By Mike Maerz

July 2nd, 2019 12:49 PM

The SFCBL entered it's fourth week of action with plenty of standouts across the league. Week by week we will continue to highlight several standouts who not only made an impact for their team during the week, but players to follow going forward as well.

Below are several players from the past week highlighted through report:

Boca Raton Blazers/Florida State University RHP Chris Ruckdeschel

Clean, loose and easy arm action from Ruckdeschel as he is still learning to pitch. The converted OF just started pitching this fall at FSU and has plenty of upside with room to grow. In his last outing he was 89-92 with run and is still trying to gain some feel for his breaking ball. We expect him to continue to improve as he gains more mound experience combined with his athleticism.

Boca Raton Blazers/Louisiana State University C Ray Torres

Young catcher with tons of raw tools. Ray is starting to show signs of adjustment as he will be a freshman at LSU this fall and is getting his first taste of collegiate baseball this spring. His catch and throw skills are excellent and shows signs of being an elite level catcher with raw arm strength. His bat projects for power and the ball jumps off his bat. A bit of a free swinger at this point but we expect his approach to mature as he gains higher level experience.

Delray Beach Lightning/Florida Southern C/OF Marcial Hernandez

Currently stands at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds on a physical, athletic frame. Hernandez may have some of the most raw power in the entire league and he put that on display during BP when he drove six balls in a row over the left and left-center field wall at Little Fenway. The ball explodes off the bat with a simple approach and he consistently finds the barrel. Swing works in rhythm. Hernandez will continue to be one of the top follows in the league and the power is next level.

Pompano Beach Clippers/Florida Gulf Coast University OF Jalen Townsend

Currently stands at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds on a lean, athletic frame. Shows plenty of quick twitch, athletic actions. Townsend possesses above average speed which not only translates to center field where he shows a quick first step and range, but on the base paths as well. He creates pressure on the opposing pitcher and gets good jumps. Offensively, he shows gap-to-gap potential which should see a jump in power as he continues to fill out his frame.

Pompano Beach Clippers/Rowan University RHP Jean Sapini

Currently stands at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds on an athletic frame. Sapini put together one of the more dominant performances against the Delray Lightning when he racked up 13 strikeouts in six innings. While the velocity may not be big at the moment, he worked at 85-87 mph, touching 88 multiple times but generated tons of swings and misses. Sapini’s fastball has a high RPM and looks to be coming in harder. Mixed in a breaking ball every once in a while but went to the fastball early and often. Good follow, especially if he can gain a few ticks on his velocity.

Pompano Beach Clippers/Dyersburg State RHP Iroel Ruiz

Currently stands at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds on a projectable frame. Came in for relief where he mostly used his fastball which sat 89-92 mph, touching 93 with plenty of life. Ruiz also mixed in a hard 76-78 mph slider with depth, inducing swings and misses. The ball comes out of his hand fairly easy and looks as though he will throw harder in the future. Was also pretty dominant during his stint on the mound, striking out two batters and inducing a weak ground ball in his inning of work. Strong follow.