Underclass Invitational: Preview
January 7, 2021
PBR Georgia’s premier preseason event for underclass prospects, the Underclass Invitational, returns on Sunday, Jan. 12th to LakePoint Sports. Modeled after Preseason All-State, this invite-only event will showcase some of the top 2023 and 2024 prospects in the entire state.
Nearly 50 of Georgia’s top underclassmen will meet in Emerson, GA to compete in a pro-style workout. For a look at this year’s roster, click here. For more information on the event’s check-in times, format and details, click here. There is still time to register!
The event will be headlined by the No. 1-ranked shortstop in the country, and No. 3-ranked prospect in Georgia, Mississippi State commit Dylan Cupp (Decartown, 2023). Cupp’s calling card, since we saw him the first time as an 8th grader, has been his elite defensive play. He has natural instincts, athletic feet, and uses his long, lanky 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame to range well. Cupp has been making some big strides at the plate over the past 12 months. He has always had great feel for the barrel, but now that his frame has started to fill out, he is driving balls.
We welcome back three 2020 PBR Future Gamers who represented Team Georgia and Team Select: SS/QB1 Colin Houck (Parkview, 2023), C Cale Stricklin (North Oconee, 2023), and C/SS/RHP Luca Perriello (Greenbrier, 2024).
The No. 21-ranked player in state, Houck is impressive physically, standing a muscular 6-foot-2, 185-pounds with an athletic frame. He carries himself like a starting quarterback, extremely confident in his abilities. He is a good runner, posting a 7.05 at the Future Games and will have plenty of arm strength to stay on the left-side. At the plate, Houck really impressed during batting practice at the Future Games, driving pitches middle/pull. He showed good awareness in game play, creating hard contact.
Stricklin, the No. 40-ranked prospect, is a high IQ player. He understands the game at a very high level. Stricklin is a guy you want behind the plate, controlling the game. At the plate, he has a gap-to-gap swing, but also can shorten up when needed and spray line drives. Plain and simple, Stricklin is a winner.
A top-10 player in the state’s 2024 class, Perriello is a swiss army knife of types. He has the athleticism and arm strength to play anywhere on the diamond, but his strongest position is behind the dish. He has a short, quick arm and gets the ball down to second in a hurry. Perriello is a legit switch-hitter too. He has pull-side pop from both sides and whips the barrel through the zone with aggressive intent. On top of all this, he can hop on the mound and run his fastball up to 86.
Perriello will be joined by three other 2024s who rank in the state’s top-10: No. 2 OF Kameron Davis (Dougherty), No. 7 Georgia commit C Ariston Veasey (Starr’s Mill), and No. 8 RHP/OF Montrell Christian Jr. (Forest Park).
Davis is one of the most dynamic athletes in the entire country. He checks all the boxes. Davis can flat out fly around the diamond, has a big arm in the outfield, and has huge power potential at the plate. He is going to be can’t miss prospects for years to come.
The top catcher prospect in the state, Veasey was one of the first in the 2024 class to commit, taking his talents to Georgia. He is an elite defender with quick actions throughout. At the plate, he creates a ton of bat speed, 79.80 bat speed via Blast, as he whips the barrel through. At the Underclass Games he drove pitch after pitch gap-to-gap. Look for him to put up an even better performance six months later on Sunday. As for Christan Jr., he may have the highest upside out of any prospect in the state, standing a monstrous 6-foot-4, 219-pounds. This will be our first in-person look at Christian Jr., and we are expecting big things.
We could spend much more time on this very talented group of underclassmen, but we will let their performances on Sunday do the talking. Follow along with us on Twitter at @PBRGeorgia as we tweet the event. The event can also be live-streamed on playsight. Next week, we will share rapid analysis on the showcase as well as a statistical analysis of the day’s top performers.
Itinerary
Position Player Showcase
10:00 - 10:20 AM - Position Players, Catches & Two-Way Players Check-In
10:30 - 10:45 AM - Introduction and Stretch
11:00 - 1:30 PM - Position Player Workout
- Running Times (Laser Timed 60 Yard Dash)
- Offensive Evaluation
- Mechanical Eval
- Exit Velocity
- Live batting practice
- TrackMan ball flight analysis
- BLAST swing analysis
- Defensive Evaluation (OF, Catcher, INF)
- Arm Strength
- Defensive mobility
- Positional projectability
Pitcher Showcase
1:30 - 1:45 PM - Pitcher Only Check In
- Stretching
- Bullpen Sessions
- Mechanical evaluation
- 15-20 pitch session (Wind-up and stretch)
- Charting velocity and pitch action
- TrackMan pitch analysis
- Catcher's Evaluations During Bullpen
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