By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

On Sunday, January 19, a total of 49 prospects showcased their abilities to the PBR Kentucky staff and several college coaches.  The group of middle infielders turned in a number of solid performances as some underclassmen established themselves as prospects to follow, and other players we had seen before showed improvement from previous events. 

A few notes on the middle infielders:

+ South Oldham senior SS Tyler Patton showed well for the second consecutive event.  Patton is athletic with the combination of good hands and arm strength.  There was some question about his commitment to Kentucky Wesleyan following our Unsigned Senior Showcase on Dec.15, but he made that commitment official shortly following this event.

+ Unsigned senior Jack Shine (New Albany HS, IN) showed he has the ability to play at the next level.  The 6-foot-2, 165-pound SS showed athletic infield actions and good bat speed.

+ Jake Koerner and Jake Yates proved to be the top 2015 MIF's in attendance.

+ Hunter Childress (Nelson County HS)) established himself as a top Class of 2016 MIF.

+ Matthew Gammon (2016 Shelby County HS) continued to impress with his left-handed stroke.

The following is a look at the group of middle infielders by class that participated in the event.

class of 2014

Tyler Patton, R/R, SS, South Oldham HS, 2014
5-foot-10, 160-pound prospect, displays soft hands and quick feet with good lateral movement, quick exchange with the ability to throw on the run from different arm angles, top velocity registered 84 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open stance with a short stride, gap to gap approach, showed the ability to make hard contact to the right-center gap, showed good bat speed off the tee at 87 mph (89 at previous event), ran 4.38 home to first base time from the right side, has committed to Kentucky Wesleyan.

Jack Shine, R/R, SS, New Albany HS, 2014
6-foot-2, 165-pound prospect with lanky build, shows athletic actions,  good lateral movement, and plays through the ball well, hands are soft with a quick exchange, shows good body control with the ability to throw from multiple arm angles accurately, top velocity registered 78 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, showed bat speed with 86 mph tee exit velocity, line drive type hitter, ran 4.65 down the first base line, solid 2014 MIF prospect.            

Nathaniel Mills, R/R, 2B, Trinity HS (Whitesville), 2014
5-foot-10, 185-pound prospect, defensively fields ball deep, has a quick exchange with short arm action, top velocity was 73 mph across the infield, accurate arm.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with no stride, gets some lower half involved in swing, good balance throughout swing, line drive type hitter, showed some bat speed with 80 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.84 down the first base line.

class of 2015

Jake Koerner, R/R, RHP/SS, Butler HS, 2015
6-foot, 179-pound prospect with athletic build, shows soft hands with good lateral movement and plays through the ball well, shows the ability to throw accurately from multiple arm angles, has a quick exchange, top velocity registered 74 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, line drive type hitter, shows good balance, generates good bat speed through the zone, had a good round of BP consistently squaring up the baseball, registered 87 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.77 down the first base line, solid 2015 prospect.

Jake Yates, R/R, SS/OF, Bethlehem HS, 2015
5-foot-8, 160-pound prospect with athletic build, as a SS shows good lateral movement, quick exchange, shows good body control, fields ball deep at times, top velocity was 74 mph across the infield, accurate arm and able to throw from multiple arm angles.  As an outfielder, plays through the ball well with a clean exchange, showed some arm strength from the outfield at 83 mph.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, explodes with lower half to generate good bat speed through the zone, line drive type hitter with occasional power, registered 82 mph tee exit velocity, flashed his speed with 4.33 home to first time, projects as 2B or OF at next level, solid 2015 prospect.

Nick Jackson, R/R, 2B, Ballard HS, 2015
5-foot-8, 145-pound prospect with small/athletic build, defensively shows quick feet and good lateral movement, hands are soft and he has a quick exchange, uses short arm action with an accurate arm and showed an increase in arm strength from fall event at 71 mph across the infield (69 at previous event).  At the plate, hits from a slightly open stance with a toe tap trigger, line drive type hitter showed an opposite field approach, generates average bat speed 78 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.77 home to first base time, solid defensive 2B should continue to improve offensive game with added physical strength.

class of 2016

Hunter Childress, L/R, SS, Nelson County HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 142-pound prospect with lanky build, footwork is good with good lateral movement, hands are soft, plays through the baseball well, arm action is short and athletic, good body control, accurate arm at 78 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open stance with a toe tap trigger, line drive type hitter, swing is loose and shows good hand quickness, registered 84 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.34 down the first base line, potential high-level prospect in 2016 class.

Matthew Gammon, L/R, Shelby County HS, 2016
6-foot, 173-pound prospect with athletic build, defensively Gammon shows good lateral movement with a quick exchange, arm is accurate across the infield with short arm action, shows good body control, top velocity registered 73 mph across the infield (was 76 at previous event).  At the plate, the left-handed hitter hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, shows some gap to gap pop with occasional pull power, consistently barrels up the baseball, good use of lower half torque in swing, displays quick hands, solid left-handed hitter, showed improved speed with 4.65 time down the first base line, slight increase in tee exit velocity to 81 mph, definite prospect to follow in 2016 class.

Logan Koch, R/R, 2B/RHP, Bullitt Central HS, 2016
5-foot-9, 130-pound prospect with smaller frame, shows average hands and footwork, fields ball deep, arm is loose across the infield at 67 mph, arm strength should continue to improve with more physical development.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, slight arm bar with a long swing path, line drive type hitter, registered 68 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.76 down the first base line.

class of 2017

Ethan Osborne, R/R, RHP/SS, Sheldon Clark HS, 2017
6-foot-2, 155-pound prospect with lanky build, shows average hands, fields the ball deep, will continue to improve body control with physical maturity, shows an athletic arm at 73 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a slightly open setup with a short stride, long swing path to the ball, line drive type hitter, registered 77 mph tee exit velocity, ran 5.03 down the first base line.