D1 Game Notes – Stephen Gant, Kyle Zimmer, North Florida, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon

D1 Game Notes – Stephen Gant, Kyle Zimmer, North Florida, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon

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     Virginia P Whit Mayberry - torn UCL – out for season

·        Kyle Zimmer utilizes four pitches, all of which have the potential to rate as above-average offerings. His fastball sat 92-94, touching 96 mph, with decent life. The pitch flattens out at times up in the zone, but overall Zimmer commands it well, working both sides of the plate and challenging hitters. His curveball came in 79-81 with sharp, 11-to-5 break, and already rates as a solid out pitch. It has hard falling-off-the-table drop, drawing lots of swings and misses. In addition, Zimmer mixed in a changeup and slider, both of which lacked consistency but showed flashes of great promise. His changeup was deceptive, sitting 83-85, with good arm speed and a little fade. He threw it for strikes, often with the first pitch of the at-bat. His slider, however, wasn’t very sharp, coming in 85-86 and hanging multiple times. In the fourth inning, San Diego catcher Dillon Haupt took advantage with an opposite-field home run - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2012/04/game-reports-kyle-zimmer-hunter-virant/

·        The University of North Florida baseball team scored 10 runs on 13 hits to upset the No. 1 Florida Gators, 10-5, on Tuesday night at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium in front of a crowd of 2,144. With the win the Ospreys (18-13) tie the all-time series at 5-5 and improve to 3-0 over the Gators (24-5) in the city of Jacksonville. North Florida is the first unranked team to defeat Florida this season. Offensively, the Ospreys scored 10 runs on 13 hits. The 10 runs scored are the most by the Gators this season and the 13 hits recorded was the fourth most allowed by UF.  Five different North Florida players recorded multiple hits on the night. Michael Wesner led all Ospreys with three hits on the night, while Alex Bacon, Chris Carter, T.J. Gavlik and Andrew Karmeris each had two hits apiece. A. Karmeris made his hits count, recording a home run and a double on the night. Gavlik hit his first triple of the season in the win. Bacon and Tyler Marincov each boasted doubles to give UNF five extra base hits on the evening. Bacon, A. Karmeris and Wesner each tied for the team lead with two runs scored each while Gavlik drove in a career-best three runs on the night.

·        Marcus Stroman, while not imposing on the mound at 5'9", 190, he is imposing as soon as he throws his first pitch. From an easy delivery, he leans back and fires strikes. In the first inning he may have only thrown one or two pitches other than his fastball. He looked good but not great. GT hitters were making contact though they weren't any damage. Kyle Wren pulled a well struck pitch to right field for a hit. A couple others made solid contact but they were timing the fastball and not doing much with it. This continued all the way through the lineup. The second time through the lineup, Stroman started throwing his breaking ball more and mixing in a very impressive change. The breaking ball was tight, with good break and he was even getting called strikes frequently on it, so it isn't just a chase pitch. The strike outs came in bunches. He worked in the strike zone with all 3 pitches and may have mixed in an occasional cutter as well. It was an impressive showing. - http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/3/2922240/duke-vs-georgia-tech#storyjump

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          Carlos Rodon has a strong big, strong build at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds, and looks the part of a tight end. He is strong throughout with very thick legs and ankles. A natural comparison for Rodon would be Texas Rangers LHP Matt Harrison, a player with a similar background. Harrison attended South Granville HS, about 40 miles north of Holly Springs HS, where Rodon attended. Harrison was also an N.C. State commit but signed with the Braves as a third rounder in 2003 before being sent to the Rangers in the July 2007 blockbuster trade that also had Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, and Beau Jones going to Texas with Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay heading to Atlanta


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·        Chris Beck was named the National Pitcher of the Week. Fresh off his first relief performance of the season last Tuesday, the right-hander returned to a starting role on Friday night and struck out 16 College of Charleston batters in a mere six innings, picking up his third win of the season and pushing GSU to within one game of .500. The combined 18 strikeouts in two appearances during the week pushed his total to 61 in 47.2 innings, good for fifth in the nation. Beck’s line of 3-2, 3.59, and 61-to-12 K:BB doesn’t look too bad on a team that has played as poorly as GSU has. http://mlbdraftcountdown.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/chris-beck-rights-the-ship-improves-draft-stock/

·        Kevin Gausman told Kendall Rogers that the development of his split-change and new and improved slider have been huge keys this season

·        LSU RHP Kevin Gausman vs. Florida RHP Karsten Whitson on Friday.

·        Speed Checks:

Cathedral Catholic HS (2013) LHP Stephen Gonsalves -  88-91,  92

Hagerty HS (FL) RHP Zach Eflin – 89-93