Utah HS Team Preview: American Fork HS

The BYU commit, is one of 3 aces on the national powerhouse Cavemen program. Laycock is one of 6 D1 commits on a loaded roster that went 30-1 a year ago, enroute to the 6A state title. Laycock, a secondary arm a year ago, will be out in front this year, along with Kaden Carpenter and Dax Newman to form a trio that will be tough for opponents to handle. Austin has a strong, sturdy athletic build and has grown an inch and put on 15 lbs since we last saw him this last July. Austin features a high flexible kick to a tucked delivery and maintains balance and creates deception from a short, ball to ear type arm slot, that makes it tough for hitters to pick up his pitches. He shows a FB/Lateral SLV and CH, with the FB 87-89 and ripping his fingers through the ball, he creates 2419 spin and the pitch has natural cutting action and darts off the barrel of hitters. The SL 71-73 has CB velo and SL action, which from his lower arm slot, looks like a frisbee and can be a tough pitch for both RHH/LHH’s to handle. The CH 78 has kill spin and is evident of the spin rate of 1418, which is one of the lower spins in the state. It fades really well, but needs to maintain his arm speed and create added turnover sync. A K thrower, repeating his delivery with his natural deception, should create a ton of mis-matches in Laycock’s corner this coming spring. 

Another surprise young pitching prospect that I didn’t know about coming in and left impressed and mentioned as much to him after his time on the mound. A strong lower ½ with present strength throughout, along with present arm strength. Features a compact tucked delivery and a medium arm stroke from a TQ/LTQ slot that creates carry through the zone with natural run and sink. The FB 85-88 looks to add velocity over the next 2 years coupled with a spin rate of 2263 which is avg on the big league scale. Wouldn’t surprise me if this is a 90-93 arm waiting to happen. The CB 68-70 is a short tight sweeper and showed the ability to land to both corners as he backdoored a couple and also was able to land and spot to his glove side. The CH 75-77 slows his delivery a bit with lower spin, yet dives at the plate with fade. Look for big things over the next couple of years from Austin as he is another next level pitching prospect. 

2022 PBR Future Games

2022 PBR West Coast Games

One of the best athletes and “movers” at the event or any PBR event for the 2022 calendar year. A Future Games alum, that will get his first shot at the varsity level next spring as a junior, but keep in mind that he plays at a nationally ranked program that was filled with an entire D1 infield and was blocked. This kid would start at 90% of all HS’s in the state already, if he was somewhere else. The bloodlines are in place, as his father Jason was an All-WAC defensive back at BYU in the mid to late 90’s, and was a two sport star in HS, being drafted in the 24th Rd by the Montreal Expos out of HS as a CF. His brother Jack is an OF’er at Utah Tech. Jett is flashy, acrobatic and smooth at SS and it’s not manufactured, it’s natural and instinctive by nature. His feet and hands are “cat” quick, along with having extremely fast feet and feel for the ball. Can throw on the run with ease and flare, along with gaining ground quickly in coming in to charge balls. The arm is gonna be plus in time as he is 85-86 across the diamond and it’s easy. Look for a low 90’s over the next 2 years! One thing that stands out among the Swift Vertical jump metrics, was there was only 10 players of the 69, that had a vertical of 30+ inches and Walker was #2 at 34.99, essentially 35! The bat has hand and bat speed of metrics of 24.3 and 70.6, while producing a lower EV of 87.9, which suggests his bat speed is in place, now the strength is yet to come, but will as he is 5-11 165 and his Dad played at 6-1 195, so projected gains are expected, which when you put the hit tool that gets hits and legs out 2B’s, those hits will clear the gaps and his 6.76 speed at LakePoint will play up in the batter's box. Excited for his future! 

A versatile defender that can play all 3 INF spots and was used at both MIF positions at the Future Games, Walker played clean defense and showed real well in the workout on day one. Jett drove hard shots on a line from RCF to LCF, staying in the middle of the field, as he took a solid round of BP. The setup features a wide base in the box, with his hands held high over his back shoulder. He loads the bat well, and when on approach, he tends to drive his back shoulder underneath, which creates an uphill path, this is something he didn’t do in my earlier summer looks, when he was swinging the bat really well. When in sync, he drives his back shoulder towards the path of the ball and though there is some uphill, he created a flatter plane and wore the gaps out with an MVP award in a mid June tournament in CA. The glove is advanced for a 16 year old, as he has natural flash, educated feet and soft, subtle hands with an energetic rhythm to his twitchy athletic movement patterns. The arm is strong for his age as he posted an 86 mph arm across the INF at the Future Games and 83 at the Top Prospect Games. Also a runner as he posted a 6.84/60 at the TP Games and a 6.76 at the Future Games. Just needs to add overall body strength and size to maximize his hitting abilities, and with that added size and additional leg strength, look for some 90’s across the diamond and 6.6/60’s in his next two years of HS baseball. 

2022 PBR Future Games

One of the better athletes in the state and led #TeamUtah in 6 of 8 hitting data categories (Trackman/Blast Motion) at the Future Games. Watts took a very impressive BP on Sunday with missile after missile on a line to LCF and cleared the yard a handful of times. Watts has consistently maxed out between 100.8 and 102.8 all year. A flatter setup from a semi crouched open stance, Watts gets and coils back into square and then just drives his hands inside the baseball with impressive hand and bat speed. Consistently in the low 80’s, the bat speed remained 83 with an affinity for finding the barrel during game play. Able to spoil pitches and take pitches, while making pitchers work. Watts looks the part of a hitter, but does some things in a crude way, yet has abv avg hand/eye coordination w/natural twitchy strength. Some four year school needs to jump on this guy!

A two sport baseball/football star, Watts was a standout on workout day at the PBR Future Games, as he led Team Utah in 6 of the 8 metrics recorded by Trackman and Blast Motion. At 6-0 190, Watts looks the part of a next level player! Built like a halfback w/broad shoulders, and tapered into a small waist, w/a well defined lower half. Powerful and strong with twitchy movement patterns, Watts ran a 7.09/60 for a CIF, but he showed light feet at 1B w/proper angles in working through balls out front and from the ground up. He showed a strong arm at 83 mph across the INF with online accurate throws. The bat was on point all week, as Watts was spotlighted by LakePoint Sports on social media, as he led the Future Games event with 5 hits in 3 games. Watts had a 2 hit game with a 2B vs Team Arkansas in game one and followed it up in game three w/a 3 hit affair as well. Playing for one of the best HS programs in the country, American Fork HS had half a dozen D1 signees, ranging from BYU, Utah and TCU. Watts was a member of the 30-1 6A state champions in 2021 and the state runner up in 2022! Colleges, you don’t want to miss out on this one, as it’s hard to find a 1B that not only can hit, but is athletic and can pick it at 1B defensively! 

Positional Profile: C/3B

Hits: RHH.
Power: 89 max exit velocity, averaged 81.5 MPH. 331' max distance.
Arm: RH. C-73,72, 73, 72, 73 mph.
Defense:
Run: 7.49 runner in the 60.

Young 14 yr old C/UTL with advanced tools and skills for his age. A 2021 Jr Future Games alum with a father who played college baseball. Plays for top rated ‘26 Trosky National and was voted top performer at the PBR Rising Stars ID. Features a long lean athletic build that has plenty of room for growth, development and maturity. An upright, open stance with flex to the knees and shows hand and body rhythm in the box. Coils his front knee inward as he makes his way back to square and is soft out front at foot strike. The swing is quick for his age w/a compact, knob to ball fluid stroke w/a full two hand finish around his back shoulder. The glove behind the plate is advanced and he receives softly and lets the ball travel, while he is quick to block and keeps balls in front and is tough to advance on, as he is quick out front and side to side in recovering. Has solid footwork and a quick clean exchange and his throws have something on them and carry thru the bag with on the money throws. At SS, Cache shows educated feet w/athletic actions, while playing from the ground up and out front. Solid player who is putting himself out front and on the radar within his grad class.