It was a beautiful day at O’Brate, and it completed a double header between the scrimmage and the Women’s basketball game. And, it’s always great to spend a full day in God’s country watching OSU athletics.
The first thing that stuck out, at least to me, was the bodies. I had not seen any of those guys since Fall, and many of them looked trimmer, leaner, and with more muscle, so kudos to Garrett Bayliff and the Strength & Conditioning staff on a job well done.
Mario Pesca and Bryce LeBlanc were the two pitchers that I got to see, both going 3 innings. I was not able to stay for the entire scrimmage, but I did get to catch a lot of great action, and here are my thoughts.
Mario Pesca
The Italian Stallion gave up some runs, but context matters, especially in a controlled scrimmage. First, you never know what each player is actually working on, so everything has to be taken in stride.
For instance, 2 of the hits in the 1st inning off of Pesca were on ambushes on 1st pitch breaking balls, and both were hit to the opposite field. Mario will take that every day and twice on Sundays. Not the hits, but if hitters wanna consistently swing at off-speed pitches early in counts, he’s gonna get a lot of quick outs and knock down a bunch of scoreless innings.
His first 5 pitches were electric, facing Ortiz to start the day off. He was nailing the fastball low and away, but then he hit Ortiz trying to come up and in, and that started a snowball of unfortunate events and a few runs in the 1st.
In the 2nd inning, he had a very good battle with Brock Thompson, then eventually walked him several pitches into the at-bat to lead off the inning. Good Job Brock! He then got a double play ball where the relay thrown was errant, so instead of 2 outs and no one on, he had 1 out. Brady Francisco then executed a hit and run by fisting an 11 MPH jam shot to 2nd base, who happened to be covering the bag.
Great offensive execution! Atta baby Brady!
Mario was 91-93 on his fastball, 83-85 on his breaking balls
Kollin Ritichie
Wow!
Dude hit a 1st pitch breaking ball in his 1st at bat for a basehit, which shows he understands his approach, how pitchers are going to attack him, and the plan to be aggressive early in counts. Pitchers are going to be careful to him, so “get me over” breaking balls early in counts might be the best pitches he sees, and, that being the case, being aggressive early in counts could suit him well.
In his 2nd at bat, he turned around 91 for a long HR, but it was foul, then hit one off the end of the bat for a home run that almost left the entire stadium to RC. Dude has some kind of impressive tools! He played center field!
Aidan Meola had a huge 2-strike 2 RBI hit to right center. Meola laid off several good pitches, then stayed inside the ball, let the ball get deep, and shot it the other way for a HUGE hit.
TP Wentworth had an opposite field RBI basehit on an early count, breaking ball. Wentworth is very impressive as well, and I don’t see any world in which he doesn’t play a HUGE role in some way for this team.
Sebastian Norman…HOLY WOW!
Dude turned around 92 and hit one dead center off the hitter’s eye. Norman has always had a very physical body, but he’s done great work shaping it even further, and he looks like a BEAST! His size, strength, and speed are pretty rare, so stay tuned on this dude.
Campbell Smithwich showed a good 2-strike approach where he didn’t even lift his foot or front leg, let the ball get deep, stayed inside the ball, and shot the ball the other way.
Deacon Pomeroy is a Freshman from Topeka, who, at 6’4, is another one of these freshmen with “plug and play” bodies. He was a multiple-time All-Stater at Shawnee Heights, and when you see him, you won’t be surprised. He hit one at about 200 miles per hour right over the shortstop, and it was LOUD.
Bryce LeBlanc started opposite Mario and had some really nice flashes, but ran into some trouble as well. He worked fast, pitched very confidently even through trouble, and had a very well-defined plan. He was 90-93 and threw back-to-back 93s, in good locations. I was not behind home plate, but what looked like his change-up was 82.
Sorry, this doesn’t cover all the action, but I couldn’t stay for the whole thing, and, TBH, with the season starting this week, I don’t want to put too much out. Any little bit of the margins matters, so no video, no analysis, just reporting on the action.
