Prep Baseball Report

Arkansas Insider: Unsigned Seniors



By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

Players from across the state are making college commitments, with four more players committing this week. Chase Nix, Colten Nix committed to Arkansas State, and Brinson Williams, and Ty Koster committed to Central Arkansas. It’s exciting to see players that attended PBR events make their commitments, all four players attended our Elite Underclass event last winter.

Here is a look at five uncommitted seniors, which have showed well over the summer.

Justin Swecker, RHP, Genoa Central High School
Swecker is a 6-foot-2 200-pound right-hander with a large frame and an average body. Swecker has repeatable and efficient delivery. He works from a H3/4 arm slot with a quick clean arm. His velocity has varied this spring being as high as 84-87 mph and as low as 79-82. As he gains strength I see him being more consistent with velocity. He did consistently throw his 10/4 slider for strikes. He competes on the mound pounding the strike zone and was a work horse for the Dragons throwing 2 complete game no hitters.

Ryan Czanstkowski RHP, Mountain Home High School
Czanstkowski is a 6-foot-1 180-pound right-hander with a large frame and an athletic build. He works from a H3/4 arm slot with a quick loose arm. His fastball was 83-86 mph with slight arm-side run. He located an 11/5 curveball with early break for strikes thrown at 69-72 mph.  His frame will hold more weight and his athleticism says he will throw harder as he continues to develop. He repeats his mechanics which should allow him to throw strikes consistently as he continues to mature.

Ryan Hunter, OF, Maumelle HS
Hunter is a 5-foot-9 165-pound left-handed hitting outfielder with an athletic frame and build. Defensively he makes great reads on balls in the air showing the ability from centerfield to play balls gap to gap. Offensively he has a short compact line drive swing with fast bat speed. He produced exit velocities up to 86 mph at Arkansas Top Prospects Games. The left-handed hitter has an advanced approach understanding how to hit balls to all fields. Athletically he sound, with first step quickness but not elite speed in the 60 running a 7.19. Overall Hunter is a good baseball player, as he continues to add strength and develop he will be a good collegiate player.

Darien Burns, OF, Hamburg HS
Burns is a 6-foot-1 180-pound, left-handed outfielder with a medium frame and a physical build. He runs a 7.18 in the 60 and a 4.2 home to first. Offensively he starts from an open stance diving back into the plate. He gets online and attacks the baseball with fast bat speed with an uphill swing plane. He has the ability to hit the ball to both gaps with doubles power. Defensively he is sound with solid first step movement and an accurate arm. Overall Burns is an advanced hitter, with some rawness to his game, as he is exposed to better baseball on a consistent baseball he will be a good collegiate player.

Ben Bailey, C, North Little Rock HS
Bailey is a 5-foot-11 175-pound, left-handed hitting catcher with a medium frame and an athletic build. He is an advanced hitter with the ability to hit the ball to all fields. He has a short compact swing with a line drive swing that keeps the bat in a hitting zone for a long time. Defensively he is sound blocking and receiving at a high level. He has a quick release and an accurate arm, throwing pop times 2.0-2.1 on a consistent basis. Overall Baily is an advanced offensive player that is adequate behind at the plate at the collegiate level.

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