Prep Baseball Report

Summer Recap



By; Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

School begins on Monday, officially putting an end to the summer of 2017. I wanted to take time to review the summer and some of the top stories of the summer.

The 2018 class is known for their pitching depth, this summer their depth was put on display. We kicked the summer off with a dominating performance at the All-State game with 7 underclassmen working above 88. This group continued to shine throughout the summer not only in Arkansas, but on big stages.  RHP Jaden Hill pitched in the Under Armor All American Game, showing off power stuff and a feel for his changeup. His fastball worked as high 94 mph and he recorded two strike outs on change ups. Jaden Hill and Kaleb Hill both received invites to the East Coast Pro work out and performed well. Jaden backed his performance up at Wrigley with a similar outing as LHP Kaleb Hill showed the ability to locate his fastball up to 92 mph. RHP Connor McCullough and  RHP Wade Beasley were selected to pitch at Area Codes. Beasley flashed a big-time fastball up to 93 mph, while McCullough pitched two shutout innings showing advanced pitchability with two pitches. Others that had big summers included RHP Kam’Ron Mays-Hunt, RHP Miller Pliemann, and RHP Connor Noland. All impressed this summer, and have solidified Arkansas as a frequent stop for professional scouts.

RHP/OF PJ Hilson has burst onto the scene after some tough spring battling injuries he looks to be gaining interest from several colleges and pro scouts, running the best time at East Coast Pro and showing advanced arm strength. He will be a position player to watch in the spring as well.

The 2019 class, is still intriguing; we will start in depth on them next week, as we will release updated rankings. 2019 RHP Blake Adams, and 2019 C Cason Tollett have solidified themselves as elite players on the national level. Three arms are beginning to separate themselves as the next wave of players ( LHP Zach Morris, RHP Zane Ryne Neves and RHP Landon McAllister). They all had very productive summers and are gaining recognition throughout the region. Position player wise; MIF Peyton Holt, and OF  Brandon Ulmer had solid summers and have seen recruiting pick up, it will be interesting to see how recruiting goes in the fall for that group. After the first wave of players, the overall class has shown flashes of advanced tools with a hint of inconsistency. It is always fun to see which players will continue to work and separate themselves from the rest of the pack headed into next summer.

The 2020 class is living up to the hype they were given coming out of youth baseball which is at times hard to do. 2020 CIF/RHP Cayden Wallace has been a dominant force at all levels, playing in his age group or 17U he has shown an advanced hit tool which has made him one of the most coveted players in the country. The class has shown position player depth with OF Clayton Gray and OF Houston King, already commiting to Arkansas and Kentucky. They follow with a bevy of talent with CIF Luke Pectol, CIF G Allen, C Sam Golden, INF Brayden Sites, INF Marcus Brown, MIF, Beau Stuckey and C Hayden Seldomridge. This group will be fun to watch develop as they look now to be one of the more offensively advanced groups to come through this state. On the mound; RHP Tyler Caccitorri, RHP Matthew Watson, RHP Markevian Hence,  RHP Luke Davenport, RHP Rhett James, LHP Jay Watson and LHP Nick Griffin all showed promise as projectable arms. Caccatorri committed to Arkansas last week to finish up his recruiting process.

Overall it was another productive summer; with our staff getting to lay eyes on a number of players we are excited to keep tabs on over the year. 

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