoffman, an outfielder from St. Augustine, impressed all the scouts by running his 60 in 6.46 seconds. Hoffman can really swing the bat well and already is showing the potential to play at the Major League level.
The San Diego High School Baseball Showcase gave all of these athletes an opportunity to impress college coaches and MLB scouts, and each player took full advantage making it a very enjoyable and entertaining day.
