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2026 WA Scout Blog - Tahoma vs Eastlake (3.17.26)

March 18, 2026
Dan Jurik
Scouting Director - Pacific Northwest

The 2026 Washington Scout Blog provides information and scouting notes from Prep Baseball staff during the WIAA season. The running blog will feature information on underclass prospects, unsigned seniors, draft prospects and other notable performers. The Scout Blog is compiled of content and information gathered only from Prep Baseball staff. All featured games in the Scout Blog were attended by staff. 

Continuing with our trend of late games under the lights with steady rain, on Tuesday 3/17 we made our way over to Eastlake to check out a Power 25 match-up between the Wolves and visiting Tahoma. 

Tahoma vs Eastlake (3.17.26)

Tahoma

The story for the Bears in this one was the performance of ‘26 LHP Neal Burtis. The Oregon State commit has really impressed over the last 2 years. Going back to our very first look in March 2024 where Burtis was slinging the FB at 82-85, he’s made tremendous growth not just with velocity and pure stuff but also his overall moxie and pitchability. 

On Tuesday night, pitching with consistent rain, he put together 4 scoreless innings allowing 1 H, 0 R, BB and punching out 6. 

FB 88-91, top 92.6. Shape varies. Showing cut at times but can also ride/carry into the zone. 
SL 72-76. Wasn’t super consistent on this look but nobody was spinning it great on this night and conditions certainly impacted the breaker
CH 80-84. Above average at its best. Really tough on RHH especially. 

Overall, the lefty showed a poised demeanor throughout and maintained his control well. Throwing 46 of 69 pitches for strikes and only facing 1 batter over the minimum. We’ve seen some prep LHP from the area gain late draft helium before...’23 Bjorn Johnson (Lincoln), ‘23 Jacob Bresnahan (Sumner) specifically come to mind as high school drafts who both signed. It would not be shocking to see Burtis continue to trend upwards as the weather improves and he builds up his pitch count. With his athleticism and easy, natural arm action, I don’t think we’ve seen his ceiling just yet. 

On the offensive side of things, it was a pretty balanced effort from the Bears as they managed to score 12 runs on only 6 hits. They generated 9 BB and stole over 10 bases on the night. The traffic on the bases coupled with some defensive miscues led to most of the production. 

Junior prospects INF Trey Davies and C Max Butcher both contributed RBI hits as did Senior OF/P Sean Evans. The combination of ‘27 Grayson Turnbow and ‘26 Beckett Turnbow (New Mexico State) contributed 4 combined BB, 5 SB and 4 runs scored. Burtis helped his own cause early with a leadoff single, 2 runs scored and a BB. ‘26 OF Timmy McEwen (Northwest Nazarene) contributed a hit and run scored late off the bench as well. Overall, we saw the athleticism we’d expect from this line-up and we’d expect the aggressive nature to continue throughout the spring. 

After Burtis, Tahoma turned the ball over to ‘26 Brayden Fenton (Wenatchee Valley) who was extremely efficient in 3 innings of work. The tall, lanky righty pitched 3 scoreless innings and punched out 3 using a FB at 80-82 and sweeping CB in the low 70s. Attacked the zone well and should be able to contribute consistent innings this spring as a reliable strike thrower. 

Eastlake

Eastlake turned to ‘26 LHP Rodrigo Montano (Colorado School of Mines) in this one and it was a tougher night for the experienced lefty. However, there are more positive takeaways than what a box score may indicate. Despite some tough breaks on defense, Montano only allowed 1 R in 2 innings of work and had settled into a better groove towards the end of his outing. For a 3 pitch lefty who understands how to add/subtract velo, it was tough to find rhythm and consistency with the CH and it made him a little more FB dominant on this look. Given the massive success Montano had in 2025, earning 1st team All-State honors from Prep Baseball, better days are certainly ahead and despite the tough assignment, he showed the leadership and maturity that you need from arms at the top of the rotation in order to be successful. At the plate, Montano went 1-1 with a run scored and BB from the leadoff spot. 

‘26 RHP Ethan Biddle (Centralia College) was a bright spot for the Wolves pitching last night as the senior went 2.2 IP and generated all 5 outs via strikeouts. Only allowed a BB in his outing, zero hits. Using a low 80s FB, he was all over the bottom of the zone and expanded when ahead with a sharp CB at 70-72 with 11/5 shape. Went out and competed with confidence and wouldn’t be surprised to see him accumulate some more innings if that level of effectiveness continues. 

Despite the lack of hits, there were some positive takeaways from ‘27 SS Cruz Payne and ‘28 1B Ben Byeman. Payne did a solid job at SS despite the rain and had some quality swings vs the velocity of Burtis. Byeman really stood out defensively at 1B, which really doesn’t happen too often for the position and also put a quality swing on the ball in his 2nd AB for a hard lineout to RF. 

After advancing to the 4A State Championship game in 2025, the Wolves still have a strong pitching core to build around and their position players will look to grow into more demanding roles this spring as they replace the production lost to graduation.