High Desert Uncommitted Games: Preview

Colton Booterbaugh OF / RHP / Highland High, CA / 2026

From 10/1/25: Booterbaugh has been the picture of consistency now across three different events beginning at the FGT: Central California then at the Senior Futures Games for Team West Coast and once again with his workout at the West Coast Games. Based out of the high desert area of Southern California Booterbaugh has a three position defensive versatility in the OF where his 84 MPH OF (86 is his personal best) arm plays well in CF/LF and shows RF upside with a tick more added velocity in the future. He is solid athlete who ran a 7.21 60 which has been in line with all his other times giving him solid overall athletic ability while running nearly 19 MPH at his max speed. His defensive ability is very sound across the board, but it's the offensive potential for Booterbaugh that continues to impress at a high rate. Booterbaugh has a natural feel for his barrel and during his batting practice at West Coast Games showed off strength to the opposite field gap with a new personal best exit velocity at 94.8 MPH. All of his other metrics were right in line with everything he has shown at previous events including his swing metrics with 20.5 MPH hand speed, 68.4 MPH bat speed, 10+ Gs of rotational acceleration. The RH hitter is geared for high contact with the ability to use all of the field for hard contact which included 87.8 MPH of average exit velocity, 63% fly ball/line drive rate, 330' max distance, 62% sweet spot and a 37% hard hit rate. For a college program still on the hunt for a talented RH hitter who can play all over the OF, boasts a track record of performance, consistency to his profile and still has plenty of upside in the future they would be well served to take a close look at Booterbaugh. 

Miles Herbert SS / 2B / San Marcos Senior High, CA / 2026

From 5/1/25: Herbert popped on my radar with an impressive showing over the MLK weekend in January of 2025 and then in my first look this spring did not have his best game which made for an important third look this time around. The RH hitting SS displayed all of the initial tools that caught my eye again during this third look, but even more interestingly has ticked up across the board in his defensive acumen, hit tool and flashing interesting power potential. During my second look at Herbert he had some issues moving around at SS playing a bit “out of control” when going up the middle or downhill, but on this day he demonstrated improved body control, more consistent footwork, confidence in playing in rhythm instead of going “too fast” while still being able to get downhill aggressively when needed (went downhill on a ball in 5-6 hole and made a solid accurate throw to 1B). The arm plays at SS to a solid level with carry and accuracy to his throws going to the forehand/backhand sides or when coming downhill. In addition to the better defensive look the RH hitter controlled his at bats much better this time around with better barrel awareness to pick up a pair of hits and flashed interesting loft with carry to the pull side. His first at bat resulted in a single down the LF line when he got inside of a backup breaking ball from the Seraphs RHP which was a step forward as he had swung through spin during my second look. During his second at bat he barreled a FB on the inner portion of the plate, but was just underneath it for a deep fly ball out to LF (San Marcos plays deep to LF with the wind blowing in towards the 1B dugout) and then ended his day by ambushing a FB out over the plate that he launched to deep LCF through the wind for an easy double. The upward trend between by second and third looks at Herbert has me even intrigued with his profile and confident in him being a strong college land in the 2026 class who can stick at SS while showing offensive impact potential.

Damian Cordero SS / 2B / Highland Aquinas, CA / 2027

From 6/9/24:

Positional Profile: SS/2B
Body: 5-9, 150-pounds. Athletic frame with some present strength.
Hit: RHH. Even stance with hands by his shoulder. Big leg kick, leans weight on back leg. Consistently pulls the ball in the air.
Power: Turns on the ball quickly.
Arm: RH. INF-81 mph. High three quarters release.
Defense: Fluid, natural footwork through the play.
ATH: Short small strides.

Hector Anaya SS / 2B / quartz hill high school, CA / 2026

From 3/12/25: A wiry lean frame with solid actions across the board who projects to stay up the middle defensively with solid feet, sound hands, flashing solid arm strength with room to add that could keep him at SS should that strength come, but easily can be a strong defender at 2B. This was my first look at Anaya and the profile was sound across the board including at the dish where he displayed a compact RH swing with hands that worked well and flashed his feel for using the lower half in the turn portion of the swing. It’s a leverage based path looking to work through the middle of the field with hard line drive contact and lets his hands adjust to the pitch height, velocity, type, etc. over trying to do damage with an aggressive swing. Anaya drew an early walk and went to the opposite field on an outer half FB low in the zone to collect an RBI single for his two solid at bats of the day. It was a solid first impression for me with the High Desert based SS and one who I would like to get eyes on again in the future to compare his development to my initial viewing.

Nick Gonzales SS / OF / Highland High, CA / 2027

From 3/12/25: Gonzales was another strong performer from the 2025 Central California Preseason All State event where he put together a strong workout performance with a strong batting practice, showcasing solid present athletic ability and interesting actions during the defensive workout. This was also my first full look at him inside of a competitive game environment and the RHH SS ticked up for me after this look. His INF/OF was solid with good feet, solid hands, lateral range/comfort coming downhill and getting solid carry on his throws from SS. Those defensive tools carried over into the game with a solid defensive showing although he can polish his feel for staying in his legs during the transition from field to throw to clean up accuracy on his throws. At the dish Gonzales gave me strong hitterish vibes with an approach that is in hunt mode from the moment he gets in the box and with a swing that shows solid present bat speed with ability to keep his hands back. Gonzales flashed strong bat to ball skills over his four at bats with a solid feel for his barrel and rhythm in the box. There can be at times length in the swing when he doesn’t sync his turn into the hand path on time. He strung together a trio of strong at bats on the day with a leadoff triple to open the game before scoring on a wild pitch, stung a hard groundout to the glove side of the 3B before collecting his second knock of the day on a single back through the middle. A compact athletic frame with an up the middle defensive profile and top of the order potential keep eyes on this High Desert product.

Jack Sweeney SS / C / St. Augustine Academy, CA / 2027

From 7/8/25

Positional Profile: C/OF
Body: 5-11, 140-pounds. Long, lean frame, with much projection remaining.
Hit: RHH. Balanced, strong lower half stance. Upper half remains relaxed with bat behind ear. Small inward leg twist initiating load. Loads in back leg. Transfers weight slightly early. Level swing plane. 68 mph bat speed with 7 G's of rotational acceleration.
Power: 91 max exit velocity, averaged 79.8 mph. 220' max distance.
Arm: RH. C-70 mph. OF-75 mph. 3/4 arm slot. Short arm back path. Heavy recoil. Low trajectory thrower.
Defense: 2.01-2.21 pop times. Athletic stance. Quick pop up from stance. Quick, efficient transfer.