Central Coast Rising Stars ID: Event Recap

April 13, 2026
Steven Hardesty
Assistant Director

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This past Saturday, April 11th, the Prep Baseball California team hosted the Central Coast Rising Stars ID at Buena High School in Ventura, Cal. This was an open event for all players in the rising stars classes of (2030-31), and gave our staff an ample look at some of the next wave of top players in the region. For a closer look at the showcase details and the technologies we'll have on-site to assist our in-person evaluation for all in attendance, click here.

The players in attendance went through a pro-style workout, with many of these players attending their first showcase. Our staff gave emphasis to instruction on the showcase environment for these players. As well, the standout players in attendance would be receiving invites to the SoCal Rising Stars Game to be held at Corona High School on Sunday, May 3rd.

To start the day, all position players in attendance ran a 60-yard sprint, which was then followed by defensive evaluations at their primary and secondary position (OF, C, SS, 1B) with arm strength being measured via a Stalker Radar gun and skill evaluations by our staff on hand. Upon completion of the defensive workout, the players went into offensive evaluations with multiple rounds of batting practice, where Trackman Technologies were in use to gather batted ball data on each player in attendance. Once the batting practice portion of the event was completed, we shifted into bullpens with pitchers throwing between 12-15 pitches as two-way players to gather Trackman Technologies pitch data and evaluations from our staff on hand.

Today, we will take a look at a few standout performances from the day. I'm separating the classes into 2030 standouts/leaderboards and 2031 standouts/leaderboards for the offensive portion of the day, with the caveat that the 2031 players were using their approved USSSA bats, while the 2030 players used approved BBCOR bats. For all of the event information, please click here.

2030 STANDOUTS:

Dallas Knothe SS / RHP / San Marcos Senior High, CA / 2030

Knothe is bound for high school to be a part of the San Marcos Royals program, and after a well-rounded showing of athletic ability, INF defensive upside with offensive potential, the Royals are getting a talented young player in the 2030 class. Posting a sound present 7.7 60-yard sprint time, there is quickness off the line for Knothe, which showed up in his defensive workout as he takes a quick first step, showing rhythm into the ball and the ability to play downhill. His hands are sound at present with some confidence to play one-handed, and the arm has present strength (71 MPH INF velocity) for his age, with carry/accuracy from different angles on the field and arm slots. The swing for Knothe is well connected with an uphill path that flashes impact/carry to the pull side of the field when he gets to the bottom half of the baseball. The ball comes off the bat with present authority peaking at 86.4 MPH on the day and averaging over 80 MPH of EV, but he was on top of the baseball more consistently than under or through the ball for carry. The upside is present in the offensive profile as he continues to polish his approach, contact points, and timing to produce his batted-ball angles. With a long-term SS potential profile and a bat that flashes middle to top of the order impact, Knothe is amongst the better names to know of the group entering high school baseball next year on the Central Coast.

Caden Spahr OF / RHP / Ventura, CA / 2030

Spahr is the younger brother of three-time Prep Baseball California event standout (FGT: Malibu 2025, 2025 California State Games, 2026 La Mirada Preseason All State) Liam Spahr and OF/C at Ventura High School. Caden quickly catches your eyes with a solid present frame showing some early development, standing 5'9 and with emerging strength, but there is plenty of future projection to add size/strength as he keeps maturing. The early development of his frame, combined with solid to strong present tools across the board, all add up to a well-rounded profile as a two-way product. A quality present athlete who runs with body control and some quickness off the line that will speed up as he keeps maturing, adding strength to his frame. His arm peaked at 67 MPH from the OF with a loose, longer arm path that has low carry and accuracy on his throws. How much speed and future arm strength Spahr develops will ultimately determine which OF spot he is best suited for, but at present, he shows potential for all three OF spots. At the plate, there is loose quickness with his hands in the swing and solid use of his lower 1/2 to help produce some loud present contact, peaking at 83.3 with a 270+ max batted ball distance on a drive to LCF, plus he laced a line drive right back up the middle that startled me, feeding the machine with how quickly it got there. There is some rawness to the hit tool, but the foundation shows plenty of upside as he matures and continues to develop his overall offensive profile. On the mound, the loose, easy arm action combines with a low-effort athletic move down the mound that has interesting future upside. Spahr doesn't produce high present velocity (max FB velocity of 70.5), but he moves with the type of operation that evokes intrigue as he learns to add intent, arm strength/speed, and fills out the frame that he could present a high-quality righthanded pitching profile in the coming years. Much like his older brother Liam, Caden will make the Spahr name one to follow for the coming years on the Central Coast.

Kellen Merkey RHP / 1B / Dos Pueblos High School, CA / 2030

Merkey quickly passes the eye test with an early, but solidly developed frame that already stands 6'2 and carries over 190 lbs. of quality mass, which has the potential to fill out even further in the coming years. Another Santa Barbara-based product who will head to Dos Pueblos High School, which has a history of strong players who reach the varsity level early (most notably, currently, 2029 star Mattias DiMaggion), and Merkey may challenge for a similar early move to the varsity level. A two-way player who shows strong present ability on each half of the game with a powerful RH swing that produces consistent loft when on time and carries to all fields. He reached 89.5 MPH with his max EV and drove HR over the shallower RCF fence with impressive carry for a true 8th grader (just turned 14 in November). There is some length at times to the swing, and like most young players, he will need to develop his rhythm and approach to be consistent, but the raw foundation of a power profile RH hitter is there for Merkey. He is a sound athlete who moves solidly on the INF dirt, giving promise to a potential 3B future for him as a defender, but would be comfortable at the 1B spot with good athletic ability and a large target for INF defenders to throw to. On the mound, he flashes some present arm speed with looseness in the arm stroke that produced a FB just north of 80 MPH while living at 77-79 MPH presently with ride averaging 20" of IVB in his quick bullpen session. There is more in the tank for Merkey as he learns to use his lower 1/2 more effectively and can block behind his lead leg to tap into solid present arm strength.

2031 STANDOUTS:

Graham Pender RHP / 3B / Notre Dame, CA / 2031

Pender is a true seventh grader who just turned 13 in December of 2025 and shows some interesting present abilities across the board already. Standing 5'11 and in the 165 lbs. range, there is wiry present strength emerging, but he has the broad shoulders and solid length in the frame to fill out in the coming years. Pender, as a position player, is sound in the foundation with a swing that has present quality bat speed with intent in the swing that can produce batted-ball metrics of 84.9 MPH on his max EV, averaging over 77 MPH of EV with a 67% percent sweet spot rate and a max distance of 292' on a drive to LCF. His hands are solid on the INF dirt, while the feet show some present ability to reach the fielding position on time, but he can improve his rhythm and tempo in the coming years to profile as a strong defender at the hot corner. He has a present 65 MPH INF velocity from a quicker transfer to throw, which will increase as he continues to mature and add strength. On the mound, the three pitch mix for Pender was intriguing as he controlled each offering from a delivery that features a loose, quick arm with athleticism in the move down the mound. His FB worked up to mid-70s while showing average spin rates north of 2100+ RPMs and carrying through the zone. He spun a pair of breaking balls in this CB and SLD that each show present spin rates above 2000 RPMs, with the SLD having slightly more present bite to it. As well, each of the breakers did show different shapes, with the CB giving slightly more vertical break and the SLD working more towards his glove side. With another year of development ahead of him before high school baseball, Pender will be an interesting name to keep tabs on over the coming years to see how he continues his growth process.

Wesley Williams OF / RHP / Ventura, CA / 2031

Williams may not evoke much when it comes to an eye test at present, but there is noticeable athleticism in how he moves with some twitchy quickness in his running stride, movements in the OF, and arm path when throwing that are strong for a player his age. While still more than a year away from high school and plenty of physical development before we see him on a varsity field, Williams gives the foundation and vibes of a player who can slot into a CF defensive position and provide solid to strong defense when he reaches that level if he continues on the developmental process he is building. At the plate, his swing is loose and athletic, with balance in the load and at launch to make a quick turn with his hips and a barrel/hand path that works directly to the ball with leverage through the zone. He showed sneaky strength with a USSSA bat in his hand, but the foundation of his offensive operation looks like one that will translate well to the BBCOR bat in the future, and as he fills out, his defensive profile flashes real upside as an RH hitter who shows a hit tool with sound bat-to-ball and barrel awareness at a young age.

L. Beckett Sanchez RHP / SS / Ventura, CA / 2031

Sanchez is similar to his travel ball teammate Williams in that he isn't a physically mature player yet, but his foundation of baseball tools and ability to get to them gives solid projection to his future. As a position player, he has sound hands that field the ball cleanly moving forward, to his glove side, and shows the foundation of quality actions to his backhand side. He came downhill with comfort and will improve as he adds strength/quickness to his frame in the future. His arm was soundly accurate with his throws, and with increased strength in the future may have a chance to play SS, but will comfortably be able to handle a 2B profile to stick up the middle. At the plate, Sanchez showed a compact swing path with some quickness to the hands that helped him be not only accurate with his bat to ball, but also flashed some present barrel awareness. The swing itself is geared for contact with line drives to the middle of the field and gives vibes that, as he makes the transition to the BBCOR bat in the future, while adding strength to his frame should be a solid line-to-line contact hitter who can set the table for a lineup or provide impact/depth to a lineup in the future. More foundation than present tools, the future for Sanchez will be determined by how he matures physically and continues his development process, but he showed enough that if it clicks for him, he can be a solid name to keep tabs on for the Central Coast baseball scene in the coming years.

2030 OFFENSIVE LEADERBOARDS:

MAX EXIT VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Exit Velocity (max)
1	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	95.1 mph
2	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	89.5 mph
3	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	86.4 mph
4	Caden Spahr	CA	Ventura	2030	OF	83.3 mph
5	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	82.3 mph
6	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	80.6 mph
7	Karter Rothfus	CA	Thousand Oaks High	2030	SS	75.8 mph
8	Bryce Gardia	CA	Buena High	2030	C	73.7 mph
9	Kaleb Hardesty	CA	Foothill Technology High	2030	OF	67.8 mph
10	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	66.5 mph

AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Exit Velocity (avg)
1	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	86.9 mph
2	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	85.4 mph
3	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	80.5 mph
4	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	76.3 mph
5	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	75.1 mph

MAX BATTED BALL DISTANCE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Distance (max)
1	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	346 ft
2	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	331 ft
3	Caden Spahr	CA	Ventura	2030	OF	272 ft
4	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	268 ft
5	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	264 ft

SWEET SPOT RATE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Sweet Spot %
1	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	100 %
2	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	75 %
3	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	71 %
4	Caden Spahr	CA	Ventura	2030	OF	66 %
5	Bryce Gardia	CA	Buena High	2030	C	60 %
6	Kaleb Hardesty	CA	Foothill Technology High	2030	OF	57 %
^	Karter Rothfus	CA	Thousand Oaks High	2030	SS	57 %

LINE DRIVE RATE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Line Drive %
1	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	71 %
2	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	60 %
3	Kaleb Hardesty	CA	Foothill Technology High	2030	OF	42 %
4	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	40 %
5	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	37 %

2031 OFFENSIVE LEADERBOARDS:

MAX EXIT VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Exit Velocity (max)
1	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	91.5 mph
2	Knox Goodwin	CA	Ventura	2031	3B	86.9 mph
3	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	84.9 mph
4	Pete Wendel	CA	Ventura	2031	LHP	77.9 mph
5	Cade Stiffler	CA	St Bonaventure High School	2031	C	77.7 mph
6	AJ San Antonio	CA	Ernest Righetti High	2031	2B	77.2 mph
7	Cash Estandia	CA	Buena High	2031	1B	76.9 mph
8	Wesley Williams	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	75.6 mph
9	Evan Segura	CA	Rio del Sol	2031	SS	75.3 mph
10	Bradley Glaubitz	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	74.5 mph

AVG. EXIT VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Exit Velocity (avg)
1	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	83.9 mph
2	Knox Goodwin	CA	Ventura	2031	3B	83.5 mph
3	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	77.4 mph
4	Pete Wendel	CA	Ventura	2031	LHP	71.6 mph
5	Cade Stiffler	CA	St Bonaventure High School	2031	C	70.8 mph

MAX BATTED BALL DISTANCE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Distance (max)
1	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	292 ft
2	Pete Wendel	CA	Ventura	2031	LHP	278 ft
3	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	270 ft
4	Cash Estandia	CA	Buena High	2031	1B	269 ft
5	Wesley Williams	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	235 ft

SWEET SPOT RATE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Sweet Spot %
1	L. Beckett Sanchez	CA	Ventura	2031	RHP	77 %
2	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	66 %
3	Evan Segura	CA	Rio del Sol	2031	SS	62 %
4	Wesley Williams	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	60 %
^	Cash Estandia	CA	Buena High	2031	1B	60 %
5	Bradley Glaubitz	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	58 %
6	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	57 %
7	West Gibson	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	50 %
8	AJ San Antonio	CA	Ernest Righetti High	2031	2B	42 %
9	Cade Stiffler	CA	St Bonaventure High School	2031	C	40 %
10	Pete Wendel	CA	Ventura	2031	LHP	28 %

LINE DRIVE RATE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Line Drive %
1	Wesley Williams	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	60 %
2	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	50 %
^	Evan Segura	CA	Rio del Sol	2031	SS	50 %
3	L. Beckett Sanchez	CA	Ventura	2031	RHP	44 %
4	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	42 %
^	AJ San Antonio	CA	Ernest Righetti High	2031	2B	42 %
5	Bradley Glaubitz	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	41 %

DEFENSIVE/60 LEADERBOARDS:

60-YARD SPRINT:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	60-yd
1	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	7.48 s
2	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	7.72 s
3	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	7.86 s
4	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	7.90 s
5	Karter Rothfus	CA	Thousand Oaks High	2030	SS	8.10 s
6	Caden Spahr	CA	Ventura	2030	OF	8.14 s
7	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	8.20 s
8	Knox Goodwin	CA	Ventura	2031	3B	8.29 s
9	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	8.47 s
10	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	8.48 s

OF VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	OF Velo
1	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	72
2	Caden Spahr	CA	Ventura	2030	OF	67
3	Wesley Williams	CA	Ventura	2031	OF	62
4	Kaleb Hardesty	CA	Foothill Technology High	2030	OF	59
5	Cade Stiffler	CA	St Bonaventure High School	2031	C	57

INF VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	INF Velo
1	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	75
2	Ryan Harris	CA	Ventura	2030	SS	73
3	Karter Rothfus	CA	Thousand Oaks High	2030	SS	71
^	Dallas Knothe	CA	San Marcos Senior High	2030	SS	71
4	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	65
5	Jaxon Aguilar	CA	Riverside Preparatory	2031	SS	64

C VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	C Velo
1	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	72
2	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	65
3	Bryce Gardia	CA	Buena High	2030	C	63

C POP TIMES:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Pop Time
1	Cooper Frost	CA	Notre Dame	2030	C	2.10-2.25
2	Logan Landeros	CA	Apple Valley High	2030	C	2.28-2.55
3	Bryce Gardia	CA	Buena High	2030	C	2.40-2.51

PITCHING LEADERBOARDS:

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Velocity (max)
1	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	80.4 mph
2	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	75.2 mph
3	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	71.9 mph

AVG. SPIN RATE:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Spin Rate (avg)
1	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	2126 rpm
2	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	1940 rpm
3	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	1675 rpm

AVG. INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	IVB (avg)
1	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	20.2 in
2	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	20.0 in
3	Pete Wendel	CA	Ventura	2031	LHP	18.2 in

MAX CB VELOCITY:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Velocity (max)
1	Kellen Merkey	CA	Dos Pueblos High School	2030	RHP	65.0 mph
2	ROMAN MARQUEZ	CA	Buena High	2030	SS	62.0 mph
3	Graham Pender	CA	Notre Dame	2031	RHP	61.6 mph