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Troutwine, McCutcheon Impress at Top 100 Showcase

December 30, 2013

By Sean McCann and Rob Fleeup
Prep Baseball Report - Kansas

This past Saturday Prep Baseball Report had the opportunity to attend the KC Barnstormers Top 100 Showcase at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph Missouri.

Today we take a look at two top catching prospects from Kansas high schools who put on impressive performances:

+ As we have reported multiple times the Kansas high school class of 2014 is loaded at the catching position.  Leading the way is the #5 ranked player in the Kansas 2014 class Gunnar Troutwine (Shawnee Mission East HS), a Wichita State signee.  Troutwine more than validated his current ranking with his performance on Saturday.  The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Troutwine is a physical specimen with solid across the board tools.  At the plate he showed a powerful middle of the field approach.  During the defensive workouts he made one accurate throw after another - all in the 1.95 to 2.05 pop time range.  He’s the rare catcher that literally throws downhill to 2B – whoever decided to name him Gunnar obviously got it right.  We also clocked his 60-yard dash time at 6.95, another rarity for a catcher – especially one the size of Troutwine.

+ Troutwine’s KC Barnstormers teammate and class of 2015 prospect Payne McCutcheon (Olathe East HS) also stood out among the top prospects at this event.  Along with Noah Croft (Olathe South HS), McCutcheon insures that the talented crop of Kansas high school catchers extends into the 2015 class as well.  Like Troutwine, McCutcheon has an impressive physical, athletic frame at 6-foot-2, 185-pounds.  He showed a simple swing with good extension and bat speed during batting practice.  Throwing-wise he registered a number of sub 2.0 pop times on the bag.  He also ran well, dialing in a 7.01 60-yard dash time.  McCutcheon is well on his way to solidifying himself as a major college prospect.

+ Both Troutwine and McCutcheon profile out well at the catching position, however with their overall skill set and athleticism its not much of a stretch to imagine them excelling at other positions on the field - making them even more valuable at the next level.

+ Hats off to Coach Carswell and the KC Barnstormers for running a top-notch showcase with a good number of college prospects.  In addition, when it comes to tall, physical, athletic, strong-armed catchers that have the chance to hit (a scarce commodity indeed) - clearly the Barnstormers organization has cornered the market with Troutwine and McCutcheon.

+ Missouri Western's Griffin Indoor Sports Complex is among the finest facilities of its kind in the nation.  A shared football facility with the Kansas City Chiefs, they also spared no expense with their baseball add-ons, namely several drop down batting cages.  Opposing colleges that are recruiting football and baseball prospects that also have visits scheduled to Missouri Western have plenty of reason to worry.

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