Early Signing Period: Arkansas State University

November 19, 2015

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

The early signing period began last Wednesday. Players from all corners of the state have been having their signing ceremonies and making their college choice official. Here is a look at the signees for Arkansas State University

2016 LHP Collin Cahill, Conway HS
Cahill is a 6-foot-3 180-pound left-hander with a large frame and an athletic build. He works primarily a two pitches, mixing his 82-85 mph fastball and a 1/7 curveball with late break and depth. He used the curveball to put hitters away striking out 9 in 3 innings. Cahill works from an H ¾ arm slot with fast arm. His lack of command at times, comes from lack of repeating the arm circle, other than that his mechanics are sound with repeatable balance and rhythm. Overall Cahill is a physical LHP that projects to improve as he continues to develop.

2016 RHP/OF Garry Hill, Star City HS
Hill is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound RHP/OF with an athletic frame and build. He works from a H ¾ arm slot with a quick loose arm. His fastball is 86-88 mph with slight arm side run. He compliments his fastball with an 11/5 curveball with late break and depth. Hill repeats mechanic and has average balance. He would benefit from getting more extension toward home plate. Overall he is a good athlete that projects to get better with his arm action. Defensively as a position player his athleticism takes over making him a solid defender. His arm strength plays well from the outfield. Offensively he attacks the ball with fast bat speed producing exit velocities up to 91 mph. The swing has the tendency to get long, however he has feel for the barrel and has hit consistently at the high school level. Right now Hill projects to be a dual player.

2016 LHP/OF Chase Nix, Benton HS
Nix is a 6-foot-2 180-pound left-hander with a large frame and an athletic build. He pitches from a H ¾ arm slot with a quick arm. He repeats his delivery. His fastball works 83-85 mph, his 2/8 curveball is thrown 74-76 and the change up was 73-75 mph. All three pitches are quality pitches when thrown in the strike zone. Overall Nix has big upside, if he learns to command the strike zone on a consistent basis.

2016 OF Colten Nix, Benton HS
Nix is a 6-foot-2 200-pound outfielder with a large frame and a physical build. Nix is one of the top hitters in the 2016 class. He starts from and athletic stance with a smooth load and stride. He attacks the baseball with a slight up hill swing with fast bat speed. He produces exit velocities over 90 mph on a consistent basis. He has shown in game pull power. Defensively he is a solid defender using his athleticism to run down balls in either gap. Overall Nix is a great athlete with a feel to hit, he should compete early in his collegiate career.

2016 C Austin Powell, Star City HS
Powell is a 6-foot 180-pound catcher with a medium frame and a physical build. He is a good athlete running a 7.19 in the 60. Powell threw a 1.81-1.96 pop time during the pro-style work out. He receives with soft hands and maintains proper arm angles. Offensively he starts from an athletic stance, and maintains good balance throughout his swing. He attacks the baseball with an uphill bat path and fast bat speed, producing exit velocities up to 92 mph. Overall Powell is an advanced catch and throw catcher with enough offensive aptitude to handle the catching duties early on at the collegiate level.

2016 RHP/MIF Blake Wynn, Star City HS
The 6-foot 160 pound INF/RHP with an athletic frame and build. He shows solid defensive actions with fluid footwork and a smooth exchange. Offensively he starts from on open stance, he dives into the plate, he gets online. He attacks the baseball with a line drive swing, he keeps his barrel in the hit zone for an extended period of time. Wynn is a dual player that projects as a pitcher as well. He pounds the strike zone with a fastball of 83-86 mph. He compliments the fastball with solid breaking ball and changeup thrown with near fastball arm speed. He does a sound job repeating his delivery, which allows him to throw strikes on a constituent basis. Overall Wynn is a versatile athlete that should have plenty of opportunities to find a roll on a college roster early in his career.