Day II – 2007 Aflac All American Classic
Staff Report
San Diego
weather is hard to beat if you like baseball.
Under clear blue skies with a gentle breeze and 72 degree temperature the
Aflac All Americans worked out again Thursday morning.
Most of the workout was done in a scrimmage type format with no regard for
rules, lineup cards or scoresheets. Some innings were stopped with 1 or 2 outs and
the batting orders changed constantly.
Then again no one really cares who wins or about any other statistics.
That will all change on Saturday at Tony Gwynn Stadium and the
nationally televised Aflac All American game.
Several pitchers looked very good today as did a handful of the hitters.
Austin Wright LHP from
Illinois
threw 89-91 mph showing a good curveball.
BJ Hermsen RHP from
Iowa
was 90-93 and showed dominating stuff with three pitches.
The hardest throwers today were Aaron
Hicks (California
) and Alex Meyer
(Indiana), both topping out in the mid 90s.
The scrimmage was played without any rules or lineups, no score was kept and the
players pretty much just went through the motions just like the practice session
it was. The final pitcher for the East
Team was West Team outfielder Brent Warren. Isaac
Galloway (California
) looked good at the plate getting a couple base hits.
Kyle Skipworth
(California) swung the bat well as did
Tim Beckham (Georgia
).
The Aflac All American left around noon to visit the San Diego Zoo among other activities
scheduled for today and tonight.
Aflac highlights…
Isaac Galloway (California
) his ankle injury seems to be improving a bit each
day.
Adrian Nieto (Florida
) looks like his arm is back in good shape
Quinton Miller (New Jersey
) He’s back close to a 100% now.
And the biggest highlight of all… Brent Warren
(Iowa
) will be playing in the Aflac All American game just
a little over seven months after having life threatening open heart surgery and
being told he would never be able to play baseball again.
A few Aflac lowlights…
Several Aflac All Americans are injured and unable to play in the game Saturday. They are still being honored here as
the Aflac All Americans they truly are.
Those injured include…
Daniel Marrs RHP (Virginia
)
Walker Kelly LHP (Texas
)
Anthony Ferrara LHP (Florida
)
Kyle Long LHP (Virginia)
Sonny Gray the outstanding pitcher from
Tennessee
looked outstanding the first day here in
San
Diego
. He threw 94 from the mound and hit
well in BP. Unfortunately, the national
television audience will have to wait awhile to see the extremely talented Gray
perform. The finalist for the prestigious
Jackie Robinson award that recofnizes the nation’s top high school player will not
be allowed to participate in the nationally televised
Aflac All American game on Saturday due to a Tennessee High School Athletic
Association rule. Sonny’s
high school started class today with a two hour registration period which
according to
Tennessee
rules makes him ineligible to participate in this Saturday’s game.
Kyle Long is not in
San Diego
due to a minor injury and the beginning of high school football in
Virginia
.
And one of the nation’s top prospects, Eric
Hosmer, has not arrived yet.
Hosmer will get to
San
Diego
immediately after the Midland Redskins finish the Connie Mack World Series.
Midland
is unbeaten as of now, so there’s a good chance Hosmer will not get here until the
night before or the morning of the Aflac game. Most importantly, we’ve been told
that the talented hitter will be here for the game.
Tomorrow’s activities include the first round
of the home run contest. I believe
Ozzie Smith (this year’s spokesman) gets in tonight.
1st Day PG Showcase at the Aflac Classic
This afternoon Perfect Game held a workout for some of the best 09s in
the country along with a couple top 08s.
Tomorrow afternoon this group will be playing a long game at the
University of San
Diego
field. We will be filing a report on
each and every player in attendance, once we return to our offices.
There’s a lot of talent here and some of these guys might just
be Aflac All Americans next year.
A few notes from today’s PG workout
Tommy Winegardner 08 SS/RHP (Maryland
) is one of the top 08 2 way prospects in the nation.
He has signed with Coastal Carolina. Not much he can’t do
on a baseball field.
Brennan May 08 OF (Georgia) Was the MVP of the 17U WWBA in
Marietta
and he has serious speed and power.
Ball jumps off his bat in a hurry.
Michael Zunino 09 C (Florida
) showed off his catching ability, plus arm and hit
3 of his first 5 swings over the left center wall in BP. The star of the show today!
David Nick 09 INF (Calif.
) showed plus actions, an outstanding bat and other
skills today. He definitely loves to
play and it shows.
Patrick Moynahan 09 OF (Calif.
) shows a nice compact left handed swing.
Robert Amaro 09 1B/3B (Penn) has good
actions, bloodlines and the ball jumps off his bat.
Cade Kreuter 09 INF (Calif.
) Easy swing, projects off the charts.
He is the son of the USC coach.
Keenyn Walker 09 OF/P (Utah
) Switch hitter with a pretty line drive swing.
Ryan (Scooter) Gennett 09 (Florida
) showed good actions, a live left handed bat and some
power potential.
Ethan Bornstein 09 LHP/1B (Florida
) Good lefty pitcher but has serious power from the
left side too.
Steven Perez 09 INF (Florida
) showed outstanding defensive actions and a nice arm.
Good left handed swing. Maybe a bit more power from the right side.
Cooper Moseley 09 INF/RHP (Alabama
) Good strong left handed bat with some power, high
level arm strength and nice actions.
Michael Broad 09 INF (Florida
) MVP of the BCS finals, he can really hit and play
the infield.
Joey Thys 09 C (Calif.
) looked very good catching and throwing today.
Jacob Morris 09 OF/RHP (Texas
) Showed a lot of all around talent today.
Chad Kettler 09 INF (Texas
) Switch hitter who shows some power potential, good
athlete.
Michael Heller 09 RHP/INF (Florida
) A very talented RHP who absolutely mashed the ball
during BP today. Hit the ball as hard
as anyone other than Zunino.
Tomorrow’s first round of the Aflac home run contest and the PG Showcase game should
be a lot of fun.