7A Central Season Preview

February 10, 2016

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

7A Central

This may be the most competitive conference in all classification, especially adding Greenwood in the mix as one of the 4 6A High Schools that round out this conference.

Pitching

Bryant High School: 2016 LHP Evan Lee, 2016 RHP Zach Jackson, 2016 RHP Alex Shurtleff, and 2017 RHP Austin Kelly. This group is one of the deepest staff’s in the state. Lee is a polished left-hander who pounds the strike zone with three pitches. Jackson is a hard throwing right-hander that compliments his bowling ball fastball with a swing and miss slider. Shurtleff is a strike thrower who competes with three pitches. Kelly may have the best stuff but has struggled with command.

Catholic High School: 2016 LHP Dylan Thompson, 2018 LHP Evan Hiatt, 2017 RHP Noah Fowler and 2018 Hank Hannah. This group is distinguished in their own right. Thompson is an Arkansas commit that pounds the strike zone with a fastball 84-87 mph with solid secondary stuff. Hiatt was big for the Rockets as freshman finishing the season with 10 victories. Hannah was up and down as a freshman but when he was right, he was very tough. His best outing was a one-hitter against 4A State Runner up Arkadelphia. Fowler has advanced pitch-ability locating 3 three pitches for a strike on a consistent basis.

RELATED: Arkansas Commit, Thompson, Looking to Lead Senior Year

Conway High School: 2018 LHP Jordan Wicks, 2016 LHP Collin Cahill, 2016 Matt Strickland, and 2017 RHP Cade Tucker. This staff pitched the Wampus Cats to a State Championship Runner-Up in 2015. Wicks started the 2015 state championship game and I expect him to anchor this staff again. Wicks pounds the strike zone with three pitches on a consistent basis. Cahill should be completely recovered from an ACL surgery that hampered his consistency in 2015. If right Cahill has flashed the potential to be as good as they come. Strickland is a bulldog who competes better than most. Tucker closed in 2015 when he has that mid-set he is tough, over the summer he became a more finesse arm, if he will get back to attacking hitters with his fastball I expect big results for him.

Van Buren High School: Van Buren HS lost the majority of its rotation from 2015, they will figure out who the right pieces are. They have a solid group of 2019’s coming into the program this spring, so they are a little bit of an unknown.

Hitting

Bryant High School: Bryant replaces most of their position players from 2015. Early on it will be figuring out the right pieces. Kelly and Lee will compete as two way players and will join 2016 C Dylan Hurt as the returning hitters.

Catholic High School: 2016 MIF/OF Joe Myers 2017 MIF Cameron Tissue and 2016 OF Lance Harville Thomas will lead the Rockets offense. Myers and Harville-Thomas have some punch in the middle of the order as they both have shown pull power through-out their careers. Tissue is one of the better hitters for average in all classifications

Conway High School: The Wampus Cats return 7 starters from last spring. 2017 MIF Kolby Reck, 2018 OF Parker Gavazzi and 2017 Mcall Dail will set the table for this unit while 2017 CIF Cade Tucker and 2016 C Greyson Pickett will be the players leaned on to drive in runs.

Van Buren High School: Like on the mound Van Buren is young. Look for one of the more impressive 2019’s Landry Wilkerson to be a catalyst in the line up early in the year.

Overall

I believe that Van Buren will be on the outside looking to get one of the three bids for the state tournament. This league will consist of low scoring games on a consistent basis due to the amount of dominating pitching.

Pick

I am picking Conway High School to win the conference championship. They return more players than any of the other teams in the conference. The margin for error is slim for the top three teams, with not only either of the teams able to not only win the conference but the 7A State Title.

7A Central Season Preview

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