2017's Names to Know

July 29, 2015

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

A few events left on the summer calendar but for the most part the summer has ended. We want to take a look at 2017 grads that are players to watch over through the fall.

2017 MIF Casey Martin, Lonoke HS
Martin is a 6-foot, 175-pound MIF with a medium frame and an athletic build. Martin attacks the baseball with compact swing and fast bat speed. He shows the ability to drive the both to both gaps with doubles power. Defensively Martin shows his plus athletic ability with smooth footwork with a quick exchange and strong arm 88 mph across the infield. He runs a 6.6 in the 60. Martin has had a strong summer and is garnering attention from some of the top college programs in the country.

Logan Easley RHP RHP/INF 2017 Heritage HS
Easley is a 6-foot 170 pound right-hander with a quick clean arm. He pounded the strike zone with a fastball of 84-87 mph that had late life through the strike zone. He has an advance feel for his secondary locating both his changeup and curveball. Overall Easley has a clean arm action with a medium frame, and an athletic build. The fact that he is already showing the ability to pitch and advanced arm strength makes Easley a player to follow. He has the ability to hit at the collegiate level with fast bat speed and bat path that stays in the hit zone for an extended period of time. The question mark for Easley as a position player is if he can transfer to a corner as he continues to play the game.

2017 CIF Adrian Hannah, Searcy HS
Hannah is a 6-foot-2 200-pound corner infielder with a large frame and physical build. He was the most polished left-handed hitter in the games. His uphill bat path with fast bat speed produces exit velocity up to 88 mph. He repeats his swing maintaining rhythm and balance throughout. Defensively he has some stiffness to his hands and foot work but performed well during games. He has an accurate arm with a fluid exchange. Overall Hannah is a polished hitter, as he develops athletically he will improve defensively and should develop into a quality collegiate player.

Paxton Wallace 2017 CIF Greenbrier HS
Wallace is a 6-foot 200-pound corner infielder with a medium frame and a physical build. Wallace showed off his ability to hit the ball all over the field during batting practice. He starts from an athletic stance with a fluid load. He attacks the baseball with a short compact swing with fast bat speed. He does a stays balanced throughout his swing. Defensively he played through the baseball with average hands and a quick release. He showed off a strong accurate arm. Overall Wallace is a solid player that has plenty of interest from colleges across the fly-over states. The question mark on Wallace is what he will look like as he begins to pitch again after Tommy John Surgery. As a freshmen he possessed a mid-80’s fastball and flashed the ability to spin a breaking ball.

2017 RHP Austin Kelly, Bryant HS
Kelly is a 6-foot-1 190-pound RHP with a large frame and a physical build. He worked two innings with impressive stuff. His fastball set 86-89 mph with late life through the strike zone. He threw a slider 78-80 mph with erratic break but at times was sharp with late 10/4 action. Overall a big arm with some upside, as he matures and cleans up some timing issues he will throw harder and strikes on a consistent basis. Kelly is a bit of an under the radar player at this time. He was a part of the deepest pitching staff in the state of Arkansas last spring with 2015 RHP Blaine Knight (Arkansas), 2016 LHP Evan Lee (Arkansas) and 2016 RHP Zach Jackson (Arkansas). Couple that with a solid group of 2015 graduates that competed in the strike zone left Kelly with limited innings. As he gets more mound time I look for him to continue to get better

2017's Names to Know

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