The scouting report on Program 15 partner NorCal’s Vinny Tosti is both simple and impressive.
Quick hands, great makeup, premium bat.
Those tools and plenty of others, which will soon be on full display at P15’s upcoming national events this summer in Houston, have Tosti as a potential first round pick in the upcoming 2018 MLB Draft.
Program 15 New Balance Future Stars Series VP of Scouting Butch Baccala has compared Tosti to former National League MVP Ryan Braun, while P15 and NBFSS CEO Jeremy Booth calls Tosti a “fun to watch” profile bat with middle of the order run producing instincts.
The 6-foot-1, 190 pound OF/SS has verbally committed to the University of Oregon — he cited a desire to play in the Pacific Northwest — and is currently with Cardinal Newman HS in Santa Rosa, CA, but has honed his craft for years with NorCal.
“It’s been awesome,” Tosti told FutureStarsSeries.com about his time playing for Rob Bruno’s NorCal program.
“I’ve been playing for them since eighth grade. Rob reached out to my dad originally, and since then I’ve been playing for them. I think it’s different than other programs just with all the instruction you get, and that’s really helped me grow as a player and even more so as a person.”
NorCal maintains a heavy focus on developing not only good baseball players, but good human beings off of it, and the humble Tosti serves as an excellent example of both.
“That’s a priority for Rob and the rest of the staff, making us better people, ” Tosti explained. “After every game, he makes us pick up the trash and do all the gear before we do our own stuff. It’s always putting others first. Our team chemistry is better than I think any other travel ball team out there. We definitely want to win, but there’s a lot of emphasis on instruction too, so it’s a great balance.”
Tosti was pleasantly surprised by the team camaraderie he found with NorCal.
“Playing on other travel ball teams, I definitely didn’t have that,” he said. “They create that culture for you, so all you have to do is bond with the other guys and it makes it really easy.”
While the 17-year-old stands out off the field, he brings plenty while he’s on it as well.
“I feel like I have a combination of speed and power,” he said. “Speed-first, I like to impact the game on the bases a lot; steal a lot of bags and just do the extra things. Hitting for power, that’s something that’s recently developed from lifting weights, but the speed has always been there and it’s always getting better.”
All that will be on display when Tosti and NorCal attend Program 15’s New Balance Future Stars Series upcoming national events this summer in Houston. Tosti is excited not only about NorCal’s partnership with P15, but the opportunity afforded to him to play in front of countless scouts and those with significant influence in the game.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “Any time you get an opportunity to play in front of people who are decision-makers, I think it’s huge. I think it’s going to be fun, I just have to go out there and do what I do.”
Since 2003, he has covered multiple World Series and has worked high-profile events ranging from the MLB All-Star Game to the World Baseball Classic. In addition to his role working for the Future Stars Series that he's held since 2017, Ashmore currently serves as the beat writer of the Double-A New York Yankees affiliate, the Somerset Patriots, as well as national hockey writer and New York Jets game day beat reporter for The Trentonian.
A regular contributor to Baseball America, Ashmore has worked seven Super Bowls, 11 Stanley Cup Finals, the 4 Nations Face-Off, the NBA Playoffs, College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Frozen Four, Daytona 500, major UFC events and much more as he approaches 3,200 games covered in his career.
An avid card collector and sim racer, he lives with his wife, Sarah, their son William, and their beloved dog, Bailey, and cat, Smokey.
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