Adam Akin
Director of Scouting


The 2016 PBR Tennessee Underclass Games took place on Tuesday, July 26 and Wednesday, July 27 and included a position player workout, followed by two 7 or 8 inning games each day. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and many college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every position player that was assigned to the White Team in Tuesday’s action.

 

Outfielders

Elijah Pleasants, OF/RHP, Rossview, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.51, Position Velocity:  92, Exit Velocity: 89
6-foot-4, 160-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and comfortable stance and uses some rhythmic pre-pitch movement to stay loose, uses a leg kick and a smooth barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half fires and creates good separation, hands drop into a good slot and get on plane through the zone with some lift at the end, gets good extension and uses his length to his advantage, drove some balls deep in BP.  Defensively, moves athletically in the outfield and plays through the ball smoothly, fluid transfer leads to a long and loose arm action that sets him apart, high ¾ release made accurate throws with the strongest OF arm at the Underclass Games.  Pleasants earned a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team.

Jackson Sherrill, OF, Station Camp, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.91, Position Velocity:  82, Exit Velocity: 91
6-foot-2, 165-pound, RHH hits from a tall and athletic stance with a little bat waggle to stay loose, uses a quick and abbreviated leg kick along with a slight drop and push back of the hands to get loaded, lower half helps but isn’t used to its fullest potential as he sometimes finishes on his back heel, bat path is slightly upward and produces a lot of line drives and deep fly balls, power potential.  Defensively, gets behind the ball well but doesn’t attack it or work through it very consistently, stays under control, longer transfer and arm action lead to a high ¾ arm slot and throws with average arm strength and accuracy. Had a 1B and an RBI in game play and has shown ability to play 1B in the past, as well.

Connor Pinkard, LHP/OF, Knoxville Catholic, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.78, Position Velocity:  78, Exit Velocity: 80
5-foot-11, 149-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins with his hands relaxed near his ear, uses a weight shift with an abbreviated leg kick and a slight movement backwards with his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but back foot tends to just spin, bat path was generally flat through the zone but got steep on occasion and on balls down in the zone, had a double and a single in game play.  Defensively, played very aggressively and athletically through the ball and definitely looked the part in the outfield, good hands and footwork led to a quick transfer and short arm action that produced accurate throws with average arm strength.

First Basemen

Wylie Ritter, 1B, Montgomery Bell Academy, 2020
Home-1^st: 4.78, Position Velocity:  68, Exit Velocity: 81
6-foot-1, 168-pound, SHH uses pretty much the same mechanics from both sides of the plate, hits from a tall and balanced stance and begins very upright and still before the pitch, bends his back and uses a bend in his front knee with a short stride and a slight push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works and allows his backside to get the barrel on a good plane but sometimes sits a little too far back and spins on his back heel, flat bat path from the right side and a slightly uphill path from the left side, rolled over some from the right side but got through some balls better and drove them to LCF as a lefty. Defensively, showed average hands and footwork around the bag as he could have played through the ball more consistently, slower transfer and a long arm action produced some average arm strength.

Joshua South, RHP/1B, Cookeville, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.83, Position Velocity:  76, Exit Velocity: 93
6-foot-2, 156-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance, uses a weight shift back and a smooth stride along with a drop of his hands to get loaded, lower half fires early but doesn’t quite get totally cleared and holds his hips back quite a bit, definitely has more bat speed than he showed in BP as he did record the second highest exit velocity off the tee, bat path is pretty flat through the zone but does have the occasional arm bar that causes him to come around the ball, drove some balls to the LCF gap in BP. Defensively, showed good hands and footwork although he could play through it more aggressively, longer arm action through a high ¾ slot produced accurate throws with good carry across the infield.

Middle Infielders

Jake Rucker, SS/RHP, Pope John Paul II, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.42, Position Velocity:  89, Exit Velocity: 89
6-foot-2, 170-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and very slightly open stance and begins with his hands fairly high, uses a smoother leg kick with a drop and push back of the hands to get loaded, lower half explodes through the zone and sometimes even over-rotates, back side falls into a good slot and produced a bat path that gets in the zone early and stays there throughout, sometimes sits back a little too far, showed some gap-to-gap power in BP and recorded a 2B and two 1Bs in game play.  Defensively, showed good footwork and soft hands as he consistently played through the ball very well and showcased his ability to cover a lot of ground, longer transfer with a glove pat leads to a long arm action through a high ¾ release point and a very strong arm across the infield. Rucker earned a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team with his performance.  

Zac Lemerand, SS, Oakland, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.38, Position Velocity:  78, Exit Velocity: 85
5-foot-11, 160-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and open stance with some good pre-pitch movement in his hands, uses a smooth stride with a slight hand drop and barrel tilt to get loaded, good rhythm and timing help Lemerand a lot, lower half explodes and give him good separation that allows his hands and barrel to drop into place and produce a powerful swing that’s pretty flat through the zone and has good lift at the end, produced some very hard hit and driven balls to LF in BP, had a 2B and 1B in game play.  Defensively, showed smooth footwork and soft hands as he has a very good feel for infield play, works around and through the ball athletically and gets rid of the ball with a quicker arm action through a high ¾ release point and produced accurate throws with average arm strength.  Lemerand earned a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team with his performance.

Cooper Roberts, SS, McMinn County, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.55, Position Velocity:  78, Exit Velocity: 82
6-foot-1, 160-pound, RHH hits from a fairly tall and balanced stance and uses an abbreviated leg kick along with a slight push back of the hands to get himself loaded, lower half works very well and helps get his hips in a good position just before and at contact, bat path stays flat through the zone and keeps the barrel behind the ball pretty well, can get a little bit of a bar on that front arm that causes him to come around the ball at times, hit a lot of head high line drives in BP and recorded two singles in game play.  Defensively, showed soft hands and good footwork as he moved around and played through the ball very smoothly and effectively, efficient transfer led to a shorter and smooth arm action through a ¾ arm slot and produced accurate throws with decent carry. Roberts earned a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team with his performance.

Hunter Beecham, 2B, Scotts Hill, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.41, Position Velocity:  OF-78, IF-76, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-11, 135-pound, RHH hits from a wide and even stance that begins pretty low in his legs, uses a toe-tap and short stride with hardly any hand movement to get loaded, stride can rush a little bit, lower half does fire and puts him in a generally strong position near contact, bat path is pretty flat through the zone but can get stiff at times, had a 2B and a 1B in game play.  Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork as he worked to the ball well but could’ve gotten through it better, arm action differed through an over-the-top release and produced average arm strength across the infield. In the outfield, Beecham adds versatility as he runs very well and can track some balls down. 

Cole Heinze, SS/RHP, Franklin-Simpson (KY), 2019
Home-1^st: 4.72, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: 82
6-foot-0, 150-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and open stance with a slight lean back into his back leg, uses some barrel movement and a short stride to get loaded, lower half gets through but is slow through the zone and doesn’t create the torque he’s capable of, has a very slight drift forward with his hips but counters it by staying on his backside, bat path comes in and out of the zone because of that movement and caused some topped ground balls. Defensively, attacks the ball well but comes to a stop before fielding and can field the ball a little too deep, hands and footwork were average and a short arm action through an almost sidearm slot produced average throws across the infield.

Third Basemen

Jacob Hoffman, 3B, The Kings Adcademy, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.84, Position Velocity:  75, Exit Velocity: 83
6-foot-2, 155-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and open stance and uses an abbreviated leg kick and longer stride in sync with the pitcher’s timing as well as a lowering of his hands to get loaded, lower half drifts a touch and prevents his hips from getting all the way cleared at times, stays tall on his backside and comes up on his front leg a little bit on contact, bat path can be steep but showed the potential to produce a little lift. Defensively, showed average footwork and hands but did a much better job of playing through the baseball than we saw at the Top Prospect Games, same clean but long transfer that resulted in a long arm action and average arm strength from a high ¾ release point.

Catchers

Cameron Fisher, C, Hardin Valley Acadamy, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.58, Pop Time: 2.08-2.20, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: 82
6-foot-1, 160-pound, LHH hits from a tall and balanced stance and showed some good pre-pitch movement of his hands to create some rhythm, uses a leg kick and a barrel tilt that almost raises his hands to get loaded, lower half doesn’t quite get through and causes him to stay very tall on his backside and create a steep bat path through the zone, finishes on his front side and straight up and down a bit.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he uses a low transfer and strides a little open on his throws to 2B, shorter arm action through a high ¾ release point produced some average throws with decent carry.

Carson Ford, C, Grace Christian Academy-Franklin, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.48, Pop Time: 2.21-2.32, Position Velocity:  68, Exit Velocity: 84
5-foot-9, 145-pound, LHH hits from a fairly wide and slightly open stance, uses a unique knee cock and stride along with a very slight drop of the hands and barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half fires and gives him a little something extra coming into the zone, strong kid can allow himself to get a little stiff but stays mostly flat through the zone and is able to really drive through it, only gets steep on occasion, showed gap-to-gap power potential in BP.  Defensively, worked hard behind the plate in game play, showed average hands and footwork with a clean exchange and short arm action but took a while to get rid of the ball, throws through a high ¾ slot were fairly accurate.

Will Laughlin, C, Brentwood, 2020
Home-1^st: 4.78, Pop Time: 2.20-2.34, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: 80
5-foot-10, 155-pound, RHH hits from a wide and even stance and begins with his hands fairly high, uses a short and early stride along with a slight push back of the hands to get loaded, lower half struggles to really fire and often times holds his hips back quite a bit, hands come down from that high position to produce a steep swing through the zone, hit some line drives and soft fly balls in BP. Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as his transition takes a little bit of time with a low transfer and a longer arm action through a ¾ to high ¾ release point, average arm strength and carry allowed for some fairly accurate throws to 2B. A 2020 with plenty of time to grow and develop.