John Cackowski
State Director 

In the fall of 2014 PBR Colorado released their first 2015, 2016, and 2017 rankings. We had a great opportunity to see more 2016 grads at the Preseason All-State on 3/1/15. After this event we expanded our 2017 rankings out to 80 spots

Moving up to No. 1 from No. 4 is RHP Paul Tillotson of Lewis Palmer and Nebraska commit. The 6-foot-2, 200 pound Tillotson attacked the zone with 89-90 mph fastballs touching 91 on a few occassions at the Preseason All-State event on 3/1/15. Tillotson was already one of the top pitchers in the state in the 2016 class. A Power pitcher with a thick athletic build and strong lower leg drive to the plate.  Effortless motion with 3/4 arm slot that constantly repeats itself. At the plate has an athletic balanced stance with smooth load back, producing a level swing with gap to gap power and good extension with good bat-speed. Does not get beat very often.

Staying at No. 2 in our rankings is Maverick Handley of Mullen HS and Stanford commit. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounds, right-handed hitting catcher impressed us with very good skills at the Preseason All-State. Handley was one of the most eye-catching prospects at the event. Hitting from the right side he showed easy explosive bat speed. Posted exit velocity of 90 MPH from the tee. Defensively showed soft hands behind the plate, highly agile, high flexibility. Arm played at 77 MPH from the crouch, over the top slot, with accuracy and carry. Recorded event best 1.78 pop time. Handley is physically impressive, it is obvious to see he puts in hard work and should progress at a steady pace. The right-handed hitting catcher is a high follow in Colorado and the region.

Staying at  No 3. in our Rankings is Jake Eissler of ThunderRidge and Texas Christian Commit. 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-handed hitting RHP/3B.  Strong, solid prospect that registered a 4.5 home to first. At the plate, the right-handed hitter produces solid contact. He uses a smooth load, short stride, and explosive lower half.  90 MPH exit velocity, top 3 at this event. As a pitcher he has a strong, thick, body with more room to fill out.  Pounds the strike zone with 87-90 mph fastballs from ¾ arm slot,  Works at a fast pace, and throws off a solid two-foot base and is very square to the plate. Change-up sits at 77-78 mph and Curve ball is 73. Throws all three for strikes. Shows strong arm from outfield and infield. Bats right-handed. Has good plate discipline and gap-to-gap power.   

There was some other movement in our top ten 2016 rankings. Moving up from No. 6 to No. 5 was RHP Preston Snavely of Fort Collins and Wichita State commit. OF/RHP Autsin Wood of Silver Creek moved up from No. 9 to No.  6, and SS Tommy Gillman of Columbine and Texas AM commit cracked the top 10 moving up from No. 12 to No. 9 and Brice Johnson moved up from No. 11 to No. 10. 

Enough Reading about them to see the list click here. 

Here is a sneak peak at the top 10

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Paul Tillotson	CO	Lewis Palmer	2016	RHP/OF	Nebraska
2	Maverick Handley	CO	Mullen	2016	C	Standford
3	Jake Eissler	CO	ThunderRidge	2016	RHP/3B	TCU
4	Bo Weiss	CO	North Carolina	2016	RHP	North Carolina
5	Preston Snavely	CO	Fort Collins	2016	RHP	Wichita State
6	Austin Wood	CO	Silver Creek	2016	RHP
7	Matt Burkart	CO	Eaton	2016	RHP/SS
8	Wyatt Featherston	CO	Green Mountain	2016	OF
9	Tommy Gillman	CO	Columbine	2016	SS/2B	Texas AM
10	Brice Johnson	CO	Pine Creek	2016	LHP

To see Prep Baseball Report Overall Rankings click here