October 29, 2021

Mike Alberts | Director of Player Development; Firecracker Sports

2021 CT Rage: Team Scout Day – 10.24.21

We had a beautiful day for baseball at the Boys & Girls Club of Redding, CT this past Sunday.  The event was attended by 8+ college and professional coaches from D2, D3, JUCO and MLB as well.  We saw a very talented group of 30+ players ranging in graduation classes from 2022 to 2025 from a talented organization CT Rage. 

We are going to highlight some of the top players that participated but also some up and comers who you should keep an eye out for in the coming months. Top performers are listed at the bottom of this email, for the major testing categories, including the schools and professional organizations that were present for this event. 

Top Pitcher: Andrew Cutler RHP 6’4” 185 2023 Fairfield Prep HS

Andrew has a large athletic frame with long arms and legs which has good muscle throughout. His fastball was 80-82 mph through the event.  He threw strikes and has plus late life on his pitches. CB was above average, sitting at 73-74 mph with a late sharp break. Overall Andrew has good athletic actions and ran a 7.18 60 yard dash. Repeats delivery and throws strikes with all his pitches.  Easy to see future velo gain if he continues to develop and work at his craft.  

Top Position Player: Oliver Merced 3B/RHP  5’9” 155  2023 Green Farms Academy

Oliver has a medium athletic frame with room for added strength on his frame. He has a good approach at the plate.  He showed plus bat speed and future power production in his swings and stance. Oliver had a max exit velo of 100.2 and made consistent hard contact using the whole field. Defensively, he shows good defensive actions at his position and showed an avg arm with 77mph arm strength across the diamond.  Overall a nice package of tools with premium exit velo, which will translate to bigger things for Oliver at the next level. Keep an eye out for his name!

Up and Coming Prospect: Matthew Palumbo C/2B 5’9 155lbs 2024 Woobury, CT

Matthew has a powerful frame that will continue to get stronger and develop. While he needs to work on overall strength and conditioning, he had one of the best swings all day which included an exit velocity max of 89.8 during this event. He continued to pound the baseball to the outfield throughout his on field batting practice session.  He had the best 60 yard dash through 2 runs with a sub 7.0 60, checking in at 6.84. He worked out at catcher and 2nd base and has good skills to grow with…His bat and speed is the path to playing in the future and with continued development at the plate, could be a middle of the order guy at the next level. He will have the opportunity to play at the next level, if he continues to develop and commit to his speed/overall training. 

Showcase Top Performers:

60 yard Dash:

1. Matthew Palumbo Woodbury , CT 6.84
2. Joshua McDowell Stratford , CT 7.1
3. Cam Forte Easton , CT 7.15
4. Kyle Dobbins Redding , CT 7.15
5. Andrew Cutler Fairfield , CT 7.18

Catcher Pop Times

1. Oliver Kwan Southport , CT 2.15
2. Ben Crawford Fairfield , CT 2.19
3. Matthew Palumbo Woodbury , CT 2.25
4. Paul Genna Newtown , CT 2.25
5. Collin Gevry Newtown , CT 2.52

OF Velocity

1. Cole Gibson Fairfield , CT 77
2. Ryan Goldsmith Newtown , CT 74
3. Benjamin Stewart Woodbury , CT 71
4. Dylan Dwyer Westport , CT 70
5. andrew dayton Fairfield , CT 70

IF Velocity

1. Oliver Merced Weston , CT 77
2. Cam Forte Easton , CT 75
3. Danny Leyva Newtown , CT 72
4. Antonio Lynk Branford , CT 71
5. Dimitry Wiech Fairfield , CT 70

Exit Velocity

1. Oliver Merced Weston , CT 100.2
2. Aidan Simonson Easton , CT 91.3
3. Reid Burns Newtown , CT 91
4. Matthew Palumbo Woodbury , CT 89.8
5. Benjamin Stewart Woodbury , CT 88.3

Pitchers FB – Peak Velocity

1. Andrew Cutler Fairfield , CT 81.9
2. Oliver Merced Weston , CT 79.7
3. Cole Gibson Fairfield , CT 75.1
4. Antonio Lynk Branford , CT 75
5. Ryan Goldsmith Newtown , CT 74.1

We would like to thank the following colleges and professional organizations who were present for this event which included – Monroe College; Trinity College, Albertus Magnus College, Hudson Valley Community College, Maritime College, Roger Williams University, University of New Haven, Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals. 

We look forward to seeing you at one of our Team Scout Days coming up this winter but also we have our 2022 College Showcase Camps already open for registrations. Check out our upcoming events right here: https://play.firecrackersports.com/. Remember we only accept a select amount of players per event to maximize your attention from college coaches and pro scouts while giving you more reps than other traditional showcase companies and events.

If you are interested in hosting your own Team Scout Day for your program(s) with skills and drills with college/pro coaches, Rapsodo testing, simulated game, t-shirts and much more…please contact us today! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact operations@firecrackersports.com for more information.