Prep Baseball Report

Quick Hits: Walker Scout Day


Alex Armand
Louisiana Scouting Director

Walker, LA - On Friday, January 17, 2025, the Prep Baseball Louisiana staff traveled to Walker High School, to host our Walker Scout Day, which featured prospects from the Walker High School baseball program in the 2025-2028 classes.  Each participant went through a pro-style workout that consisted of running a laser-timed 60 yard dash using Vald Performance, defensive evaluations, and batting practice using Trackman Baseball.  Pitchers finished the day off by throwing live to hitters with Trackman Baseball to receive all of their data and metrics.  Below, we take a look at some of the top performers from Friday's event.  

*VIEW ALL EVENT STATS FROM THE 2025 WALKER SCOUT DAY HERE


+ 2026 OF Braylen Montgomery (Walker HS)

The state's top ranked outfielder in the 2026 class put on an absolute show last Friday at our Walker Scout Day.  The first thing that stood out was the physicality gains that he's made since the Future Games last summer, as he now stands at 6'5" 200 lbs.  "Toolshed" would be the best way to describe the Oklahoma commit.  Montgomery blazed a 6.67 laser-timed 60 and it looked like he was skating on ice.  His BP rounds were also impressive, and he's ditched the toe-tap load for a more modified, knee-to-knee leg kick, which seems to be working quite well for him.  Montgomery blistered ball after ball, on route to posting a 101 mph max exit velocity, which was good for best on the day, and he collected two barrels against live arms.  To cap things off, he showed a big-time arm from the outfield up to 94 mph.  The tools are undeniable and if the in-game production can continue to match those tools, then the sky is the limit for the Walker product.


+ 2026 OF/INF Jaden Ard (Walker HS)

Ard plays much bigger than his 5'7" 150 lbs. frame and can impact the game in a variety of ways.  The Walker product is an excellent runner, as evidenced by his 6.68 laser-timed 60.  Offensively, it's a really simple set-up and he starts in a slightly wider stance, before using a simple load and stride to get to center.  He then delivers a direct path to contact and stays through the plane of each pitch, while maintaining balance from start to finish.  Ard knows who he is at the plate, as he tries to drive the ball hard on a line through the middle of the field, but he's still got enough strength to find the gap for an extra-basehit, which is where his speed comes into play.  We actually saw him the day after our Scout Day against Parkview Baptist in their umpire's scrimmage, and he led the game off with a triple to dead centerfield.  Lastly, Ard is also a versatile defender, as he showed clean actions on the infield and took good routes in the outfield with a good arm from both spots (86 mph INF velo | 88 mph OF velo).  


+ 2025 UTL/RHP Jaden Ard (Walker HS)

The elder Ard was another guy that showed well at last Friday's workout and it's evident that he's also put a lot of time in the weight room over the off-season.  A versatile defender, he showed a big arm from both the outfield (93 mph) and the infield (89 mph).  At the plate, he works from a relaxed & upright stance, and whips the bat head through the zone with present power to the pull-side, and exit velocities up to 99.2 mph.  On the mound, he had one of the better outings against live hitters, as he racked up 2 K's across one shutout IP.  Ard's FB sat 84-87 mph and he showed pretty good command of it to the glove-side, while also flashing the ability to land a 75-77 mph SL for strikes.  Heading into the season, he's a good uncommitted 2025 prospect with potential two-way upside to see this spring.


+ 2027 C/OF Brody Singleton (Walker HS)

6'2" 200 lbs. hulking frame.  We walked away uber impressed with the sophomore backstop.   For as physical as he is, he's also a really good athlete, as evidenced by his 6.97 laser-timed 60.  Singleton did a solid job receiving the baseball, but what was most impressive was his blocking ability, as he worked to block every pitch throw out of the zone.  He also has a good arm from the crouch up to 78 mph with pop times of 2.08-2.13.  A left-handed hitter, Singleton gets set up in a balanced stance with the bat head rested on his back shoulder, before using his strong lower-half to turn a heavy barrel to contact that resulted in a max exit velocity of 94.8 mph.  He works with an uphill path and there's definitely present juice to the pull-side.  Singleton is a definite name that we're going to circle to see more of moving forward, because left-handed hitting catchers aren't easy to find.


+ 2026 C Jake Rappold (Walker HS)

The Wildcats have the luxury of having two really good backstops, which will offer their lineup a ton of versatility.  Rappold did an excellent job of receiving behind the plate, especially on the pitch down in the zone, and is a guy that will steal his fair share of strikes for Walker pitchers' this spring.  He showed a quick transfer from the crouch with athletic footwork that produced pop times of 1.96-2.26 with a 76 mph positional velocity.  Rappold worked mostly to the pull-side during his BP rounds with a max exit velocity of 89.9 mph. 


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