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Natural Baseball Academy Scout Day: Quick Hits

November 6, 2024
Eliott Wilk
Central Region Operations Director

On Saturday, October 19th, the Prep Baseball Kansas staff traveled to De Soto High School in De Soto, KS to host the annual Natural Baseball Academy Scout Day. This event, featured 30+ players from the Natural Baseball Academy program in attendence.

All of our events offer players the opportunity to update their recruiting resume and showcase their talents in front of our staff. We also use these events as identifiers for future invite-only events, like the Preseason All-State, our summer Top Prospect Games, and the prestigious Prep Baseball Future Games that takes place at the tail end of the summer. To see what our events offer, click HERE.

Earlier, our staff rolled out the day’s statistical standouts in leaderboard format within our ‘Stat Story’, which you can find HERE. Today, after combing through our notes from the day, we’ve compiled some of the event’s standouts within these ‘Quick Hits’. Read below to learn about 3 names that popped to our staff from Saturday's trip to De Soto.

   

QUICK HITS

+ As physical as they come in a 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame, CIF Cameron Blachowicz (Olathe South, 2026) came away as a winner from Saturday’s event. With potential to emerge as one of the top power bats in the 2026 class, Blachowicz put together the loudest round of BP on the day. The junior’s ability to consistently find the barrel with authority was on full display throughout his round, driving balls from gap-to-gap, barreling his best ball 352 feet at 100.7 mph thanks to advanced hand speed (23.1 mph avg.) and strength. His arm strength was evident on the infield, firing an 83 mph bullet across the diamond on his firmest throw. For good measure, Blachowicz also hopped on the mound, pitching in the low-80s with his fastball. Keep an eye on Blachowicz this spring as he looks to play a big role in Olathe South’s state title defense. 

   

+ A 6-foot, 195-pound all around athlete that can impact the game on both sides of the ball, LHP/OF Christian Niederwerder (Blue Valley, 2026) is a two-way standout that impressed our staff in Saturday’s look. At the plate, the junior used a quick, rotational swing that stayed on plane through the zone to spray line drives to the pullside throughout his round of BP, posting a peak exit velocity of 92.8 mph on the day. Defensively, he showed arm strength (T83 mph) and reliable actions from the outfield while also running a 7.00 60 to pair. To wrap up the day, Neiderwerder hopped on the mound, topping out at 81.2 mph with his fastball and commanding a curveball/changeup mix for strikes. 

  

+ C/OF Luke Venneman (Olathe East, 2026) is a 5-foot-10, 160-pound upside athlete that looked the part on both sides of the ball in this look. Venneman got the day started quickly, showing off his athleticism and game changing speed, posting an event leading 6.65 60 time. Also an athletic mover at the plate, Venneman swings a flat, effortless, left-handed barrel that plays up in game thanks to an advanced feel for the barrel. In this look, the junior barreled his best ball at 92.2 mph with more to come as he continues to add strength and size. He wrapped up the day showing his ability to be an advanced defender at multiple positions, firing an event-leading 84 mph bullet from the outfield and posting 1.89-2.00 pop times from behind the plate. 

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