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Engaged Athletics Scout Day: Quick Hits

February 23, 2024
By: Eliott Wilk
Midwest Operations Director

On Saturday, February 17th, the PBR Kansas staff traveled to the Engaged Athletics Indoor Facility in Lecompton, KS, to host the Engaged Athletics Scout Day. This event, which is in its second year, was open to all Engaged Athletics 2024-to-2027 prospects with 40+ names in attendance.

All of our events offer players the opportunity to update their recruiting resume and showcase their talents in front of our staff. We also use these events as identifiers for future invite-only events, like the Preseason All-State, our summer Top Prospect Games, and the prestigious Prep Baseball Future Games that takes place at the tail end of the summer.

Today, after combing through our notes from the day, we’ve compiled some of the event’s standouts within these ‘Quick Hits’. Read below to learn about 14 names that popped to our staff from Saturday's trip to Lecompton.

QUICK HITS

+ RHP Caden Howell (Lansing, 2024; Akron signee) showed why he is one of the top-10 pitchers in Kansas’ 2024 class. Howell, who is listed at 5-foot-10, 175-pounds of muscle, ran his fastball up to 91.8 mph on the day, sitting consistently at 90-91 mph - both top marks of the day. He paired that with his slider at 80-81 mph with 2500+ RPM of average spin that tunneled well off of his fastball. The senior rounded out his arsenal with a low spin, tumbling changeup that he threw for strikes consistently and a cutter at 85 mph.

+ RHP Blaine Larkin (Lawrence Free State, 2025) is an arm that is long known to our staff and continued to make jumps in both velocity and command in this most recent look. Listed at 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, Larkin has plenty of arm strength on the mound with more to come in a physical frame, emerging as a must-follow prospect this spring. The righty was consistently 87-89 mph on the mound with his fastball, showing natural run at times. He flashed feel for his slider at 74-75 mph and also threw a changeup at 81-84 mph.

+ Another arm strength follow on the mound from the event is RHP/OF Casen Willenborg (Staley, 2026). The sophomore is as physical as they come at 6-foot-3, 235-pounds. His fastball played with natural carry, averaging 14 inches of vertical break at 88-89 mph. Additionally, Willenborg pounded the zone with both of his offspeed pitches: a curveball at 71-72 mph and a horizontal moving slider at 77-79 mph. At the plate, he was constantly on the barrel through the middle of the field where his physicality showed with a 92.2 mph exit velocity. Additionally, Willenborg was up to an event leading 90 mph from the outfield.

+ Another uncommitted junior arm that caught our eye in his Prep Baseball debut was RHP/INF Charlie Peters (Lawrence Free State, 2025). At 5-foot-11, 160-pounds Peter’s fastball played at 85-87 mph, topping out at 88 mph from a whippy ¾ arm slot. He also spun a curveball for strikes at 69 mph and threw a low spin changeup with run at 74-75 mph. 

+ RHP/OF Max Shepherd (Liberty North, 2027) is an athletic 5-foot-11, 180-pound freshman that looked the part on both sides of the ball at Saturday’s event. Still developing strength, Shepherd was 83-85 mph with his fastball, peaking at 86 mph with a loose, whippy, low ¾ arm slot while also mixing in a curveball/slider/changeup mix. Offensively, Shepherd swung a right-handed barrel that drove balls through the middle of the field while posting a 85 mph infield velocity to pair.

+ RHP/OF/INF Malachi Coleman (Staley, 2026) offers plenty of upside on the mound in a 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame. The sophomore uses long-levers on the mound to generate easy velocity which will only go up as he adds strength. Coleman was 83-84 mph with his fastball on Saturday, pairing that with a curveball (72-73 mph) and slider (76-78 mph); showing feel for the zone with both. In BP, Coleman used those levers to create natural lift and a max exit velocity of 87.3 mph while also posting a 87 mph velocity from the outfield as well. 

+ RHP/CIF Ian Buehler (Olathe South, 2025) is as strong as they come at 6-foot-3, 210-pounds. Buehler used that strength to throw his fastball at 84-85 mph. The uncommitted junior also mixed in a vertical curveball at 65-67 mph, a horizontal slider at 71-76 mph and turned over a low spin changeup at 76-77 mph.

+ RHP Carter Cushing (Seaman, 2025) pitched at 82-84 mph with his fastball at this event, topping at 85 mph. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound uncommitted junior also spun a lateral slider at 75-76 mph. 

+ 2023 Future Games participant C/OF David Dobbs (Seaman) flashes tools in every aspect of the game, showing why he is one of the top catchers in Kansas’ 2025 class. At 5-foot-10, 175-pounds, Dobbs swings a powerful right-handed barrel, producing a 95.2 mph top exit velocity while sending his furthest ball 332 feet - both top marks at the event. Additionally, the backstop showed his athleticism by running a 3.91 30 - second best on the day. Dobbs rounded out the day behind the dish, where he was up to 77 mph while posting a 1.94-2.00 pop time thanks to a quick, clean transfer. 

+ OF/RHP Cole Wright (Lawrence Free State, 2025) was on the barrel throughout his round of BP, with a short, powerful swing that produced line drives through the middle of the field and a max exit velocity of 88.2 mph. His furthest ball traveled 312 ft with plenty of power to come as he adds strength. In the field, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound junior was up to 82 mph from the outfield and also posted a 4.00 second 30 - both top 5 on the day.

+ Another all around strong showing came from INF/OF Owen Mitchell (Smithville, 2025). Packed with strength and twitch at 5-foot-10, 181-pounds, Mitchell found the barrel often for impact throughout his round of BP. He squared his firmest ball up at 90.4 mph from a short, direct, and fast right-handed swing. The junior’s strength showed in his arm as well with a 85 mph infield velocity which was second best on the day. Additionally, Mitchell ran a 3.94 second 30.

+ INF Davis Robinson (Shawnee Mission West, 2025) is as athletic as they come in a 5-foot-10, 155-pound build. Robinson’s strength came in the field where he showed clean, athletic actions paired with a strong arm that was up to 87 mph from across the diamond to lead all infielders. At the plate, he swung a free-flowing, right-handed barrel that sprayed line drives from gap to gap with natural lift. Still developing power, which should come as he adds strength to his frame, Robinson produced a peak exit velocity of 87.1 mph. Additionally, his 3.88 30 and 18.7 mph top speed marks were tops of the event.

+ INF/OF Jimi Oguntuase (Liberty North, 2025) showed upside on both sides of the ball as well on the mound at this event. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior used a short, inside-out swing at the plate to generate a top exit velo of 87.8 mph. Oguntuase used his long-levers to deliver a 84 mph bullet across the infield. To wrap up the day, the righty hopped on the mound and pitched in the low-80s while flashing feel to spin a 60-65 mph curveball in the zone.

+ At a physical 6-foot-2, 200-pounds, C/RHP Wyatt Otto (Shawnee Mission West, 2026) emerged as a name to keep an eye on this spring. Otto showed off his offensive skill-set from the right side of the plate, displaying an explosive stroke that produced a max exit velocity of 91.7 mph. Defensively, Foster posted a 77 mph mark from behind the plate with a 1.99 pop time to pair.



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