By John Cackowski
State Director

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Prep Baseball Report Colorado's 3rd Annual Underclass Invitational took place January 29th at the Slammers South facility. 80 prospects showed up and strutted their stuff in a pro-style workout. Over the next several days the PBR Scouting staff will roll out position-by-position rankings of the event.  

Click Here to view complete statistics from the event in PDF format.

We also broke down the Top Tools of the event. Click Here to view the Top Tools based on various commonly used scouting criteria for analyzing prospects.

We started our break down of the Underclass Invitational by looking at the corners,  catchers, and outfielders. Today we cover the middle infielders. 

MIDDLE INFIELD ANALYSIS: BEST OF THE BEST

Justin Boyd, SS, Legend HS, CO, 2019 (Oregon St)
6-foot, 170 pounds. Bats and throws right. Looks the part, and backs it up.  Appears to have put on about 10-15 pounds of muscle. Has a cool, confident aura without being cocky. At the plate he is balanced with a simple, fluent load of the hands and little/no stride. Bat speed is quick, and he laced line drives in his BP round. 89 mph exit velocity. Has the arm strength to stick at short, and the glove is advanced for his age. Bounces around with athletic quickness and makes plays to both sides with throws from all angles.  Ran a 4.28 home to first. 

Riley Cornelio, SS/RHP, Pine Creek, 2019 (Texas Christian)
6-foot-2, 160 pounds. Bats and throws right. Athletic, wiry, and elastic. Advanced high school hitter at the plate. Has narrow open stance and aggressive stride towards ball that produced a 90 mph exit velocity off a tee. Didn’t pitch at the event, but we have seen him on mound multiple times and his arm is electric, and based on the throws from shortstop he is all that we advertise him to be on the mound. Arm was whippy, and was heaps and bounds ahead of any arm at the event throwing 88 mph. What is scary is his thin frame could easily add 30 more pounds to push his already 90+ fastball up to mid to upper 90's range. Ran a 4.5 home to first. 

Zach Rush, SS/RHP, Fruita Monument, 2019
6-foot-4, 200 pounds. Bats and throws right. Big body with long arms and remains compact while at the plate. Hands and shoulders are huddled into his chest, but set up works in solid rhythm. Short to the ball with above average bat speed. 89 mph exit velocity. The frame sticks out as something to follow. In the field made all of the plays. Big SS. Throws from 3/4 arm slot with accuracy at 74 mph. On the mound tilts spine to get to over the top arm slot, but would benefit to square up and come from that 3/4 arm slot. Fastball was 80 mph. Change was same arm speed as fastball and lived at 69 mph. Curveball had 11/5 tilt at 67 mph. Ran a 4.5 home to first time. 

Derek Shaver, SS/RHP, Grand Junction, 2019
6-foot-3, 178 pounds. Bats and throws right. Very athletic player who looks the part. Has that All-American QB look to him. Still a wiry frame, but should fill out more soon, and has a very high ceiling. Bat flattens before coming through the zone, but path works. Line drives with projectable gap to gap power in the future. Quick hands and the ball comes off well. Compact stance. Produced a 87 mph exit velo off the tee. Moved around the infield athletically side to side, and made all the plays with ease. Threw 77 mph across the field. Athletic on the mound and arm is loose and works well with rest of body. High 3/4 arm slot. Has a chance to be a guy on the mound as well. Fastball was 79-81. Slider had tight spin and good depth at 70 mph, and changeup was same arm speed as fastball at 70 mph. Also can run. Ran a 4.28 home to first time. 

MIDDLE INFIELD ANALYSIS: BEST OF THE REST LISTED ALPHABETICALLY 

Jack Cosper, 2B/SS, Fossil Ridge, 2019
6-foot, 160 pounds. Bats and throws right. At plate has balanced stance, slight leg kick, quiet load, and had a very good live round. Line drives gap to gap and barrel stays in zone a long time with good extension through zone. Bottom hand finish. Produced a 79 mph exit velocity off the tee. Good hands in infield. Preps before every pitch. Looks like he can play any infield position so he's versatile. Ran a 4.9 home to first time. Liked overall actions and looks like a player.

Greg Deville, INF, ThunderRidge, 2019
5-foot-10, 165 pounds. Bats and throws right. Tall narrow stance, short slight leg kick. Short to the ball, short out of the zone. 87 mph exit velocity off the tee. Like his power potential. In the infield fundamentally solid to both sides and charging. Threw 68 mph and was accurate. Running a 4.21 home to first makes him someone to keep an eye on out of this event.

Chase Everly, 2B/SS, Douglas County, 2019
5-foot-8, 130 pounds. Bats left, throws right. At plate hands start low then load up. Short leg kick stride. Bottom hand dominant. Swing is slightly uphill. Spray hitter in live round with solid line drives to left. Produced a 73 mph exit velo off tee. On defense showed quick feet and hands. Like his prep approach to ball. Looks like he's into it. Solid skills that will improve with strength. Ran a 4.57 home to first time.

Jack Harris, SS/RHP, Lewis Palmer, 2020
6-foot-1, 145 pounds. Bats and throws right. Tall narrow opened stance. Minimal load and drops hand down to ball at contact. Line drives gap to gap. Slight uphill swing through zone. Produced an 82 mph exit velo off a tee. On defense throws from a 3/4 arm slot with accuracy at 72 mph. Release is a little long right now. On the mound was a strike thrower. Throws from same arm slot and is inline to the plate when he pitches throwing off two feet. Fastball was 68-70 mph. Change and Curve sat at 59 mph.

Drake Logan, 2B/SS, Discovery Canyon, 2019
5-foot-10, 135 pounds. Bats and throws right. Wide stance, wiry frame. Quick hands to the ball with slight uphill swing with extension through the ball. Line drives in live round gap to gap. Produced a 78 mph exit velo off the tee. On defense showed good hands and a quick release from ss. Strong and accurate arm at 75 mph. Good skills. Ran a 4.60 60 time.

Cooper Marks, SS/RHP, Arapahoe, 2019
6-foot-1, 185 pounds. Bats left, throws right. Balanced stance at the plate. Slight leg kick. Level swing through the zone with good extension. Bottom hand finish. Could benefit by keeping head square through swing. Produced a 78 mph exit velo off a tee. On defense showed range to both glove and and back hand side. Velo was up from last event to 72 mph with accuracy. Like his makeup on the mound. Sound mechanics, and gets good extension to the plate then falls off to first a little. Throws from over the top arm slot. Fastball sat 74-76 mph. Curveball was 61-63 with tight 11/5 spin. Change sat 68 mph with same arm action as fastball. Ran a solid 4.37 home to first. Player to follow.

Blake Mosenteen, SS/OF, Holyoke, 2020
5-foot-11, 155 pounds. Bats and throws right. At the plate has narrow stance. A lot of pre-swing movement. Hands load down, then up. Leg kick stride then slight uphill swing through the zone. Line drive hitter. Showed some bat speed with an 81 mph exit velo off the tee. Quick feet in the infield. Covers ground well. Throws from high 3/4 arm slot with accuracy at 71 mph. On the mound really like his leg drive. Square to the plate with good stride, same 3/4 arm slot, then throws off two feet falling towards 1B. Gets most out of his body. Fastball sat at 72 mph. Curve looked more like a slurve at 60-61 mph. Change same arm speed at 63. Can run flashing a 4.4 home to first.

Mason Pastorello, SS/2B, Discovery Canyon
5-foot-7, 125 pounds. Bats and throws right. Tall narrow opened stance at the plate. Medium stride towards ball. Level swing through zone produced a 77 mph exit velo off the tee with line drive power. On defense quick release from high 3/4 arm slot and gets to ball. Accuracy on throws at 59 mph. Ran a 4.78 home to first.

Benjamin Perla, SS, Cherry Creek
5-foot-10, 140 pounds. Bats and throws right. Aggressive and confident hitter. Hit hard line drives all over cage in live round. Good hand path to ball. Advanced hitter for his age. 83 mph exit velocity but played better in the live round. On defense had good actions, quick feet. Threw 70 mph across the diamond with accuracy. Ran a 4.81 home to first. 

Brady Renck, 2B/OF, Longmont, 2019
5-foot-8, 125 pounds. Bats left, throws right. Lanky kid right now. Has room to put on a lot of weight. Has a tall narrow stance. Leg kick back then forward stride that is on time. Hands load down then are quick to ball with bottom hand finish. Had a good live round with line drives gap to gap. Produced a 78 mph exit velo off the tee. Very solid actions on defense. Good glove to hand transfer and covers a lot of ground. Solid skills here. Threw 69 mph across diamond but gains ground to cut down a lot of distance to 1B. Again will improve here with more strength. Ran a 4.5 home to first time.