Scouting Reports

Player Name: Anthony Bonilla School: St. Joseph’s Position: OF Anthony is a 5’9″ CF that is a 2013 graduate of Farmingdale HS. Offensively: He stands crouched at the plate, with his feet about shoulder width apart, his back elbow up and a bat wag as the pitcher prepares in the stretch. As the pitcher gets set, he cocks the bat back and get into his hitting position. He has a small toe tap and not much of a leg kick. He has quick hands and he follows through with both hands. It was somewhat reminiscent of Nelson Cruz’s swing. In the April 1 game, he had three hits in five plate appearances. We’ll break down each at bat. 1st At Bat: Fouled off first pitch, swung-and-missed at fastball at the knees, took fastball outside, smacked a single to CF on a fastball. 2nd...

Player Name: Ryan Aloise School: St. Joseph’s Position: RHP Ryan is a 6’1″ pitcher that is a 2013 graduate of Sayville HS. He begins his windup by stepping back to the side as he begins his delivery. At balance point, he has a straight back leg, a very high leg kick–above the legs–with his toe pointed directly down and his glove over his head. As he begins his falling action, he brings his front leg directly towards home plate, not wasting any motion. He keeps his eyes locked on the target throughout the delivery. He generates good drive with his backside and stays closed until the very last second before he lands, which enables him to generate a lot of torque. The arm circle is long, as he points the ball towards right field. The stride is good and he lands w...

Player Name: Bobby Honeyman School: Stony Brook Position: Infielder Bobby is a 6’0″ 180 lb infielder for Stony Brook University. He is a 2014 graduate of Massapequa HS, where he was named All-State. Offensively: He has a smooth. picture-esque left-handed swing. He bats with a slightly open stance, legs about shoulder width apart, and his back elbow high. He has a slight bat wag as he prepares to get into his swing. He has a small toe-tap as a timing mechanism. He has quick hands and has a balanced swing, which enables him to hit any pitch. The pitch in the video above is above the top-half of the strike zone, but as you can see, he has his bat on a level-plane and was able to extend his hands. He doesn’t really finish his swing completely, not quite as extreme as Chase Ut...

Player Name: Toby Handley School: Stony Brook Position: CF Toby is a 6’1″ 170 lb outfielder for Stony Brook University. He is from Whitby, Ontario. Offensively: He has a very relaxed batting stance, with his feet spread very wide and his bat resting on his back shoulder. As the pitcher gets ready to release the ball he takes a very slight step as he gets prepared to swing. He is very quick to the ball and gets into a good hitting position and generates power from his back side. In the March 11 game, he went 1-for-4 with a walk. He led off the game with a terrific at bat. He fell behind 0-2 on the count, but it appeared he became very comfortable in that position. You can almost say the at bat started after he fell behind 0-2. He fouled off a good curve low in the zone, took a c...

Player Name: Bret Clarke School: Stony Brook Position: RHP Bret is 6’3″ 170 lb pitcher from Royerford, PA. He is a 2019 graduate of Stony Brook. He begins his delivery with a long step back as he drops his glove and prepares for his delivery. He takes an aggressive leg kick to generate force. At his apex, his leg his high and tight, with his momentum already moving forward towards home plate. His back leg is firm and his foot is pointed down, with his eyes locked on the target. He swings his leg out as opposed to towards home plate. This is used by MLB pitchers such as Scott Kazmir and A.J. Burnett. It is not ideal but as long as the arm swing is in synergy with the body, it will not affect command. He generates great drive from his back side, which leads to a very healthy stri...

Player Name: Andruw Gazzola  Photo Credit: Jesse Borek School: Stony Brook Position: 1b Written by Jesse Borek Andruw is a 6’0″ 190 lb graduate of Longwood HS. After spurning the University of Louisville and the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference, Gazzola decided to stay home and join Stony Brook.   Offensively: While the Cardinals wanted him as a pitcher only, Stony Brook saw a middle of the order bat—an honor for a true freshman.  A left-handed hitter but right-handed fielder, Gazzola possesses a sweet, compact stroke that allows him to use all fields.  He keeps his back elbow bent prior to the pitch. In Stony Brook’s America East Conference opener against Binghamton on March 15-16, Gazzola caught fire, going 7-for-13, in addition to two walks.  Playing his fourth game in ...

Player Name: Nick DiEva School: Stony Brook Position: RHP Nick is a 6’0″ 180 lb freshman pitcher from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He has a very quick and aggressive delivery. He steps back very briefly and begins his leg kick. His hands are held low but he raises them head-high at the next phase of the delivery.His balance position is very sound. He has a straight backleg and has a tight leg kick that is about letter height. He keeps his eye on the target throughout the delivery. He does not drive with his backleg very much. His front leg lands bent but raoidly straightens out. He throws directly over the top and finishes square to home plate with a slight fall off to the first base side. In his March 16 outing, he threw 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs ( 0 ER). He s...

Player Name: Tim Knesnik School: Stony Brook Position: RHP Tim is a 6’2″ 190 lb junior pitcher for Stony Brook from Milford, PA. In his windup, he steps back very slightly. He has a smooth, sound delivery. His legkick is pretty high–it’s above the letters. He keeps his backleg bent at the balance point and keeps his front foot parallel to the ground. His eyes are locked on the target throughout the delivery. His arm circle is pretty long and he brings it as far down as possible which eliminates deception. He gets a lot of push off the backside, which is crucial for a thin-framed pitcher. The front led is bent at the landing point but he is able to straighten it out. The arm angle is low 3/4, similar to Roy Halladay. He finishes square to home plate. With men on base...

Player Name: Tommy Zeigen School: Old Westbury Position: SS Tommy is a 2013 graduate of Glen Cove HS. Last year he batted .218 for the Panthers in 41 games. He drove in 19 runs and compiled five XBH. Offensively: He bats with an upright stance, with his feet basically shoulder width apart. His hands are held high, with his back elbow up and he employs a bat wag. His leg kick is very short and abrupt. When his foot lands, he does not cock his arms back–which could sacrifice some power. He keep his head down on the ball, has good extension with his hands and he finishes with both hands on the bat. In the March 17 double header, he went 4-for-6. In his first at bat, he had a long at bat, in which he fouled off several pitches, before hitting a sky-high pop to left center field in which ...

Player Name: Nick Dorcean School: Old Westbury Position: RHP Nick is a 5’8″ 175 lb sophomore pitcher that is a graduate of Archbishop Molloy HS. He threw 11.2 innings last season and allowed eight ER, but struck out 16. He takes a slight step back in his delivery with his hands waist high. He brings his hands up high as he enters his balance position. His leg kick is slightly above waist level. He looks down at his feet just prior to his leg kick. He begins the falling action as his leg approaches the balance position. Shorter pitchers, such as Roy Oswalt and Tim Hudson do this to generate more velocity. There are a couple flaws in his delivery: One is that he does not drive enough with his back leg. Especially for a 5’8″ pitcher, he should really drop it lower to u...

Player Name: Ben Wright Position: LHP School: Briarcliffe Ben is a 5’10” LHP with a slender frame. He will be entering his senior year at Briarcliffe College in 2016. In 2014 he was honorable mention All-American for compiling a 1.35 ERA and striking out 37 over 40 innings. He pitched only from the stretch position. He gets set with his hands belt high and only briefly comes to the set position. His leg kick is not very only–barely above the waist. He keeps his eyes locked in on the target through out the duration.. He kicks his front leg out prior to the drop and drive. He gets tremendous drive from his back leg. The arm circle is as long as it can be which makes him very deceptive. He points it all the way back to left field. His front foot lands open which should be co...

Player Name: Jack Zagaja School: New Haven Position: Third Base Jack is a 6’2″ sophomore at New Haven and 2013 graduate of St. Dominic’s high school where he made a name for himself by hitting back-to-back three home run games. Offensively: He hits with his hands held high, his back elbow up with his feet about shoulder length apart. It appears he would be susceptible to low pitches with that stance. In the March 11 game against Dowling, he did not have a great game. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. In the fifth inning he did show terrific bat speed on an inside fastball in the upper 80s. It appeared to be a hit off the bat but it was directly at the third baseman, who made the play at first. Defensively: He was terrific in the field. He made a diving play on a rock...