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By Chris Kemlo and PBR Staff
Ontario Scouting Director

Ontario Insider: Updated Class of 2016 Player Rankings (March)

With the winter season behind us and spring baseball just around the corner, we turn our attention to the latest updates for Ontario’s Class of 2016 rankings. During the course of the winter, we have been evaluating players from around the great province of Ontario.

Below we take a look at "What's New At The Top", "The Risers", "The Newcomers" as well as the top uncommitted prospects.

To view the entire list of 100 prospects please click here.

Also visit our scout blog, which includes velocity, pop times and in-depth scouting reports. The blog will be updated throughout the entire spring, with information on top prospects and top performances, click here.

Interested in attending a PBR Ontario event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.

What's New At The Top

The three biggest moves inside the top 20 were right-hander Austin Shields (St. Mary’s Catholic, pictured right), left-hander DJ Depiero (Stratford Northwestern SS), and another lefty in Matt Jones (Sinclair HS).

Shields, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound prospect got himself in noticeable better shape over the winter, and came out with a statement in his most recent bullpen sitting 92-94 mph touching 95.

Jones is another player who has changed his body, this time adding weight to his already projectable 6-foot-4 frame and now weighs in at 191-pounds. The lefty displays a quick arm and ran his fastball up to 90 mph, sitting 86-89 mph.

Depiero made a huge jump into the top 15, as he had been tucked away in Thunder Bay up until last winter. He showed well at the Preseason Showcase in Kitchener, running his fastball up to 87 mph with a loose and quick arm from the left side.

THE RISERS

Along with Jones and Depiero, many of players made jumps in the rankings. Typically, this is the time players begin to show results from hard work in the off-season and additional maturation to their bodies and game.

Right-hander Noah Skirrow moved up to 17th in the rankings. The 6-foot-3 prospect is in better shape and threw up a bunch of 89 mph on his last bullpen, not dropping below 86 mph.

Other big jump is 6-foot-4 right-hander and West Virginia Wesleyan commit Ryan Giberson (pictured right). He was mid-80s with his fastball while possessing one of the best breaking balls we have seen all winter.

Ari Sechopoulos has moved into the top 30. He has made some minor adjustments to his swing, looks to be in good shape and the power from the left side at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds plays well for the first baseman.

THE NEWCOMERS

With many new players no on our radar, we have expanded the 2016 rankings to top 100 for the time being with us tackling on more spots as we sit fitting. Here are some of the noticeable newcomers:

Shortstop Carson Burns is an athletic 6-foot-2 prospect with great infield actions and a swing that shows promise from the left side of the plate.

Recently just popping up on the radar is right-hander Darren Dwyer who is listed at 6-foot-1, 193-pounds. He was 86-87 mph with good feel for a breaking ball that showed downward action. He has been the sleeper of the winter so far for the 2016 class.

6-foot-1, 180-pound outfielder/pitcher Andy Leader showed us his athleticism and tools at the College Preseason Showcase in January. His arm was quick and loose from the outfield with an 84 mph register on the gun. He performs well and should be on coaches radars.

Another two players from the Preseason Event were right-handed hitters Brent McGhee (pictured right) and Noah Wood-Jolivet. McGhee is a power bat that showed some bat speed and balance in the box. Jolivet was solid all around with his batting practice and infield reps, as well as a nice compliment on the mound.

Looking for left-handed pitching? Several players made their way into the rankings or notable jumps who warrant consideration for a follow this spring and summer. Keep an eye on: Jayson Wilbur (Holy Trinity Catholic), Dallas Taylor (White Oak S.S), Griffin Sanford (St.Ignatious Loyola), Michael Mommersteeg, Travis Keys (Oakridge S.S.), David Castillo (Lester B. Perarson), and Ben Braun (Georgetown District)

TOP UNCOMMITTED PROSPECTS BY POSITION

+ Top Right-Handed Arms: Noah Skirrow, Mateos Kekatos, Kyle Symington
+ Top Left-Handed Arms: Dallas Taylor (pictured right), Griffin Sanford, Michael Mommersteeg
+ Top Two-Way Prospects: Noah Wood-Jolivet, Chase Cornelisse
+ Top Catching Prospects: Mark Bernardi, Colton Fountain, Jacob O’Malley
+ Top Corner Infield Prospects: Ari Sechopoulos, Jesse Elliott, Cam Palmeter
+ Top Middle Infield Prospects: Owen Janen, Ethan Cummins, Carson Burns
+ Top Outfield Prospects: Marcus Johnston, Andy Leader
+ Sleeper Prospects: Keegan Warner (SS, good actions, will hit), Will D’acosta (2B, LHH, gamer), Jared Beens (3B, LHH, good looking swing), Ryan Mount (RHP, life in arm, mid-80s), Jacob O’Malley (C, good actions, projectable body), Ben Braun (LHP, strike thrower, competes well)

PBR Ontario Class of 2016 Top 100

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Andy Yerzy	ON	York Mills Collegiate	2016	C	Notre Dame
2	Jordan Balazovic	ON	St. Martin's Collegiate SS	2016	RHP	Auburn
3	Austin Shields	ON	St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School	2016	RHP	University of British Columbia
4	Brad Aldred	ON	Anderson Collegiate	2016	3B	British Columbia
5	Nick Howie	ON	Garth Webb Secondary	2016	OF	Eastern Kentucky
6	Luke Turino	ON	Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute	2016	2B	Cincinnati
7	Elliott Curtis	ON	St. David CSS	2016	SS	Middle Tennessee State
8	Max Wright	ON	Lawrence Park Collegiate Insitute	2016	C	Indiana State
9	Sam Turcotte	ON	Don Mills Collegiate Institute	2016	RHP	Stony Brook University
10	Matt Jones	ON	Sinclair HS	2016	LHP	Montevallo University

***** To view the entire top 100, please click here.