Player Name: Ben Brown
School: Ward Melville
Position: RHP
Ben is a RHP and 2017 graduate of Ward Melville HS. He has gotten off to a tremendous start this season, winning all five of his decisions in the uber-competitive League I.
From the stretch, Ben gets set with his glove letter high. As he begins his motion, his eyes are locked on third base but he regains his focus immediately after. He has a leg kick and balance position reminiscent of Roy Halladay. He crouches his upper body in at the balance position and has a fast paced delivery as he gets into his falling action. He employ a drop-and-drive delivery–his back leg really bends to generate power. His arm circle is very long and the ball is pointed towards right field. Another thing he does very well is wait until the last possible second before he rotates his hips. He is closed almost until his front foot lands. This allows him to tap into every bit of his strength. The stride is good enough and his arm angle is directly over the top. He gets good extension and doesn’t fall off the mound. His delivery is very efficient and optimal.
In his May 5 start, he worked primarily in the 76-80 MPH range and touched 83 on one pitch. Keep in mind he is only a sophomore and has plenty of room to physically mature. From a delivery standpoint he is close to flawless without room to improve velocity.
He threw a CG and threw only 85 pitches. He threw his curve ball in the 70-72 MPH range and showed a change up sparingly that came in at 73. It was not enough of a difference in velocity but he did do a good job of duplicating his delivery, as to not tip the pitch.
Brown was around the strike zone the whole day, actually the case can be made he threw too many strikes. As the game progressed, the opposition began squaring the ball up more. He allowed one home run in the sixth inning and nearly gave up another on the next batter but it was caught at the fence. In total, he allowed 10 hits.
His best work was between the third and sixth inning when he allowed only two runners to reach and they were both bloop singles. In those innings he worked quick, and threw strikes.
Most of his offspeed pitches were late in the count and I would’ve liked to seen more first pitch curves and pitching backwards against the team that can smash fastballs.
Overall, I walked away impressed with his calm demeanor and ability to compartmentalize in what was a hostile environment in a huge game for anyone–let alone a sophomore. This is a game that will only help to build his mettle even further.
