July 2nd 2011

Tournaments And Games To Watch

 

Every season, as we look over schedules for high school teams, we find plenty of matchups that will likely attract droves of scouts to the ballpark. As always, there are a few marquee tournaments that bring in some of the best teams in the country and the results undoubtedly will have an effect on our team rankings.

Below is a list of a few tournaments that have teams from our Preseason Top 50, as well as programs that consistently churn out talent. Also listed below are single-game matchups that feature ranked teams facing each other, top draft prospects facing a ranked team or prospects facing each other. Remember, this is high school baseball so nothing is guaranteed. Weather can wreak havoc on pitching rotations and scheduled dates.

TOURNAMENTS

Sarasota Classic, March 14-17
The Sarasota Classic has been a mainstay in Florida, attracting 32 of the states best teams. No. 20 West Boca High of Boca Raton is the lone ranked team, but a potential matchup between them and Fort Myers Bishop Verot or host Sarasota High would be interesting. Bishop Verot has preseason All-Americans in righthander Hudson Boyd and first baseman Dan Vogelbach. Sarasota has produced many players at the next level and always puts a quality team on the field.

Selective Recruiting High School Spring Break Tournament, March 14-19
This will be Selective Recruitings inaugural event, but there was clearly no problems in getting some of the top teams in South Florida to participate. Ranked teams include No. 7 Archbishop McCarthy (Ft. Lauderdale) and No. 49 American Heritage (Plantation). Also on the radar are Miamis Columbus High and Westminster Christian School, Jupiter High and Mater Academy of Hialeah. Columbus has 2011 lefthander Andrew Suarez. Albert Almora, a top outfield prospect for 2012, plays for Mater Academy. Jupiter High has 2011 righthander Ryan Harris and Westminster Christian has 2012 infielder David Thompson.

Big League Dugout National Invitational, March 28-31
This event attracts some of the best teams in the Four Corners, but also has been known to pull from California and the East Coast. No. 10 Bishop Gorman High (Las Vegas), No. 30 Spanish Fork (Utah) High and No. 47 Forsyth Country Day School (Lewisville, N.C.) are the ranked teams participating. Others to watch include Arizona powerhouses Horizon High of Scottsdale and Brophy College Prep of Phoenix as well as Los Angeles Harvard-Westlake and South High of Downers Grove, Ill. Harvard-Westlake has a top righthander for 2012 in Lucas Giolito while South High has 2011 righty Nick Burdi.

Anaheim Lions Tournament, April 2, 4-6
The National Classic and Lions Tournament typically overlap, but not this season. This years event has just one team ranked in the preseason—No. 8 Mission Viejo (Calif.) High—but has several others that are worth watching. The Trinity League in Californias Southern Section is widely considered one of the strongest conferences in the country and has three of its teams in this tournament: JSerra High (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), Mater Dei High (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Lutheran High (Orange, Calif.). West Ranch of Valencia, Calif. should attract some attention as well with righthander Ryan Keller on the mound.

Hard 9 National Classic, April 18-21
The National Classic has been a fixture among high school tournaments for two decades. This years event is looking strong with three teams from the Preseason Top 50 participating. The schedules are still being determined but any kind of matchup between No. 3 St. Francis, No. 11 Chaminade and No. 19 Bishop Amat would surely be worth attending. Also in the tournament field are El Dorado High (Placentia, Calif.) and Chatsworth (Calif.) High. El Dorado has Chris Rivera, an infielder considered to be one of the top prospects for 2013. Chatsworth is a legendary California program and has top outfield prospect Aaron Brown.
 

GAMES

American Heritage High vs. Gulliver Prep, Miami, Feb. 24
Gulliver Prep starts the season at No. 13 and American Heritage checks in at No. 49 while having a national title on its resume. Catcher Brandon Sedell of American Heritage will be the scouts main concern, but both teams feature a loaded underclass.

Broken Arrow (Okla.) High @/vs. Owasso (Okla.) High, Feb. 23, April 15
Broken Arrow and Owasso are playing in the same Florida tournament and are the favorites to win the 6-A title in Oklahoma. These are the only dates where theyre scheduled to play each other, but its very possible that theyll face off three or four times. Not only will it have Top 25 implications, but there could be some very good pitching matchups. Both have a Top 5 righthander—Owasso with Dylan Bundy and Broken Arrow with Archie Bradley. Broken Arrow also has Top 100 righthander Mason Hope while Owasso has Phillip Wilson, a righty going to Oral Roberts. Each team also has a D-I catcher. Drew Stiner (Owasso) is going to Arizona State while Dylan Delso (Broken Arrow) is going to Oklahoma.

Barbe High, Lake Charles, La. @ No. 22 Catholic High, Baton Rouge, Feb. 24
Catholic is loaded for 2011 with righthander Aaron Nola leading the rotation. If he starts, facing Barbe will be an early test for him and Catholic since the Bucs always put a quality contender on the field. Barbe also has 2012 shortstop Gavin Cecchini, Garins younger brother.

No. 24 Sumrall (Miss.) High vs./@ No. 25 Petal (Miss.) High, Feb. 26, March 26
Sumralls hopes of setting a record for consecutive wins were dashed in 2010, but the Bobcats carry an 11-game win streak into this season. This two-game meeting with Petal could determine who Mississippis top team is in 2011.

The Woodlands (Texas) High vs. No. 1 Carroll High, Corpus Christi, Feb. 26
In the 2010 shadow of righthander Jameson Taillon was Bryan Brickhouse, a 2011 righthander committed to North Carolina. Hell face a good team early in preseason No. 1 Carroll High. Carroll has a prospect itself in outfielder/righthander Courtney Hawkins, a 2012 prospect.

Pinecrest High, Southern Pines, N.C. vs. Forsyth Country Day, March 2
North Carolina is looking at an intriguing spring with one of its best high school draft classes in recent years. This game will kick off the season with Forsyth Country Day taking its five D-I signees to face Pinecrest righthander Dillon Maples.

Montverde (Fla.) Academy @/vs. Arlington Country Day School, Jacksonville, March 5
These teams faced off once already in mid-February with Arlington winning 10-5. The attraction will be to see two of the countrys top infielders in Francisco Lindor (Montverde) and Javier Baez (Arlington).
 

Gulliver Prep @ Parkview High, Lilburn, Ga., March 5
Both of these teams begin the season in the Top 25—Parkview is No. 13—and will likely do so again in 2012 thanks to their impressive junior classes.

Columbus (Ga.) High vs. Pace (Fla.) High, March 5
No. 21 Columbus is a perennial contender in Georgia and returns nine starters from its 2010 3-A state championship team. The Blue Devils schedule is difficult this season and features Floridas defending 5-A champs in No. 40 Pace.

Montverde Academy @ Olympia High, Orlando, March 7
Olympia could have a strong club in 2012 with righthander Walker Weickel and outfielder Jesse Winker being two key pieces. If Weickel starts it would be a good chance to see Lindor face a top arm.

Parkview vs. Marist School, Atlanta, March 7
No. 46 Marist is the defending 4-A champion while Parkview will be a Top 25 contender for the 2011-2012 seasons.

St. Francis High vs. Bishop ODowd High, Oakland, March 11
St. Francis starts the season as one of the top five teams in the country thanks to having seven seniors signed to play at the D-I level. Tyler Goeddel and Alex Blandino make for a very strong left side for a high school squad. Bishop ODowd has righthander Joe Ross. Starting this game would be a big test for Ross as well as St. Francis lineup.

Bishop Verot High @ Jesuit High, Tampa, March 12
Bishop Verot could make its way into the rankings this season with 2011 prospects Hudson Boyd, righthander, and Dan Vogelbach, a first baseman. Jesuit starts the season at No. 4 in the country. This game could produce a matchup of Boyd vs. Lance McCullers Jr., the top prospect for 2012. And it would be fun to see how far a ball could travel if Vogelbach can square up a 95 mph fastball from McCullers.

Rocky Mount (N.C.) High vs. Forsyth Country Day @ Durham Athletic Park, March 12
This game will be part of the Impact Invitational, which has seen dozens of scouts attend in the past few years. This years event will be smaller than normal with just six teams participating, but the first game will have Forsyth facing righthander Benton Moss.

Bishop Amat High vs. Chatsworth High, March 14
Bishop Amat had a shot at a national title in 2010, but was upset early in the playoffs. The Lancers begin the season at No. 19. Chatsworth won back-to-back national titles in 2003-2004. This game will pit two quality programs against each other while featuring outfielder Aaron Brown of Chatsworth, a prospect for the 2011 draft, as well as Rio Ruiz, a 2012 shortstop/righthander for Bishop Amat.

Columbus High, Miami @ Archbishop McCarthy High, March 14
Archbishop McCarthy starts the season at No. 7 and its always fun to see loaded teams face anothers ace. Columbus has 2011 lefthander Andrew Suarez.

Parkview vs. Columbus (Ga.) High,  March 14
Columbus and Parkview are arguably the best teams in Georgia this season and this game may settle that debate.

Forsyth Country Day vs. Florida Christian School, Miami, March 16
Baseball America had a hand in arranging this game, matching a preseason Top 50 team against one of Miamis formidable high school programs.

Gulliver Prep vs. Jesuit High @ Miami, March 19
Gulliver Prep and Jesuit possess strong junior classes and this game could be a preview of 2012 national title contenders.

Catholic High @ Acadiana High, Lafayette, La., March 19
Acadiana has catcher Stryker Trahan, a top prospect for 2012. Catholic has four D-I signees including Nola.

Pinecrest High vs. Florida Christian, March 19
BA also helped set this game up, which will have Dillon Maples facing a Miami school.

Pinecrest vs./@ Scotland High, Laurinburg, N.C., March 22, April 12
Pinecrest has Maples. Scotland has 2012 righthander/first baseman Curt Britt. It should be one of the states better games this season if its anything like 2010 when Maples struck out 10 in a no-hitter.

Menchville High, Newport News, Va. vs./@ Kecoughtan High, Hampton, Va., March 22, April 22
The talent in Virginia hasnt quite been on the same level since Justin Upton was taken with the top pick in 2005. But theres still some players worth seeing and two can be seen at once in this series. Menchville has righthander Deshorn Lake, who has run his fastball into the mid 90s in the past. Kecoughtan has outfielder/lefthander Jake Cave, who is committed LSU.

Holly Springs (N.C.) High vs./@ Green Hope High, Apex, N.C., March 24, May 3
These two schools are in the same conference and both have big arms. Holly Springs has lefthander Carlos Rodon while Green Hope can roll out Max Povse, a 6-foot-8 righthander committed to UNC-Greensboro.

Bishop Verot High vs. West Boca Raton High, March 26
These two teams could be battling for Top 25 superiority by March 26 as both have preseason all-Americans. Boyd and Vogelbach take the field for Bishop Verot while West Boca rolls out righthander Michael Kelly and shortstop Tyler Greene.

Redmond (Wash.) High vs./@ Newport High, Bellevue, Wash., March 28, April 27
Remond is the top team in the state with three D-I signees and this should be Washingtons series of the year. Newport has righthander Cole Wiper to face Redmond righthander Dylan Davis and outfielder Michael Conforto, who plays shortstop during the high school season.

Providence High, Charlotte @/vs. Ardrey Kell High, Charlotte, March 31, May 2
Two Charlotte high schools, Providence and Ardrey Kell have produced plenty of talent recently. Ardrey Kell is only in its fifth season, but this game could feature a dozen D-I signees on the same field—a rare event for North Carolina. Providences best player is catcher Brett Austin while Kell has righthander Chris McCue and shortstop  Logan Ratledge.

Lakeland (Fla.) Christian High @ Orangewood Christian High, Maitland, Fla., April 5
If lefthander Corey Stump starts this game hell face a challenging lineup that includes 2011 third baseman Dante Bichette Jr.

Forsyth Country Day @ Farragut High, Knoxville, April 9
Forsyth has an ambitious schedule for 2011. The Furies will face Dillon Maples on Opening Day and get Florida Christian a couple weeks later. Then theyll head to Arizona for the Big Leage Dugout National Invitational and return to face No. 2 Farraguts lefthander Philip Pfeifer and catcher Nicky Delmonico just a few days later.

Mallard Creek High, Charlotte @ Northwest Cabarrus High, Concord, N.C., April 11
This game will feature one of the states top infielders for 2011, 2012 and 2013. Mallard Creek has shortstop Mikal Hill, a 2011 prospect committed to South Carolina, while Northwest Cabarrus has 2012 shortstop Corey Seager and 2013 infielder Tanner Bigham.

Gulliver Prep @ Mater Academy, April 12
There probably wont be a ton of scouts at this game, but it would be a chance to see Gulliver Preps junior class as well as Mater Academy outfielder Albert Almora, one of the top prospects for 2012.

Gulliver Prep vs. Pace, April 14
This is a recipe for a quality high school matchup. Pace won the 5-A state title in 2010 and has a top 2012 prospect in shortstop Addison Russell. And you know about Gulliver by now.

Oviedo (Fla.) High vs. Orangewood Christian, April 14
Oviedo had righthander A.J. Cole in 2010 and have another in 2011 with Ryan Meyer, though he isnt quite on the same level as Cole. Starting this game would have him facing Bichette.

Boca Raton (Fla.) High @ West Boca Raton High, April 20
If Kelly starts for West Boca, this would help scouts see how 2011 outfielder Dominic Jose fares against premium pitching.

St. Johns College Prep, Washington, D.C. vs. Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, N.J., April 21
No. 34 St. Johns has shortstop/righthander Nick Howard, a 2011 prospect and Virginia signee. No. 14 Don Bosco has a junior class that makes the Ironmen strong national contenders for this season and next.

Bonita High, La Verne, Calif. vs. Bishop Amat, April 25
Bonita has lefthander Adam McCreery, a fast-riser for the 2011 draft. If he starts this game, it would be against one of the better lineups hell see this season.

Cathedral Catholic High, San Diego @/vs. Madison High, San Diego, April 25-26
Cathedral Catholics best player is 2011 lefthander/outfielder Daniel Camarena. On the mound Camarena has solid stuff and shows pitchability. At the plate hes shown a knack for hitting to all fields and using his solid speed. He could face a powerful bat in 2012 shortstop/third baseman Corey Oswalt.

Chaminade Prep @/vs. Harvard-Westlake High, April 26, 29
Chaminade has seven seniors that are D-I signees and Harvard-Westlake has 2012 righthander Lucas Giolito, who blew up at the 2010 Area Code Games. One or both of these games could see a matchup of Giolito against righthander Matthew Troupe—an Arizona signee—and his D-I lineup.

Columbus High vs. Marist School, April 29
This matchup features the defending 3-A (Columbus) and 4-A (Marist) champions in Georgia.

Farragut High vs. Science Hill High, Johnson City, Tenn., April 30
Each year there is a game that could be considered the mother of all, where the number of scouts in attendance approaches, if not breaks, triple digits. Broken Arrow and Owassos games are a candidate to do that, but this game could be just as good. Both coaches have said publicly that their aces will start, which means Science Hill lefthander Daniel Norris and Farraguts Pfeifer will toe the rubber. Add Delmonico to the mix and this should be the best game on the East Coast.

Cathedral Catholic High vs. La Costa Canyon High, Carlsbad, Calif., May 6
If Camarena starts this game for Cathedral Catholic it will be a good test for him as well as La Costa Canyons shortstop Phillip Evans, a 2011 draft prospect committed to San Diego State.

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