On Wednesday, July 30th, the Prep Baseball New Jersey staff traveled to St. Joseph’s Metuchen High School, for the Garden State Naturals Scout Day.

This event is always a great opportunity for us to get our eyes on the talented players within the Garden State Naturals organization and this year's showcase proved to be a success.

We wanted to take the time to highlight a number of the standout players from the event in a Takeaways story, found below.

Position Players

OF Kristian Almanzar (St. Joseph’s Metuchen, 2026) showed some intriguing tools at the Scout Day. The 6-foot, 165-pound outfielder peaked at 87 mph EV and tossed 84 mph from his position in the outfield. Almanzar also ran a 7.22 60-yard dash. An interesting performance for the incoming senior.

OF Connor Strunk (Piscataway, 2028) is a younger prospect that put together a solid day at the event. In the round of BP, Strunk was up to 87 mph on EV and tossed 78 mph from the outfield. Strunk is a projectable 6-foot-145 pounds with stats that will continue to tick up as strength is added.

CIF Luke Jones (Middlesex, 2027) measures 6-foot-3, 175-pounds and showcased some promising tools in the event. Jones ran a 7.18 60-yard dash and tossed 78 mph across the infield. In his round of BP, Jones was mashing balls up to 96 mph with an average of 86 mph and a max distance of 355’, which was the longest hit ball of the event. As Jones continues to fill out, he will continue to be a name to follow.

1B Michael D’Antuono (Seton Hall Prep, 2027) impressed in his Prep Baseball showcase debut. The first baseman swung it well in his round of BP, lacing balls up to 98 mph and averaging 84.5 mph, both of which were leaders for the event. D’Antuono had the second best max distance of the event at 342’.

C Rocco Cuoco (St. Joseph’s Metuchen, 2028) was the top performing backstop from the Scout Day, flashing a pop time as low as 2.19 and tossing 71 mph from the chute. In BP, the RHH worked line drives throughout the round, Cuoco had a max EV of 90 mph with an average of 86 mph and a max distance of 330’. A young catcher to follow from the event.

1B Roman Ricci (Warren MS, 2030) the youngest player from the event, Ricci swung the bat well in his BP round as a 2030 grad. Ricci had a max EV of 87 mph with an average of 78 mph and a max distance of 278’. Ricci will continue to mature and these numbers will tick up with age. DOnt be surprised if Ricci breaks out some more power in the next few years.

Two-way Players

SS/RHP Blake Dunleavy (Old Bridge, 2027) a 5-foot-11, 170-pound two-way prospect that broke out at the event, Dunleavy impressed on both sides. In his round of BP, peaked at 88 mph EV with an average of 81 mph and tossed 75 mph across the infield. On the mound, the fastball worked at 79-80 mph with an average of 20 in. of total movement, the curveball worked in the mid to high 60s, slider worked in the high 60s for strikes, and the changeup was in the low 70s around the zone.

Pitchers

RHP Soham Prajapati (JP Stevens, 2026) the 6-foot, 140-pound right-hander threw it well in his bullpen, working a four pitch mix. The fastball was up to 80 mph, the curve was 68-69 with 2500+ rpm, slider was 68-60 with 2400+ rpm, and the splitter was 68-72 with 754 avg. rpm. Prajapati will continue to fill out and the velo will go up, the spin rates are high on the offspeeds which is what stood out in the bullpen.

RHP Walter Christian III (St. Joseph, 2026) a 5-foot-10, 155-pound right-hander, Christian had the hardest fastball max of the event at 81.8 mph, sitting 79-81 mph with an avg, of 13 in. of IVB. The slider was thrown at 75-78 mph with 2100+ rpm, and the change was thrown at 68-74 mph. Christian is an interesting follow from the event.

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