Today Newfield hosted Ward Melville in a scrimmage. The game featured several high-end players which is why I was in attendance. Below are my takeaways from the game:
Rhode Island-commit Bobby Vath started the game for Newfield and he went four innings. He was very impressive. I first watched him at a showcase two years ago. He’s improved his velocity substantially since that time. He now works in the 87-88 MPH range with his fastball. He is a Div-I pitcher in every sense. He has terrific command of his fastball and throws a sweeping 11-5 breaking ball that he commands as well. Aside from hitting the first batter of the game on his curve, he displayed very good command. His coach was very pleased with his performance, he fanned the second batter on a high fastball. It really showed his ability to expand the strike zone with two strikes. If he’s able to do that through out the season, Newfield has their best pitcher in at least a decade.
He allowed only an unearned run, struck out five and allowed only one hit (a well-struck double to left-center field). I can see him really dominating this season. What really impressed me was his competitive nature. He was visibly upset with himself when he walked a batter, knowing he could’ve put him away earlier in the at bat. He later erased that runner with a 1-6-3 double play. He also turned another 1-6-3 double play in the second inning. Vath also picked a runner off at second base with an inside-move. It was a very athletic move. That can be a real weapon in a close game in the ultra-competitive League 3 of Suffolk County.
Kyle Johnson smoked an opposite field double. He is their best hitter and they will be counting on him to supply significant production in the middle of the order. He made one misplay at shortstop but it was on a terrible hop that he normally would have handled and converted into a force out at second.
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Chandler Giovinco will play a big role on their pitching staff as well. He has a plus fastball and Coach Joyner is high on his potential. He struggled a bit with his command, but I believe he has a lot of moving parts in his delivery that can be ironed out with proper instruction. His delivery–and stride in particular–is pretty lengthy which will require a bit of work to iron out but he has the potential to be a real weapon as the No. 3 starter or closer.
The only thing that could hold Newfield back is their defense. They will need to sure up their corner infield defense in order to win close games and put themselves over the top against a very stacked League.
Ward Melville always finds a way. Coach Petrucci used today to find out what he had in his younger talent pool. They will be leaning heavily on junior LHP and UCONN-commit Max Nielsen. I did not see him pitch today, but he will be anchoring the rotation. They also have another Div-I arm in LHP Chris Buehler. He had two hits today, he is typically only counted on to pitch but perhaps he could provide some production with his bat as well. He smacked an RBI double off Kyle Johnson and added a single as well.
George Washington-commit Logan Doran is an eye-opening player as well. He is very intellectual; exactly the type of player you want as your SS and leadoff hitter. He made an incredible athletic play in the deep 5.5 hole and nabbed the runner by half step. He will be a critical piece to their team this season with the graduation of players like Joey Rosselli, Ben Brown and Mike Sepe.
