My favorite weekend tournament to kick off the 2025 NCAA Season was in Arlington, Texas, for the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. It was a great group of six schools with Clemson, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas, and Arizona. I focused on two outfielders, Clemson’s Cam Cannarella and Arizona’s Brendan Summerhill.
Starting with Cannarella, I thought The Athletic’s Keith Law had a better detailed report. Cannarella had a rather sour start against Oklahoma State, as he struggled to catch up with velocity and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Cannarella did make a nice catch in center, showing good body control. Against Arizona, Cannarella busted out with a four-hit day that included three doubles. But in the tournament finale against Ole Miss, Cannarella again went hitless.
According to Law, Cannarella is not physically right as he’s dealing with a shoulder injury. Whether it's it’s a nagging ailment that can be shaken off, or if Cannarella will need some time off, is something worth monitoring over the first month. Clemson is hosting its own tournament at home this weekend, and VCU and North Carolina A&T are visiting.
Most of my attention was on Summerhill, who ranks No. 14 in the Sox Machine Top 50 Draft Prospects and one of my early targets on the Watch Board. The White Sox are looking for more well-rounded position players. Those with good pitch recognition and plate discipline have the added ability to impact the ball. In addition to a high offensive floor, they will covet position players that handle a premium defensive position.
Summerhill checked a few of those boxes prior to the season, as he played primarily in center field last year. However, one of the first adjustments was having Arizona coach Chip Hale start Summerhill in right field. It’s not that Summerhill is out of position, as his above-average athleticism allows him to have a good range between the gap and the foul line.
There’s a question about his throwing arm strength, and Summerhill got tested during the weekend. He did a good job of playing a deep drive off the wall by fielding the ball on a bounce and making an accurate throw to second base. I would prefer if Summerhill played center field, but the transfer from Samford, Aaron Walton, has that role for now.
Offensively, I got to see the full Summerhill experience. His approach and swing remind me a lot of Christian Yelich, who I foresee is going to be the player comp for Summerhall all spring. It’s a balanced swing to generate more line drives than loft. Against Ole Miss on Opening Day, Summerhill hit a hard grounder at the second baseman, who couldn’t field it on a single bounce. The tournament scorer gave Summerhill an infield single, but it could have easily been a fielding error.
With Ole Miss left-handed starting pitcher Hunter Elliott, Summerhill had a tough test trying to swipe second base. After three pickoff attempts from Elliott, Summerhill took off for second base. A good jump and closing speed gave Summerhill his first stolen base of the season. While that’s a good mark, a couple of pitches later, Summerhill tried an ill-advised swipe of third base and was thrown out by a good margin. That mistake was more glaring, considering that Arizona lost 2-1.
The following day was a premier matchup with Clemson, but it got ugly fast for Arizona. The Tigers scored seven runs in the first inning, and that deficit was too much to overcome. Summerhill put Arizona on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the fifth inning and then provided a flash of power in the seventh.
With two runners on, Summerhill pulled a poor cutter out for a three-run homer. According to the Arizona Wildcats analytics team, the long drive had an exit velocity of 103 MPH and traveled 373 feet.
Watching the replay, Summerhill has the makings of a strong “A” swing. A leg kick and Summerhill whips the bat through the zone with authority. After hitting eight home runs last year, I wondered if Summerhill can be a hitter that merits a 50 grade on power because, without it, I’m not sure if he’s the type of quality bat to deserve being taken 10th overall. It was nice to see the power stroke over the weekend, but I would like to see this level of contact against better-quality pitching.
It was an awful weekend for Arizona, which went 0-3 and was outscored 31-7 against Ole Miss, Clemson, and Louisville. Summerhill and the Wildcats will be part of the Astros Foundation College Classic Feb. 28 through March 2. That’s a doozy of a three-game stretch during which Arizona will face Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Tennessee. It’ll be worth checking in on Summerhill again to see how he fares against quality competition.
NCBWA Players of the Week
Hitter of the Week: Shortstop Marek Houston, Wake Forest
Wake Forest lost a lot of talent from last year’s squad, with three players taken in the first round: Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz, and Seaver King. Marek Houston is a leftover but had a strong start to the season. Facing Long Island and Marist, Houston went 10-for-14 with three homers and 15 RBIs. Ranked 18th in the Sox Machine Top 50, Houston won’t face stiff competition until Wake Forest travels to Clemson on March 21. Until then, I could see Houston posting big numbers that will garner more national attention.
Pitcher of the Week: RHP Connor Marshburn, UNC-Wilmington
Against Georgia, sophomore Connor Marshburn tossed six hitless innings on 86 pitches with seven strikeouts and two walks. Standing at 6’6” and coming from the Pro5 Academy, Marshburn might be worth keeping an eye on as he progresses during 2025, as he’s draft-eligible in 2026.
Watch Board Activity
Not a great start to 2025:
- Brendan Summerhill: 3-for-11; HR and 4 RBI, 3 BB and 2 K, 1-for-2 in stolen base attempts
- Ike Irish: 1-for-10; 2 RBI, 2 BB and 1 K
- Luke Stevenson: 2-for-9, 0 HR and 0 RBI, 3 BB and 5 K
- Devin Taylor: 4-for-17; 0 HR and 3 RBI, 4 BB and 7 K
NCBWA Top 25 Poll (week of Feb. 17)
| Rank | School | Conference | Record | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M | SEC | 3-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Tennessee | SEC | 3-0 | 2 |
| 3 | LSU | SEC | 3-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Arkansas | SEC | 3-0 | 5 |
| 5 | Florida State | ACC | 3-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 3-0 | 7 |
| 7 | North Carolina | ACC | 3-0 | 8 |
| 8 | Clemson | ACC | 2-1 | 9 |
| 9 | Virginia | ACC | 2-1 | 3 |
| 10 | Florida | SEC | 3-0 | 10 |
| 11 | Oregon | Big Ten | 3-1 | 12 |
| 12 | Georgia | SEC | 3-1 | 13 |
| 13 | NC State | ACC | 3-0 | 15 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | SEC | 2-1 | 14 |
| 15 | Wake Forest | ACC | 4-0 | 16 |
| 16 | Texas | SEC | 2-1 | 17 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | SEC | 3-0 | 19 |
| 18 | DBU | C-USA | 3-0 | 20 |
| 19 | Duke | ACC | 1-2 | 11 |
| 20 | UC Santa Barbara | Big West | 3-0 | 22 |
| 21 | TCU | Big 12 | 3-0 | 23 |
| 22 | Nebraska | Big Ten | 2-1 | 24 |
| 23 | Southern Miss | Sun Belt | 4-0 | NR |
| 24 | Troy | Sun Belt | 3-0 | NR |
| 25 | West Virginia | Big 12 | 3-0 | NR |
Games I’m Watching this Weekend
#6 Oregon State vs. #9 Virginia - Friday, February 21 6:00 PM CT
Players to Follow:
Oregon State: SS Aiva Arquette, 3B Trent Caraway, OF Gavin Turley
Virginia: 2B Henry Godbout, 1B Henry Ford
Oklahoma vs. Minnesota - Friday, February 21 2:00 PM CT
Oklahoma vs. #6 Oregon State - Saturday, February 22, 4:00 PM CT
Players to Follow:
Oklahoma: The Witherspoon pitching twins, Kyson and Malachi.
