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Eastern PA College Prospect Showcase Analysis: Class of 2019

July 3, 2016

By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

The summer schedule of PBR events in Pennsylvania continued this week with the 2016 Eastern PA Top College Prospect Showcase on June 29. Nearly 50 prospects from four states gathered to showcase their abilities at MapleZone Sports Village in Aston, PA. Today we continue our analysis of the prospects in attendance by taking a look at the prospects that participated in the Class of 2019.

Jeffrey Billig, OF, Avon Grove
5-foot-8, 155-pound left-handed hitter. Starts from an open stance and strides slightly closed. Would benefit from additional strength, but showed good rhythm and stayed inside the baseball. Ran a 6.97 60-yard dash; posted 76 mph arm strength and 80 mph exit velocity.

Joseph Blackburn, RHP/1B, Downingtown West
6-foot-2, 195-pounds. Worked entirely from the stretch from a three-quarter slot with low elbow. Fastball sat 74-76 and was complemented by a curveball at 64-66. Maintained good direction to the plate and was around the strikezone. Right-handed hitter starts from a slightly closed stance and takes short stride to square with limited hand load. Flat path is geared mostly pullside. Showed solid feet and glove defensively. Ran a 7.70 60-yard dash; posted 71 mph arm strength and 83 mph exit velocity.

Connor Bowman, IF/RHP, Oxford Area
5-foot-10, 155-pound right-handed hitter who would benefit from strength gains. Starts from a square stance and incorporates an exaggerated toe-tap to slightly open. Good launch point into a flat bat path. Does a solid job getting his feet in position to keep working toward first base when he fields the ball. Ran a 7.50 60-yard dash; posted 70 mph arm strength and 79 mph exit velocity. On the mound, he works with a fastball at 68-69, a curveball at 54-56, and a change-up at 57-59.

John DeMucci, C/IF, Bonner-Prendergast
5-foot-10, 150-pounder with solid defensive skill set. Posted pop times of 2.19-2.26 with a good exchange and direction toward second base, while 69 mph arm strength had some carry to it and will certainly improve down the road. Right-handed hitter starts from an open stance, strides to square and has a fairly flat bat path. Will benefit from strength gains, as barrel wrap currently creates some length. Ran a 7.69 60-yard dash; posted 69 mph arm strength from the crouch (71 mph from the infield) and 74 mph exit velocity.

Sean Hopkins, OF/RHP, West Chester Rustin
Physical 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed hitter with some bat speed. Starts from a wide open stance and strides to slightly closed. Manged to hit through contact fairly well despite barring his front arm in his load. Ran a 7.15 60-yard dash; posted 78-mph arm strength and 81 mph exit velocity (all of which he has exceeded at previous events).

Tyler Horgan, OF/1B, Spring-Ford
6-foot-2, 185-pound right-handed hitter. Hits from a slightly closed stance with high front elbow. Lays bat flat in load and pulls bat through zone with front shoulder and bottom hand. Would benefit from additional upper body strength and getting top hand in better position to help swing. Ran a 7.69 60-yard dash; posted 76 mph arm strength and 77 mph exit velocity.

Andrew Humphrey, RHP, Unionville
5-foot-10, 155-pounds. High effort, aggressive delivery with head snap, spin, and recoil. Arm action is longer out of the glove, but somewhat reminiscent of White Sox reliever Nate Jones. Fastball sat 78-79, while working over front side would allow him to get downhill more consistently. Also showed a change-up at 73-74 and curveball at 66-68 that exhibited solid 11/5 shape at times.

Joseph Loynd, IF/RHP, Central Bucks South
5-foot-11, 160-pound right-handed hitter. Starts open, rocks weight to back side, and strides to square. Exhibits good rhythm in his swing and the ball comes off his bat fairly well. Ran a 7.21 60-yard dash; posted 85 mph exit velocity and 79 mph arm strength from a low slot. Solid job closing the gap on groundballs and coming to get the short hop. On the mound, threw strikes out of a three-quarter slot. Fastball sat 74-75, change-up was 64-66, and curveball was 58-59 with 11/5 shape.

Tyler Marlow, LHP/OF, Council Rock North
5-foot-10, 135-pound right-handed hitter. Starts from a square stance and strides slightly closed. Swing mechanics have some dive and spin, while he flashes some bat speed and would benefit from strength gains. Ran a 7.78 60-yard dash; posted 75 mph arm strength and 78 mph exit velocity. Did not participate as a pitcher.

Zachary McGillan, 3B/RHP, Ephrata Area
5-foot-10, 180-pound right-handed hitter. Starts from a wide open stance way off the dish and strides to square. Used the middle of the field fairly well during his BP round. Ran an 8.12 60-yard dash, posted 79 mph exit velocity, and showed accurate 73 mph arm strength with a solid glovehand defensively. On the mound, he pitched out of a high three-quarter slot featuring a fastball at 73-75 with a bit of tail, a curveball at 64-66 with 11/5 shape, and a slider that tended to back up on him at 69-70.

John McNamee, 1B/3B, Holy Ghost Prep
6-foot-1, 180-pound right-handed hitter. Starts from a square stance and takes a knee-to-knee stride to slightly closed. Attacks the baseball with a swing that has some length and an intent to elevate. Posted 86 mph exit velocity and 73 mph arm strength; ran a 8.62 60-yard dash. Doesn't have the quickest feet defensively, but showed a solid glovehand taking fungos.

Stephen Posner, IF, Downingtown West
5-foot-11, 170-pound right-handed hitter with some strength in his frame. Hits from a square stance with big hitch in his hand load and shows a little oppo juice. Ran a 7.41 60-yard dash; posted 84 mph exit velocity and arm strength of 73 mph from the infield and 78 mph from the outfield. Defensively, he really rounded off his footwork to put himself in a position to work toward first base when fielding the ball, showed a solid glovehand, and has some push to his arm action that could land him at second base as his career progresses.

Christian Strickland, C/OF, St. Elizabeth (DE)
5-foot-9, 160-pound right-handed hitter. Hits from a square stance with middle/oppo approach in BP and flashes some bat speed, while back elbow creeps up in his load. Ran a 7.82 60-yard dash and posted 79 mph exit velocity. Solid receiver, quick transfer (ball is actually airborne for a split second between glove and hand) and gets feet down quickly, leading to pop times of 2.25-2.39, which should improve as his accurate 69 mph arm strength gets better.

Ryan Testa, C/OF, Central Bucks East
5-foot-5, 120-pound left-handed hitter. Starts from a square stance and toe-taps to closed. Hands work okay, although he loses the barrel at launch, in part due to a lack of physical strength. Ran a 7.89 60-yard dash and posted arm strength of 72 mph from the outfield and 62 mph from the crouch. Pop times of 2.53-2.58 will improve as he learns to exchange high instead of dropping it down to his waist.

Ben Weaver, OF, Plumstead Christian
5-foot-8, 140-pound left-handed hitter. Starts from a slightly closed stance and strides closed with some top half dive toward the plate. Lacks physical strength, but attacks the baseball. Spins on back side with limited weight transfer going forward. Ran a 7.40 60-yard dash; posted 72 mph exit velocity and 76 mph arm strength. Three quarter arm slot generated a low trajectory and some tailing action on his throws.

A.J. Zeak, C/3B, Delone Catholic
6-foot-1, 205-pound right-handed hitter. Starts from an open stance and strides slightly closed. Creates an armbar in his load and would benefit from keeping the bat through the zone longer, but does flash occasional bat speed. Ran an 8.02 60-yard dash; posted 75 mph exit velocity, 67 mph arm strength from the crouch, and pop times of 2.31-2.44.

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