By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The Unsigned Senior Games Showcase at Northern Kentucky University last weekend saw a solid group of middle-infielders take the field over the two-day event.  Two prospects separated themselves from the group as Connor McHugh once again showed off his superior arm strength and defensive abilities, and Reed Spata showed big power at the plate.  Several other prospects also showed well at the event.

The following is an in depth look at all of the middle infielders in attendance at the event.

Top Prospects

Connor McHugh, SS/RHP, R/R, Paul Laurence Dunbar HS, 2014
As he did at the Top Prospect Games in June, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound McHugh stole the show again from an arm strength standpoint.  In June he ripped off throws of 89 mph across the infield.  This time he let it fly at 92.  He has athletic feet, soft hands, plays through the ball well, and not only does he have a cannon for an arm, it is accurate as well.  At the plate, the right-handed McHugh hits from a slightly open and athletic stance with a short stride, has an aggressive approach, and while he showed good bat speed with an 89 mph tee exit velocity, he went 0-for-4 in game play, though he did make hard contact a few times.  He registered a 4.34 home to first time.  McHugh also shows big potential on the mound which will be featured in the pitcher write-ups.

Reed Spata, SS. R/R, Scott HS, 2014
If McHugh stole the arm strength show, Spata claimed the power category.  The 5-foot-11, 178-pound shortstop barreled up everything in batting practice and consistently drove the baseball, including taking one out over the 18-foot high left field fence.  He followed that up with a double deep down the left-field line and a bomb to left-center that cleared the fence with ease during game play.  Defensively, Spata shows athletic feet and good lateral movement, soft hands, and registered throws of 83 mph across the infield.  He appears comfortable playing both middle infield positions and registered a 4.49 home to first time. 

Black Team

Derek Varner, MIF/RHP, R/R, Turpin HS (OH), 2014
Varner is a 6-foot, 182-pound prospect.  He shows good footwork, lateral movement, and soft hands with very good arm strength across the infield at 87 mph.  At the plate, Varner hits from an open stance, squares front side with a short stride, uses good lower half torque in swing, shows some pull power, went 0-for-3 in game play with a pull approach that included a well hit line out to left-field, registered 88 mph tee exit velocity and ran 4.81 down the line but slipped out of the box.   Varner also pitched an inning which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.

Jared Williams, SS, S/R, Conner HS, 2014
Williams is a 6-foot, 165-pound prospect that shows good footwork and soft hands in the infield.  His arm was accurate across the infield at 73 mph and he shows good body control.  Showed good lateral movement in game play with a nice play up the middle.  At the plate, the switch-hitter showed the ability to get the barrel on the baseball from both sides of the plate during his round of batting practice with a gap-to-gap approach.  He hits from an open setup with a leg kick trigger from both sides of the plate, shows better use of lower half from the right side (natural side), got down the line in 4.57 from the left side and 4.84 from the right, 89 mph tee exit velocity right-handed, and 83 left-handed, went 0-for-3 in game play .

Ben Alexander, 2B, R/R, Lexington Catholic HS, 2014
Alexander is a 5-foot-11, 175-pound prospect.  He showed better defensively at June Top Prospect Games Event, appeared to be battling through some arm soreness, throws registered 70 mph across the infield (76 at previous event.  At the plate, he hits from an open setup, has a smooth load and uses a short stride, showed good use of lower half torque to generate good bat speed through the zone, had a good round of batting practice consistently barreling up the baseball and using all fields, registered 87 mph tee exit velocity (+6 increase from previous event), ran 5.12 down the line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a line drive single to left.

Cole Hyde, 2B, R/R, Todd County Central HS, 2014
Hyde is a 5-foot-9, 145-pound prospect.  He shows good footwork and plays through the ball, average hands, arm plays at 72 mph across the infield, made nice play up the middle in game play.  At the plate, Hyde hits from an open stance, uses a toe tap trigger, shows average bat speed with an opposite field approach, registered 79 mph tee exit velocity (+8 from previous event, ran 5.10 down the line, went 0-for-3 during game play with two ground balls to the right side and a strikeout.

White TEam

Alejandro Capetillo, 2B, R/R, Turpin (OH) HS, 2014
Capetillo is a 5-foot-10, 175-pound prospect.  He shows good infield actions, lateral movement, and body control with an accurate arm at 78 mph across the infield, and shows the ability to throw from different arm angles.  At the plate, Capetillo hits from an open stance, has a smooth load with a short stride, solid approach with the ability to make hard contact to all fields, line drive type hitter with good bat speed, registered 87 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.53 down the line, went 2-for-4 with line drive singles to center and right-center and hit the ball hard in his other at bats during game play.

Rex Rogers, SS, R/R, St. Henry HS, 2014
Rogers is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound prospect.  He shows athletic infield actions with soft hands, good body control, has a quick exchange and gets rid of the ball, arm is accurate at 75 mph across the infield.  At the plate, Rogers hits from balanced setup, short stride, line-drive type hitter with a flat bat path, has the ability to make solid contact to all fields, showed a big increase off the tee with 89 mph exit velocity (+9 from winter event), ran 4.52 down the line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a single to deep SS.

JT Haynes, 2B, R/R, Hazard HS, 2014
Haynes is a 6-foot-1, 150-pound prospect with lanky build.  He shows good lateral movement and body control, hands are average, has a quick exchange and uses short arm action at 70 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, slight arm bar in load, has a long swing path to the ball, middle of the field approach, ran 4.69 down the line with 80 mph tee exit velocity, went 0-for-4 during game play with 3 strikeouts.

Navy Team

Paul Miller, SS, R/R, Collins HS, 2014
Miller is a 5-foot-11, 165-pound prospect.  He shows soft hands, and an accurate/loose arm at 80 mph across the infield.  At the plate, Miller hits from a slightly open setup, has a quiet approach, showed average bat speed off the tee with 78 mph exit velocity, line-drive type hitter hit well in game play going 2-for-5 with a double deep down the left-field line and a line-drive single to left, ran 4.78 down the first base line.

Royal Team

Nathan Verst, RHP/SS, R/R, Bishop Brossart HS, 2014
Verst is a 5-foot-11, 165-pound prospect.  He showed good lateral movement and an accurate arm across the infield at 84 mph, made several nice plays in game action that included a bare-hand play and a diving stop in the hole, getting to his feet quickly and throwing out the runner.  At the plate, Verst hits from a balanced setup, gets lower half involved in swing, line-drive type hitter, level swing path, registered 86 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.81 down the line, went 0-for-4 during game play. Verst also pitched which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.

Troy Riggs, 2B, R/R, Central Hardin HS, 2014
Riggs is a 5-foot-10, 165-pound prospect.  He shows good lateral movement in the infield and showed much better arm strength from previous at 78 mph with accuracy (previous event was 71).  At the plate, he hits from an open setup, squares front side with a short stride, showed better bat speed from previous event, ability to hit to all fields, ran 4.47 down the line with 84 mph tee exit velocity (+5 from previous event), went 2-for-5 in game play with line drive singles to left and center, high-energy type player.

Kyle Moore, SS/RHP, R/R, Muhlenberg County HS, 2014
Moore is a 5-foot-11, 155-pound prospect we have seen multiple times.  He shows the ability to play through the baseball with soft hands and showed a personal best 81 mph arm strength across with carry the infield.  At the plate, showed a slightly open setup, short stride, line-drive type hitter uses all fields, showed an increase in bat speed with an 81 mph tee exit velocity (+4 from previous event), ran 4.69 down the line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a hard line drive single up the middle.  Moore also pitched which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.