By Chris Fuller and PBR Kentucky Staff

The 2014 Kentucky Top Prospect Games featured more than 120 players over the two-day event. The following is an in depth look at the position players from Team Navy.  This is position player analysis only.  Those players who pitched for Team Navy will be featured in a subsequent article.

CLICK HERE to view the top statistical performers and complete stats from the event.

middle infielders

Jake Whitford, SS, L/R, Highlands HS, 2015
6-foot-3, 175-pound prospect with lanky build and room to add to his frame, shows soft hands and works through the baseball well, uses short arm action through high ¾ slot, some accuracy on throws at 74 mph across the infield, showed good body control.  At the plate, hits from an open setup squares front side with a short stride, hands start high and drop, long swing path, gap to gap approach, hit several line drives in his round of batting practice, ran 4.57 down the first base line from the left side, 79 mph tee exit velocity, went 1-for-5 in game play, will need to improve arm strength to stay on the left side of the infield at the next level.

Andrew Pennybaker, 2B, L/R, North Oldham HS, 2015
6-foot, 172-pound prospect with athletic frame, shows capable hands defensively, short arm action with accurate throws at 74 mph across the infield.  At the plate, the left-handed hitter hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, maintains good balance, shows some hand quickness, gap to gap approach, line drive production, ran 4.45 down the first base line from the left side, 82 mph tee exit velocity, went 3-for-5 in game play with thre singles.

Evan Slone, SS, L/R, Ludlow HS, 2016
5-foot-9, 150-pound prospect, shows capable hands defensively, good lateral movement to both sides, has a quick exchange and gets rid of the ball with short arm action through a high ¾ slot, arm strength at 69 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced and wide setup with a leg kick trigger and minimal stride, hands start high and trigger from shoulder level, line drive type hitter shows the ability to use all fields, ran 4.78 down the first base line, 78 mph tee exit velocity, went 2-for-6 in game play with two singles and a stolen base, present size and arm strength projects as second baseman, will benefit from added strength to frame.

Benjamin Heideman, 2B, R/R, Central Hardin HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 170-pound prospect participated as both infielder and outfielder in pregame, as infielder shows capable hands with the ability to move well to both sides, short arm action with the ability to throw from different arm angles on the move, good body control on slow roller and made a nice play on slow roller in game action, showed 74 mph arm strength across the infield.  As an outfielder, plays through the ball with average outfield actions, shorter arm action through high ¾ slot, 78 mph arm strength from the outfield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a leg kick trigger and short stride, line drive type hitter with some length to swing, struggled to make contact in game play going 0-for-5, showed very good speed from the right side at 4.25 down the first base line, 73 mph tee exit velocity.

corner infielders

Jake Ziegelmeyer, RHP/1B, R/R, Ryle HS, 2016
6-foot-3, 180-pound prospect with strong/athletic frame and room to fill in, shows good feet around the first base bag with playable hands, starts the double play well, 79 mph arm across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, loads up on back side, wraps some in load with long/uphill swing path, creates some lift and shows some pull side power, showed his ability to generate bat speed with 90 mph exit velocity off the tee, ran 4.82 down the first base line, went 2-for-4 with a double in game play with a pull approach, prospect to follow in 2016 class.

Blake Frost, 3B, R/R, Ballard HS, 2016
6-foot-2, 185-pound prospect with strong and athletic frame, shows soft hands defensively with solid corner actions, decent lateral movement to both sides, uses short arm action through high ¾ release, accurate throws across the infield with 78 mph arm strength.  At the plate, hits from a slightly open stance with a short stride, shows ability to generate bat speed with strong frame, went 1-for-3 in game play with a single and stolen base, showed aggressiveness on bases, tied for event best 91 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.97 down the first base line, prospect to watch in the 2016 class.

Jacob Crouch, 3B, R/R, Paul Laurence Dunbar HS, 2015
6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect with athletic build and room for additional strength, athletic corner actions with soft hands and good lateral movement, gets rid of the baseball with a quick exchange and shorter arm action, showed improved arm strength at 78 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open stance with a long stride, has made improvements in getting more use of lower half in swing, showed some gap power in his round of batting practice, ran 4.81 down the first base line, 80 mph tee exit velocity, went 0-for-4 in game play that included a hard line out to center field, continues to make improvements in overall game.

Drew Cheatham, RHP/1B, Holy Cross HS (Louisville), 2015
6-foot-2, 230-pound prospect with strong legs, shows capable hands defensively with strong arm across the infield at 81 mph.  At the plate, hits from a wide base with minimal stride, hand load trigger, some stiffness in upper body, gets some lower half involvement in swing, showed some bat speed with 85 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.81 down the first base line, went 0-for-4 in game play with a mid to opposite field approach.

catchers

Jake Schmidt, C, R/R, Beechwood HS, 2015
5-foot-10, 180-pound prospect with athletic frame, showed good arm strength from the crouch at 78 mph with pop times ranging from 1.98-2.09 with quick release and accurate throws on the second base bag, shows good athleticism behind the plate with good lateral movement and blocking skills.  At the plate, hits from a slightly open setup with a short stride, maintains good balance, level swing path with line drive production, ran 4.53 down the first base line, 83 mph exit velocity off the tee, went 2-for-5 with two singles and a stolen base in game play, very solid 2015 catching prospect.

Cameron Watson, C, R/R, Eastern HS, 2015
5-foot-9, 180-pound prospect with stocky build, showed 68 mph arm strength from the crouch with pop times ranging from 2.21-2.34, fairly quick glove to hand exchange, room to improve pop times with quicker release, showed solid in-game receiving and blocking skills.  At the plate, hits from  balanced and narrow setup, gets close to arm bar in load but generates solid bat speed to get through the zone, line drive type hitter, ran 5.01 down the first base line, flashed bat speed with 88 mph exit velocity off the tee, went 0-for-4 in game play with a SAC fly.

outfielders

Tucker Greer, OF, L/R, West Jessamine HS, 2016
6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect with room to fill in athletic frame, shows athletic outfield actions, attacks the ball well on the ground playing through it, sets up well on fly balls, clean exchange with accurate throws on the third base bag, high ¾ release with 86 mph arm strength.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, hands are set low, line drive type hitter with level swing path, shows ability to hit to all fields, 79 mph tee exit velocity, showed speed running 4.21 down the first base line from the left side, went 1-for-4 with a single up the middle in game play, shows solid tools and a 2016 player to keep an eye on.

Blake Carpenter, LHP/OF, L/L, Warren East HS, 2015
5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect with athletic frame, plays through the ball on the ground, clean exchange and throws show online carry from over the top release, accurate throws on the third base bag with good arm strength at 87 mph with carry.  At the plate, hits from an open stance with a long stride, shows good use of lower half torque, quick hands generate bat speed through the zone, line drive type hitter with gap to gap approach, registered 83 mph exit velocity off the tee, ran 4.65 down the first base line from the left side, went 1-for-4 with a double and stolen base in game play, solid 2015 prospect.

Tyler Horsley, RHP/OF, R/R, Ballard HS, 2016
6-foot-1, 170-pound prospect with lean and athletic build, projectable frame with room to add, plays through the ball well in the outfield, exchange tends to be slow with extra steps before release of the baseball, showed some of the best arm strength of the day at 89 mph with carry through an over the top arm slot.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup and loads up big on his back side, arm bar creates long swing path, line drive type hitter, showed ability to create bat speed with 90 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.69 down the first base line, went 0-for-5 in game play.

John Stratton, OF, R/R, Daviess County HS, 2016
6-foot-4, 180-pound prospect with lanky frame and significant room to fill in, shows athletic feet and moves well in the outfield, plays through the ball well on the ground, clean exchange and gets rid of the ball through an over the top arm slot, showed a big increase in arm strength from previous event at 86 mph with carry.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, line drive type hitter with some length to swing, showed a big increase in tee exit velocity at 86 mph, showed some speed running 4.50 down the first base line, went 0-for-4 in game play with 3 strikeouts, potential to be a solid prospect with improvements to offensive game.

Aaron Armstrong, OF/C, R/R, Paducah Tilghman HS, 2015
5-foot-9, 180-pound prospect shows fairly quick glove to hand transfer and release behind the plate, 66 mph arm strength from the crouch with pop times ranging from 2.12-2.29. As an outfielder, plays through the ball on the ground, uses short arm action through high ¾ slot, accurate throws to the third base bag with 78 mph arm strength from the outfield with some carry.  At the plate,  hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, some stiffness in upper body, line drive type hitter, showed some bat speed with 83 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.60 down the first base line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a single.

Chris Brown, RHP/OF, R/R, Allen County-Scottsville HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 175-pound prospect with average build, clean exchange in the outfield, uses short arm action working through high ¾ release, throws show some carry at 80 mph.  At the plate, starts from an open stance and squares front side with a long stride, shows ability to make hard contact to the opposite field, good use of lower half in swing, registered 78 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.82 down the first base line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a single up the middle and 3 strikeouts.