The 15U Houston Banditos-Black continue to dominate in impressive fashion, running their record to 7-0-0 on Wednesday afternoon, then advancing to the Final Four of the WWBA 15u National Championship after winning their first two elimination games.
The Banditos (9-0) will play Chain National (9-0) at 8:00 AM Friday morning, with the winner advancing to the Championship Game scheduled for 10:15 at Perfect Game Park South at Lake Point. The other Semi-Final game also features a pair of undefeated teams, the East Cobb Astros and the Phenom Signature.
Round of 16
Elite 8
2018 righthanded pitcher and shortstop Brett Brown (Godley, Texas) showed off impressive two-way potential on Wednesday. With a lean and broad-shouldered 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame, Brown is certainly strong already but projects to fill out even more moving forward. Working in the 82-83 range for most of his outing, Brown got up to 86 mph with his fastball with good downhill plane from a near over-the-top slot. Brown did a good job pounding the bottom of the zone with his fastball, showing solid heavy life on the pitch and doing a good job of keeping it off the barrel of opposing hitters. His curveball showed inconsistent shape, working somewhere between 11-to-5 and 12-to-6, but he did show good overall feel to create spin and get good depth on the pitch. Brown is also a high-level talent as a hitter, with an aggressive approach and advanced bat speed at the plate. On Wednesday, he smoked two shots in his first two at bats, one of them a line drive up the middle and the other a lofted, backspun fly ball into the gap in left-center field for extra bases. He will get to his front side a bit early at times in the swing, but overall the bat-to-ball skills are advanced and there is power there to back it up, making him intriguing as a potential two-way prospect as well.
Brown’s teammates, the rest of the Houston Banditos, combined to score 10 runs in their 10-0 victory, with some impressive performances along the way. 2017 outfielder Alerick Soularie continues to impress with his athleticism, projection and overall hitting tools, again showing off very good bat speed on a frame that is both athletic and has tons of room to fill. Shortstop Jordan Groshans is one of the top players in the class of 2018, and shows it defensively even when the bat is a bit quiet. He has great range to both sides with the hands and arm to make the left side of the infield his home for the next several years.
