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LATHROP, CALIF. - The first annual NorCal Rising Stars Game took place at the beauful Islanders Field, in the heart of the Central Valley. 

Over 20+ players took to the field in a showcase setting with their eyes set on earning an invitation to the Rising Stars Games from which Team California will be selected for the prestigious Prep Baseball Junior Future Games that will take place in July at the beautiful LakePoint Sports Complex in Emerson, Georgia just north of Atlanta.

For many players in the event this was their first experience with a showcase, but for several others this was their second, and sometimes third, event with Prep Baseball California. Players were put through a pro-style workout that included a sixty-yard laser timed sprint, a defensive workout, batting practice, and finishing with gameplay.

Once the SoCal Rising Stars Game wraps up this weekend, the staff will finalize the teams. Below are the guys who had standout days. 

*PLAYERS LISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Jonathan Gutierrez  C /RHP / Elk Grove High School / 2029 Gutierrez was a very familiar face as he attended the Sacramento Rising Stars ID in early February. Standing in at 5’11” 163lbs, the athletic ‘29 Catcher proved he was a standout in the Rising Stars workout and game portion of the day. Gutierrez’ pop time has significantly improved since February where his pop times were between a 2.44-2.50 and now they are sitting between a 2.29-2.31, whatever he was doing during the season seemed to work because his improvement caught the eyes of the whole staff. Gutierrez also hopped in the infield showing he can move around on the dirt too, and not just behind the plate. Gutierrez pitches usually but he primarily caught this event. The hitting numbers have significantly improved as well with a highest EV of 91.2 MPH and had a max distance of 330FT. Gutierrez has a great understanding of his swing and even had a nice triple in the gap during the gameplay part of the workout. Gutierrez even shaved off a lot of time on his 60-yd dash going from an 8.09 to a 7.65 in just under three months is unreal. Looking forward to seeing Gutierrez mature over the next couple of years as he will attend Elk Grove High School next school year.

Dillon Veale 3B / RHP / Redwood High School / 2029 Veale makes the drive up from the Visalia area down by Fresno, it was my first time getting to see him and he surely made a positive mark after the day was done. He’s got a good size frame standing at 6’0” 158 lbs, there still a lot room to grow considering he is just 14 years old. Veale ran a 8.02 60-yd dash, that time will go down when he starts to get more mature and gain some additional muscle. The BP was very controlled for Veale, not pretty by any means but he really showed his ability to stay inside baseballs up the middle and occasionally pull one in the LCF gap. Defensively, his actions in the infield are good but his feet do need to be cleaned up if he's going to want to stick at third base. Veale has got a pretty good arm so he’s got a shot to pitch and play the infield as he gets older. Veale was very impressive when he hopped on the mound during the game, his fastball was sitting in the range of 77.1-79.2 MPH while topping out at 81.1 MPH, showing his ability to fill the zone with strikes. His secondary pitch is his slider and its a real breaking ball, its average spin rate on it was just north of 2200+ sitting in the range of 68-70 MPH. Veale is going to be a name to be heard in the Central Valley.

Tyler Ross SS / RHP / CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL, CA / 2029 Ross is a very lean and wiry ‘29 SS/RHP from Davis, CA who is going to attend Christian Brothers High School next season. Ross is very hard to miss, he is lengthy and is only going to fill out when he gets older. Hard to tell if he’s going to stick with pitching or infield because he’s shown he can do both at a high level. His 60-yd dash time a 7.75 which was about the event average so there is room to improve for his speed. The defensive actions were decent but you can tell he’s still growing, he can play the left side with the arm he possesses. Ross has a very straight up stance, and displays power to the oppo gaps and has an average exit velocity of 81.4 MPH and a max EV of 84.7 MPH. His infield velocity was at 80 MPH which was one of the highest ones on the day. Pitching is where Ross was turning heads where he had a max fastball of 82 MPH and sitting between 77-80 MPH, with a curveball between 69-71 MPH with some spin almost at the 2400+ range.

Kamren Avila  SS / RHP / Folsom High School / 2029 Avila is another player who we’ve seen in the past couple months, he also attended our Sacramento Rising Stars ID in February. Avila has been able to improve almost all of his numbers. In the hitting part of the workout, his max EV was 78.4 MPH with tons of line drives all over the field, a real scrappy hitter that finds a way to get on base. Avila’s 60-yd dash got down to a 7.82 from a previous 8.00 at his earlier event. The defensive side Avila ran his velocity up to 72 MPH across the diamond.  Avila got to pitch in the game and pitches with conviction sitting between the 74-75 MPH and has a nasty breaking ball with 2300+ spin, Avila uses a CB/SL mix and uses that to pitch off the fastball. Avila is an exciting player to watch and when he gets stronger he will be a stud middle infielder.

Lucas Rancadore   OF / RHP / Bradshaw Christian High School / 2029 Rancadore comes into the event as one of the more physical 8th graders I’ve seen in a while, the combination of power, speed, physicality, and maturity packed all into one is a very hard mixture to find. Rancadore stands at 6’1” 190 lbs and stood out with an event best 60-yd dash at 7.38 seconds. When hitting, Randacore had the highest exit velocity of the day at 95.6 MPH and had an average velo of 78.5 MPH. Early in the BP rounds he had some timing issues but once he got his timing down he didn’t miss many baseballs. Rancadore was displaying tons of power to the middle of the field and lots of poolside potential, its a two hand finish and it reminds me of Masen Belding. The max distance on his BP was 370 FT with tons of other line drives. This kid is going to be a force to be reckoned with once he gets to Bradshaw Christian next  season.

Enzi-Yaw Otieku SS / RHP / Encinal Junior/Senior High, CA / 2029 Otieku had previously participated in the NorCal Elite League scout day and was one of the top performers at that event. Going into this event, Otieku continued to put up great numbers all day and really prove why he is one of the best trending 8th graders in northern California. The 60-yd dash was around the same time as his previous one but he managed to get around a 7.40. Otieku has a shot to be a good shortstop as he gets older, he’s got quick actions and an absolute cannon to go along with an 84 MPH event best infield velocity. On the mound is where Oteku has a future because he has such a quick arm getting his fastball in the range of 78-81 MPH with an avg spin rate of 2164 and the curveball was 65-67 and a spin rate of 1958. The slider was working with some bite with a 2069 spin rate with a lot of swing and misses during the game. Encinal High School is where he will attend next year.

Deegan Holquin RHP / 3B / Buchanan High, CA / 2029 Holquin was another kid who came from the deeper part of the Central Valley who is going to attend Buchanan High School next year, standing at 5’9” 165 lbs and has a very solid frame and is only going to get better, especially the program he will be playing in. Topping out at 81.1 MPH on the mound with his fastball sitting in the range of 77-80 MPH with a spin rate of 1905 and the curveball was about 30 MPH slower than his curveball at 57.6 - 65.3 MPH. In the hitting side Holquin has a very mature approach for his age, his max EV was 91.2 MPH on the day with an average of 80 MPH, his max distance hit was 312 FT. Holquin was able to find the sweet spot 50% of the time. In the infield he managed to throw it across the infield at 79 MPH making it one of the event best. He’s a very versatile athlete who’s going to develop into a legit two way player, since he’s still pretty young, the future is bright for this young man.

Upcoming Events

Showcase	State	Date	Location
2025 Future Games Tryout: Fullerton	CA	05/31	Fullerton College
2025 Future Games Tryout: Los Angeles	CA	05/31	Loyola Marymount University
2025 Future Games Tryout: Malibu	CA	05/31	Pepperdine University - Malibu, CA
2025 ProCase - NorCal	CA	05/31	Cosumnes River College - Sacramento, CA
2025 Future Games Tryout: Northern California	CA	06/01	Cosumnes River College - Sacramento, CA
2025 ProCase - West	CA	06/01	Loyola Marymount University - Los Angeles, CA
2025 Future Games Tryout: Central California	CA	06/07	Antelope Valley College - Lancaster, CA
2025 Sacramento Summer ID	CA	06/10	Franklin High School, Elk Grove, CA
2025 Ballplayers League Scout Day	CA	06/15	Mcbean Stadium, Lincoln, CA

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