By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

7A West
As a whole most programs are reloading after a very talent deep 2015 class graduating leaving large holes in rosters. 2016 should be interesting to see the new faces that appear to lead rosters.

Pitching
Bentonville: The State Champions return 3 seniors from their State Title run. RHP Kasey Ford, RHP Carter Brown and RHP Drew Young. Ford is a true No.1 starter. The hard throwing righty compliments his fastball with a solid slider and change up. Brown and Young are dominate in their own rights, both run fastballs up above 86 mph and compete in the strike zone with solid secondary stuff.

RELATED: Kansas State Commit Kasey Ford attends Super 60 

Fayetteville: The bulldogs lost 4 NCAA Division I pitchers from their 2015 roster including MLB draftees RHP Andy Pagnozzi and RHP John Boushelle. 2016 LHP Joey Savin will look to take the reins his senior campaign and lead a young but talented staff. Savin pitches from an H ¾ arm slot with a quick clean arm with a mid-80s fastball and solid breaking ball.

Har-ber: 2016 LHP Adam Scoggins and 2016 RHP Michael King should pitch a significant amount of innings for the Wildcats in this spring. Scoggins is a 6-foot-4 left-hander with advanced pitch-ability. While King is 6-foot-3 right-hander with a fastball that works in the upper 80s. 2019 RHP/OF Blake Adams may get some opportunities to compete early with a fastball up to 87 mph and a solid feel for a breaking ball.

Heritage: Heritage lost 2015 LHP Kacey Murphy and 2015 LHP Ty Harris to graduation, it will be hard to replace both Arkansas commits. New head coach Mitch Cameron will lean on 2017 RHP Logan Easley to stabilize this staff. Easley pitched a little as a sophomore and has quick arm, he was up to 88 mph last summer at PBR Arkansas Underclass Games.

Northside: The Grizzlies will lean on 2016 LHP Triston Wolfe as their front line starter. Wolfe is a strike throwing lefty, they mixes in a changeup and curveball to keep hitters off balance. The rest of the staff will be young.

Rogers: 2016 LHP Hunter Hefley returns as one of the top pitchers in the conference and will anchor the Mounties pitching staff this spring. Hefley is a long athletic kid with a quick arm and a solid breaking ball. He was a big part of Rogers making it to the state tournament in 2015.

Southside: 2017 LHP DJ Reeves has advanced pitch-ability locating three pitches for a strike on a consistent. First year head coach Dale Harpenua should feel confident with him leading a pitching staff, as he had a very successful campaign in 2015.

Springdale: The Bulldogs will lean of their 5 seniors to lead this staff. I look for an improved group in 2016 with Head Coach Shon Doty entering his second season at the helm. Doty has made a living developing pitchers in the college game for 20+ plus years. I expect this staff will understand how to pitch at a high level.

Hitting
Bentonville: The tigers didn’t lose much on the mound but have some key holes to fill offensively, with the departure of MIF Cody Scroggins to Arkansas and 2015 OF Paul Rouse to Central Arkansas. 2018 OF Kam’ron May-Hunt maybe one of the players given the opportunity to replace one of those players. Hunt is a dynamic athlete with an advanced feel for the game. Returners that should carry the load include 2016 C Matt Bratspies, 2016 OF/RHP Drew Young and 2016 OF/RHP Carter Brown.

Fayetteville: Similar to on the mound Coach Gallagher will have several holes to fill in his opening campaign as the Skipper for the Purple Dogs. He does have reliable player in 2016 OF Thomas Broyles. Broyles is a premium athlete that runs a 6.6 in the 60. Offensively he has the ability to hit the ball in either gap. The next three weeks will determine a lot of the rest of the line up with competition in practice. I believe this will be a talented group, just inexperienced.

Har-Ber: 2016 OF/LHP Adam Scoggins and 2016 1B Brandon Still should provide leadership to an overall young group, that will be trying replace several departures from the 2015 state semi-final run. A new face to emerge may be 2017 OF Caleb Kimbrel and 2017 C Caleb Grace. Both players had big summers showing to be some of the more potent hitters.

Heritage: 2017 RHP/INF Logan Easley hit in the 2 spot for the War Eagles who lost several key contributors off last year’s roster. He is a good place to start Easley has a compact line drive swing that has produces consistent results. Coach Cameron has a track record of developing players and putting a competitive group on the field.

RELATED: Watch our breakdown of Logan Easley 

Northside: Northside will be attempting to replace 2015 grad OF/RHP Christian Neves as he was a catalyst for them in 2015. Coach Fry has shown in the past to put a competitive group together, and 2016 should not be different.

Southside: 2017 OF Kinner Brasher was a staple of 2015 line up. Brasher has a line drive swing that keeps his barrel in the hit zone for an extended period of time. He is an advanced athlete that runs a 6.6 in the 60. He should be a solid threat at the top of the lineup.

Springdale: The bulldogs should be tough up and down the line up in 2016 with returners from 2015 to lead and some young guys to add youthful exuberance. They will be a tough out week in and week out.

Overall:
A very intriguing league with a ton of new players to be counted to produce. I look for Northside and Springdale to be the teams that miss the state tournament, but nothing would surprise me with how the league shacks out.

Pick:
Bentonville is my pick to when the conference, as they return too much talent on the mound not to be considered a front runner.