By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The Pre-Season All State Showcase on February 18 saw some impressive pitching performances, as some top prospects from respective classes emerged.  This article will feature the top pitching performances by unsigned seniors.  Stay tuned later today for top pitching performances in the classes of 2014 and 2015.  After those articles, we will feature some pitchers to keep an eye on as well as the best of the rest from the event.

Class of 2013

1.  Brandon Ward, RHP, Covington Catholic HS
We first saw Ward at the end of December at the Northern KY Prospect ID Showcase.  He was impressive that day, but even more so this time around as he showed even better command of his secondary pitches.  The 6-foot-3, 200-pound RHP uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot to produce a fastball that sits 85-86 mph with some arm side run.  Shows good feel for his curveball that shows sharp, late 11/5 action and good depth at 73-74 mph.  Also shows good feel for his changeup thrown with good arm action with arm side run at 78-79 mph.  Ward lost his entire junior spring and summer seasons to an ACL injury and is getting back to 100 percent now.   The bottom line is he has good feel for 3 pitches and shows solid pitchability…would not be surprised to see more velocity out of him.

2. Yancey Pritchett, RHP, Trinity HS
Pritchett is another guy we have seen before, having seen him at our unsigned senior showcase in October and also at our Northern KY event.  He has added more velocity everytime we have seen him, topping at 82 mph in October, 84 mph in December, and now 88 mph on his last pitch in Lexington.  The 5-foot-11, 160-pound RHP shows a quick arm through a high ¾ slot that produced an 84-87 mph fastball, touching 88.  HE shows good feel for his secondary pitches with a sharp 11/5 curveball that sat 68-72 mph and a changeup with arm side run at 80 mph.  As mentioned, Pritchett has made significant velocity gains since October.

3. Tyler Walsh, RHP, Campbell County HS
Walsh is a 6-foot, 180-pound RHP with a strong, athletic frame.  He throws from the stretch only through a high ¾ to over the top arm slot and showed a fairly straight fastball at 82-83 mph, though we have previously seen him up to 85 mph.  He shows feel for a 12/6 curveball that sat 68-70 mph.  Slider has similar action to curveball thrown a little harder at 71-72 mph.  His changeup was thrown with good arm speed and showed some sink at 72-75 mph.  Walsh also displays good two-way abilities as a position player which we will feature in upcoming articles.