Adam Akin
Director of Scouting

The 2016 Future Games were held at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana on August 4-6 and played host to the top uncommitted talent in the 2018 and 2019 classes throughout PBR’s 25+ state coverage.  College coaches from some of the biggest programs in the entire country were once again in attendance and looking heavily for the group of guys that will make up their next recruiting class.  Team Tennessee was composed of players that have shown very well at previous PBR showcases, as well as players that came highly recommended by scouts and/or high school and summer coaches throughout the state.  On Thursday, our position players completed a pro style workout, followed by game play on Friday and Saturday.  Below is a list of our middle infielders and some of the highlights from their performances.

Middle Infielders

Zac Lemerand, 5-11, 160, 2B/SS, Oakland, 2018
Zac has all the tools you could look for in a baseball player. Defensively, he has soft hands and a smooth arm action from multiple angles that help him make an array of plays from the second base position.  Offensively, he does a great job of using his entire body to drive the ball and even showed some serious gap-to-gap power in his rounds of BP.  Lemerand plays the game very hard and has a really good approach at the plate.  He ran a 6.87 60, showed an 80 mph position velocity from SS, and produced an 84 mph exit velocity.  Zac is a sleeper on this team and will continue to separate himself from the rest of the 2018 class as he gets stronger.

Travis Odom, 6-1, 160, SS/RHP, Blackman, 2019
Possibly the most naturally skilled player on Team Tennessee, Odom has the athleticism and versatility to be regarded as a top prospect both in the field and on the mound.  At shortstop, Odom has good footwork and soft hands with the ability to make some very good backhand plays.  He played through the ball well and showed off 90 mph arm strength across the infield through a surprisingly shorter arm action.  Travis’s swing can get a little long at times, but he certainly has the ability to get extended and drive balls deep, as he hit two home runs in Thursday’s BP session and delivered a clutch 2-RBI double in game three. Odom ran a 6.95 60 and recorded an 88 mph exit velocity.

Cooper Roberts, 6-1, 180, 2B/SS, McMinn County, 2018
Cooper is a solid player and although he may not stand out very far in any one particular area, he sure is able to do a lot of things on a baseball field.  Offensively, Roberts showed a line drive swing that allowed him to spray balls all over the field in BP and produce both a hard line drive and a sacrifice fly in game play.  Defensively, he has the ability to play anywhere in the infield, as he has a lot of experience at third base, as well as the middle infield positions.  In coming to the Future Games as primarily a second baseman, he did a great job adjusting after having played all summer at shortstop.  Roberts ran a 7.24 60, threw 78 mph across the infield, and was able to muster an 81 mph exit velocity.

Jake Rucker, 6-2, 170, SS/RHP, Pope John Paul II, 2018
One of the most impressive performances of the entire weekend was the one Jake Rucker put together.  He led everyone on Team Tennessee with a 6.84 60 time and showed athleticism far beyond what most people expected to see from him at the event.  Defensively, Rucker is certainly ahead of the curve, as he displayed his ability to make a lot of plays that most 2018 graduates can’t yet imagine.  His 86 mph arm strength helps him to make plays deep in the hole and also allows him to an asset almost anywhere on the field.  Offensively, Jake showed some real pop with a 93 mph exit velocity and by hitting a couple balls off the wall in Thursday’s BP session.  Rucker is also highly regarded on the mound and will likely be recruited as a two-way player by many collegiate programs.