PBR Florida Preseason Classic Preview

The inaugural PBR Preseason Classic is coming to Clint Hurdle Field at Merritt Island High School on February 15-17th.  The three day event will all take place at Clint Hurdle Field, with six teams playing in the three day round-robin style event. Teams will have time allotted for batting practice over the three days and will include five of the top ten players in Florida’s 2018 class and seventeen total ranked players from the 2018-2021 classes.

The Prep Baseball Report will provide complete coverage of the Preseason Classic, with full game reports including insider scouting notes and statistical highlights. The Prep Baseball Report website will host everything you need to know, including schedule, scores game recaps, scout blogs and more.

The Thursday games will be live-broadcast on PrepBaseballReport.com and are available to be purchased before and after the game through our partner StreamSports HERE.

Teams- Head Coach

Merritt Island- Greg Plecki
Eau Gallie- Bob Collins
George Jenkins- Chad Crosby
TNXL Academy- Brian Martinez
Vero Beach- Bryan Rahal
Jensen Beach- Corey Cooke

Players to Watch

Merritt Island

Mason Denaburg RHP / C / Merritt Island, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 1 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 3 / POS: 1 DraftRank: 5 / POS: 2 The Florida recruit and No. 1 player in Florida’s 2018 class, Denaburg is an elite athlete with both present tools and upside. He is a true two-way player, but his arm and potential on the mound is what has him at the top of the class. The multi-sport athlete uses the athleticism on the mound and a quick arm, showing a fastball that has been up to 97 mph.

Chase Victor LHP / Merritt Island, FL / 2018 Florida Gulf Coast recruit, Victor has shown a feel to pitch in the past. He worked 82-85 mph and shown a feel for a curveball. Also batted .387 with 19 RBIs in 2017.

Kyle Dentmon C / SS / Viera, FL / 2018 Air Force recruit. Defensively he is strong and stock. Blocks and moves well, strong shoulders, wrist for receiving. Strong arm, accurate throws with a 1.97 caught stealing in the game. Offensively, he has a strong lower half. Balanced and aggressive to pitches in the zone.Chase Leblanc- Miami recruit the freshman has present tools and will be one to watch against the talent, deep, experienced teams.

Chase LeBlanc LHP / Merritt Island, FL / 2021 Rankings  StateRank: 6 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 22 / POS: 4  Miami recruit the freshman has present tools and will be one to watch against the talent, deep, experienced teams.

Eau Gallie

Carter Stewart RHP / Eau Gallie, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 6 / POS: 3 OverallRank: 16 / POS: 6 DraftRank: 21 / POS: 9 The 6-foot-6 Mississippi State recruit is not only the top player on Eau Gallie, but also one of the top players in the state. In 2017 Stewart hit .313 with 4 homeruns and 22 RBIs. The big right hander with one of the best curveballs in the country, went 11-2 with 104 strikeouts and a 0.81 ERA.

Nick Pogue RHP / Eau Gallie, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 58 / POS: 20 OverallRank: 245 / POS: 103 A Florida recruit, Pogue was 6-2 with a save, 68 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA in 2017. The fastball shows late heavy life at 87-88 mph. He shows a really good slider that has the potential to be a plus pitch at 74-75 mph and a changeup at 79-80.

Trey Jackson SS / RHP / Eau Gallie, FL / 2020 The athletic two-way player will be an exciting underclassmen to watch. He hit 5 home runs as a freshman and has above average bat speed and present hit tool. On the mound he has a quick arm with a fastball ranging from 81-85 mph with life. Should make an impact both offensively and on the mound.

George Jenkins

Brandon Howlett 3B / SS / George W. Jenkins, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 8 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 29 / POS: 2 DraftRank: 30 / POS: 2 Currently ranked No 8 in Florida, the Florida State recruit is one of the top hitter in the country. A physical frame with present hit and power tools with upside in power potential will make him one of the more closely watched hitter at the event.

Brady Allen OF / LHP / George W. Jenkins, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 26 / POS: 4 OverallRank: 107 / POS: 20 The South Carolina recruit, and physical, two-way senior put up impressive numbers on both sides in 2017. He batted .389 with 24 RBIs and 5 home runs while also going 5-0 with a 0.83 ERA on the mound.  Allen has a chance to solidify the middle of a strong lineup and round out a deep rotation.

Jacob Herbert C / 1B / George W. Jenkins, FL / 2019 Rankings  StateRank: 9 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 27 / POS: 1  Florida recruit. Another top underclassmen in attendance, he shows solid defensive ability behind the plate,  but the power is the calling card. He has above average present power and will be one to watch against high level arms.

Brandt Sundean LHP / 1B / George Jenkins, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 107 / POS: 7  The Florida Gulf Coast recruit works 84-87 mph on the mound and has been the ace for George Jenkins, going 8-2 with a 2.64 ERA in 2017

Daniel Batcher LHP / George W Jenkins, FL / 2019 The transfer comes in to George Jenkins from Georgia. The West Virginia recruit is a long, lanky left-hander with a lot of upside.

Matthew Warren 2B / SS / George Jenkins, FL / 2018 Florida Southern recruit, the athletic middle infielder will be a spark plug type at the top of the order for Jenkins.

TNXL Academy

Elijah Cabell OF / RHP / TNXL Academy, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 5 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 15 / POS: 4 DraftRank: 20 / POS: 4 Louisiana State recruit Shows easy power. Plus arm from the outfield with accuracy and carry on his throws. Takes efficient routes to the ball. There is big raw power and bat speed and will be another one to watch against the high level arms, especially Denaburg in his first game.

Hylan Hall RHP / tnxl academy, FL / 2019 Rankings  StateRank: 33 / POS: 12 OverallRank: 169 / POS: 66 Another talented underclass Florida recruit in attendance. The twitchy athlete shows an extremely high offensive ceiling with above average bat speed. Aso has a very quick arm with potential on the mound.

Tyrell Brewer SS / tnxl academy, FL / 2019 Rankings  StateRank: 48 / POS: 9 OverallRank: 231 / POS: 39 FSU commit. The athletic infielder looks to have filled out some with plenty of room to continue to get stronger. He moves well in the infield, with quality lateral agility and has trust in his hands. He is a twitchy athlete and an above average defender. Offensively he hits from an upright stance and relies on his hands in the swing. He shows above average bat speed with above average bat to ball skills. The swing is simple and compact and will continue to improve with added strength and more use of the lower half.

Noah Dickerson of / tnxl academy, FL / 2018 Stetson recruit. The left handed hitting outfielder has a long, lean projectable frame. From the left side he shows above average bat speed with power potential.

Corey Robinson OF / TNXL Academy, FL / 2021 Rankings  StateRank: 10 / POS: 4 OverallRank: 24 / POS: 1 Miami recruit, the freshman has some physicality to the frame with plenty of room to fill out as he gets older. He has a lot of present athleticism paired with above average to plus for his class bat speed. Extremely high offensive ceiling.

Dylan Crews OF / C / tnxl academy, FL / 2020 Rankings  StateRank: 3 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 13 / POS: 5 Louisiana State recruit. Crews is one of, if not the best, pure hitter in his class. He has continue to fill out and power will come, but he has a present plus tool in his hitting ability.

Miguel Soto SS / 2B / TNXL Academy, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 99 / POS: 23 Arkansas Little-Rock recruit. Continues to get better and better each time out offensively. The power is starting to show and will be fun to see how the offense plays against high level pitching.

Jackson Nezuh RHP / SS / tnxl academy, FL / 2020 UCF recruit. The projecable right-hander has been up to 88 mph with much more to come.

Christopher Vervoordt 1B / 3B / TNXL Academy, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 126 / POS: 6 The big, left handed hitting first baseman has a compact swing for a big guy with leverage and present pull power.

Vero Beach

David Luethje RHP / OF / Vero Beach, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 34 / POS: 12 OverallRank: 192 / POS: 83 Florida recruit, the big right-hander has athleticism for a 6-foot-5 frame. He pitches at 88-91 mph with a lot of upside. He flashes quality shape with a slider at 76 mph and a feel for a changeup at times at 82 mph. Also has a chance to impact the middle of the order for Vero Beach.

Hunter Patteson LHP / Vero Beach, FL / 2019 Rankings  StateRank: 36 / POS: 4 OverallRank: 178 / POS: 19 UCF recruit. The projectable left-hander work in the 85-86 mph range with the fastball, touching 87 and 88 mph. He shows occasional feel for a changeup at 74-75 mph and a slider with decent shape at 74 mph.

Hunter Cooley LHP / Vero Beach, FL / 2018 Florida Atlantic recruit, shows a feel to pitch, locating a fastball that ranges from 76-78 mph. He also shows a feel for at 67-68 mph and a changeup at 66 mph.

Nick Dean SS / RHP / Vero Beach, FL / 2019 Louisville recruit, the athletic infielder has a lot of upside and will be another one of the top underclassmen to follow at the event.

Jensen Beach

Lyon Richardson RHP / SS / Jensen Beach, FL / 2018 Rankings  StateRank: 10 / POS: 4 OverallRank: 34 / POS: 16 DraftRank: 44 / POS: 20 The Florida recruit is extremely athletic, high impact player for the Falcons. Richardson has an extremely quick arm on the mound, with a fastball that has been up to 95 and an above average to plus curveball. He was 5-0 with a save for Jensen Beach last season, striking out 55 in 31.1 ip. Richardson also batted .246 in 2017 and will look to make a big impact this season as well.

Ryan Rivera SS / 2B / Jensen Beach, FL / 2018 The Palm Beach State College recruit hit .407 with six doubles, three triples and 13 RBIs in 2017.