By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The PBR Kentucky Underclass Games was held at Madison Central HS and Eastern Kentucky University on August 24 and 25.  The talent on Team Black did not disappoint as several players showed well.

A few performances to note:

Zach Burton (2015 RHP, Daviess County HS) established himself as a high-level pitching prospect and picked up a Division I offer immediately following the event.  At 6-foot-4 and 179-pounds, Burton has big upside on the mound and showed a fastball that sat 84-86 mph with a sharp 70-72 mph curveball.

Logan Banks (2015 OF, Lexington Catholic HS) continues to show well with athletic actions in the outfield and increased arm strength.  Banks continues to hit everytime we see him at our game play events, collecting two more hits and consistently squaring up the baseball.  He ran the 2nd best 60 of the event at 7.04.

Ricky West (2015 OF/RHP, Ballard HS) attended his first PBR event and showed a solid all-around game.  He showed athleticism in the outfield with good arm strength while also showing good bat speed and collecting a single and double in game play.  West also pitched at the event with a fastball that topped out at 84 mph.  

Matt Harper (2015 SS, Logan County HS) was also new to the PBR staff and opened some eyes with an impressive round of batting practice that included displaying good power and also collected 2 hits in game action.

The following is a complete look at Team Black:

Matt Harper, R/R, SS, Logan County HS, 2015
5-foot-11, 175-pound prospect with athletic build, displays good actions, shows soft hands with an accurate arm at 79 mph, showed good body control in game play on slow roller.  At the plate, starts in a balanced/wide setup, short stride, very good use of lower half generates bat speed, had a very good round of batting practice consistently squaring up the baseball while showing some pull power, went 2-for-5 in game play with two singles, ran 7.62 60 on a slow track, 85 mph tee exit velocity, definite prospect to follow in the 2015 class.

Bryson Dillow, R/R, 3B/OF, Collins HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 150-pound prospect with average build, shows well defensively, feet work, good lateral movement, soft hands, quick exchange with an accurate arm at 79 mph across the infield, plays through the ball well in the outfield with athletic actions and 79 mph arm strength.  At the plate, hits from an athletic setup, short stride, good use of lower half, line drive type hitter, consistently barreled up the baseball in his round, collected two singles in game play, ran 7.40 (7.34 at previous event), 82 mph tee exit velocity, solid 2016 prospect.

Jacob Frazier, R/R, 3B/OF, Madison Central HS, 2015
5-foot-11, 177-pound prospect, moves well and shows some athleticism, displays soft hands and gets rid of the ball with a quick exchange, 71 mph arm across the infield, plays through the ball well in the outfield with 73 mph arm strength.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, shows bat speed and good barrel awareness, consistently squared the baseball up in his round, went 0-for-4 in game play, ran 7.72, registered 80 mph tee exit velocity.

Will Boothe, 2B/RHP, R/R, Muhlenberg County HS, 2016
5-foot-11, 140-pound prospect, frame will continue to fill out, hands and feet work, good body control, continues to show improved arm strength at 78 mph across the infield, made two nice plays in game action.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, good use of lower half, line drive production at the plate with the ability to square it up to all fields in his round, went 1-for-4 in game play with hard contact, registered 83 mph tee exit velocity.  On the mound, uses short to medium arm action though an over the top arm slot, repeatable mechanics, fastball sat 73-75 mph touching 77, good command of 62-64 mph curveball with 12/6 action, pounds the strike zone with all pitches.

Anthony Ethington, RHP, Lexington Catholic HS, 2015
6-foot-2, 165-pound prospect, lanky and projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, repeats delivery well, easy effort in delivery, fastball showed slight increase in velocity over winter event at 78-80 with good arm-side run, likes to attack right-handed hitters with two-seamer on hands, curveball shows sharp 11/5 action at 69-73 mph, expect to see continued velocity gains from Ethington.

Ricky West, R/R, OF/RHP, Ballard HS, 2015
5-foot-10, 191-pound prospect with strong build,  shows athletic outfield actions and plays through the ball well, 83 mph arm strength from the outfield with carry.   At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, good balance, uses strong lower half to generate quick bat speed, gap to gap approach with occasional pull power, flashed bat speed with 89 mph tee exit velocity, went 2-for-5 in game play with a single and a double down the left field line.  On the mound, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, repeatable mechanics, quick arm, fastball sat 82-83 mph touching 84 with occasional arm-side run, curveball showed sharp 11/5 action at 67-72 mph, struggled with command early but settled in and pounded the zone later in outing.

Dillon Sievert, R/R, 2B/C, DeSales HS, 2015
6-foot-, 160-pound prospect with lanky build and room to fill, in the infield shows good actions with soft hands, accurate arm across the infield at 78 mph.  Shows some arm strength behind the plate at 75 mph with pop times ranging from 2.09-2.12.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, gets some lower half involved in swing, collected two singles in game play, ran 7.83, registered 82 mph tee exit velocity.

Cole Compton, L/R, C, Lafayette HS, 2015
6-foot, 155-pound prospect with lanky build, room to fill out on frame, showed good blocking skills in game play, gains ground on throws, 70 mph arm strength from the crouch with pop times ranging from 2.17-2.38.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a toe tap trigger, good rhythm in swing, line drive type hitter, ran 7.46, registered 78 mph tee exit velocity.

Logan Banks, R/R, OF, Lexington Catholic HS, 2015
5-foot-11, 165-pound prospect, athletic build, shows athletic outfield actions, continues to show increase in arm strength 81 mph with carry (83 at previous event), At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, hands show some quickness, good use of lower half, able to square the ball up to all fields, collected 2 hard singles in game play, ran second best 60 of the day at 7.04, 87 mph tee exit velocity (+4 over previous event).

Zach Burton, R/R, RHP/OF, Daviess County HS, 2015
6-foot-4, 179-pound prospect with lanky build, projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, showed increase in velocity and improvement in mechanics from previous event, fastball sat 84-86 with occasional arm-side run, big improvement in command of curveball at 70-72 mph with sharp 11/5 action, got several swings and misses with the curveball, big potential on mound.  As position player, shows some hesitance playing through the ball in the outfield, good arm strength at 85 mph with on-line carry.  At the plate, hits from a wide setup, tends to drop hands in load, long swing path, shows strength in swing, showed bat speed off the tee with 89 mph exit velocity, went 0-for-4 in game play, ran 7.75.

John Stratton, R/R, OF, Daviess County HS, 2016
6-foot-4, 175-pound prospect with lanky build, projectable frame, plays through the ball, shows accurate arm at 77 mph.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, showed better use of lower half in swing from previous event, tee exit velocity jumped 7 mph to 80 mph, collected a sharp single in game play, ran 7.13, projectable athlete with some tools.