Uncommitted Spotlight: 18' Austin Nikolas, INF/RHP, St. Cloud Tech
September 7, 2017
By Josh Threlkeld
Prep Baseball Report Minnesota
PBR Minnesota seeks to offer the most comprehensive coverage of prep baseball in the state of Minnesota. Our goal is to continue bringing recognition to those who play this game within the state and to showcase the deep talent pool that Minnesota is developing. Austin is a player that has emerged out of St. Cloud as a top prep in the state for one of the states top high school teams.
Austin Nikolas
Class of 2018 / RHP
Player Information
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Graduating Class: 2018
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Primary Position: RHPSecondary Position: SS
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High School: St. Cloud TechState: MN
- Summer Team: Acceleration Baseball
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Height: 6-0Weight: 165lbs
- Bat/Throw: R/R
Statistics
PBR: What schools have expressed interest in you?
Recently I have heard from U of M, Mizzou, NDSU, SDSU, Iowa, Bradley, Minnesota State - Mankato, Cal Poly, Angelo State, SIUE, and SCSU
PBR: Have you taken any visits, or have any visits scheduled in the near future?
I have visited SCSU and NDSU. I plan to take more visits this fall.
PBR: Are you looking for anything in particular in a school? (Example: high academics, certain academic program, local, etc.)
I definitely want to go to a school where I can continue my schooling with the best academics possible and start my degree in education. I also would like to be in a big city with a great campus atmosphere.
PBR: What were some of your highlights during your junior year?
Our high school team had a great year, going 20-0 in the regular season and remained undefeated through playoffs. But, unfortunately fell short of our goal and lost in the first round of state. There were a lot of positives to our season and we had a great group of seniors that were even better leaders for the younger guys.
PBR: What are your personal and team goals for this upcoming season?
Personally, I want to get bigger. I've been working hard at gaining weight and have gained 11 pounds over the summer. I feel like the extra weight and agility programs will help me become the best player I can be through added strength and quickness.
My other goal this year is that I want to win. We move up to 4A this coming school season and we are only returning 3 starters. We still have a lot of talent coming up and we want to make a run at state again, so I'm excited for the season!
PBR: Do you play any other sports?
This will be my second year of just playing baseball. All the way up to my junior year I played football and basketball.
PBR: What is your ACT and GPA?
My ACT is 18, and GPA is 3.3
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Scouting Report
6/20/17- 5-foot-11, 170-pound right-handed hitting 2-way player. On mound; smaller compact frame with quick twitch actions. Good balance, rhythm, and tempo to delivery. Live arm producing 85-86 mph fastball with late running action. Slider is 75-77 mph, with 10-4 shape, and above avg. depth. Commands changeup at 75-76 mph with solid fade for strikes. 6.93 runner. Tall stance, drops into lower slot, line drive swing plane, hard line drive contact when stays through zone, 93 mph exit velocity. Athletic in field, tends to field deep in stance, winds up to throw, accurate to bag, 84 mph arm across infield.
3/20/17- 6-foot, 165-pound right handed hitting 2-way player. #11 ranked player in MN 2018 class. Long arm swing delivers out of a true ¾ slot. Arm shows quickness and the ball jumps out of his hand. Good flow to the delivery. Fastball sat 85-86 mph with above avg. arm-side run. Slider backs up occasionally, but it could end up being a good pitch for him as he finds more touch with it. When he did show feel for it, it swept across the plate with tight spin at 74-75, and was easily a swing and miss pitch. Changeup worked with sink for strikes at 73-74 mph. 7.12 runner. Front heel turn triggers swing with pre-set hand and body load, flat bat plane, line drive contact, aggressive swinger, mid/pull approach, 85 mph exit velocity. Athletic at position with raw actions, sure hands, glove is occasionally stiff, makes plays, accurate arm, sinking action on throws from low3/4 slot, 84 mph arm strength across infield.
10/24/16- 6-foot, 165-pound right-handed hitting 2-way player. On mound; controlled delivery with good tempo, explodes down mound, very quick arm from ¾ slot, some effort on release, with above avg. action on pitches. Fastball was 86-87 mph with late run and cut action. Breaking ball is above avg., cutter action, with extremely tight spin and short break. Changeup is thrown with fastball arm speed with solid feel for zone. 6.99 runner. Slightly open stance, drops hands in swing, uphill plane, barrel exits zone early, solid contact with pull approach, 81 mph exit velocity. Athletic raw actions in field, covers ground, glove works, above avg. carry to bag, tends to throw flat-footed across, 79 mph arm across infield. Currently un-ranked; Nikolas will make huge jump up rankings once they are updated.