By Matt Byrd
Tennessee Director of Scouting

The PBR Tennessee Underclass Games took place on June 23 at MTSU and afforded players from around the state the opportunity to showcase their abilities in a combination showcase/game play event while attempting to establish themselves as a top young player. The following is a look at the Team Royal position players from the event. This is position player analysis only. Those players who also pitched for Team Royal had their pitching evaluations featured in a previous article.

CLICK HERE to view the top statistical performers and stats for all players in attendance at the event.

Middle Infielders

Austin Dunston,2017, Spring Hill HS, SS
The 5 foot 11, 180-pound prospect posted a 4.66 home to 1^st time and had a 75 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively Dunston showed soft hands, fluid footwork and accuracy on his throws. Could pssibly move to third base at the next level. Offensively Dunston shows good bat speed with great extension from the left side and had an 85 mph exit velocity off the tee.  Dunston hits from a balanced setup with a slight leg kick and good balance. Has an aggressive approach at the plate and is a line drive to gap to gap type hitter. Dunston had an impressive round at the plate during batting practice. He went 2-for-3 during game play with a double and a single. He impressed at the plate and is definitely a left-handed bat to keep a close eye on.

Brock Myers, 2017,Davidson Academy, SS/RHP
The 5 foot 11, 155-pound prospect posted a 4.47 home to 1^st time and had a 78 mph position velocity across the infield.  Defensively Myers showed soft hands, fluid footwork, quick exchange, and plays through the ball well. Shows good arm strength with accurate throws and has short arm action that allows him to get rid of the ball quickly. Has the ability defensively to stay at shortstop at the next level. Offensively Myers shows some bat speed and had an 81 mph exit velocity off the tee from the right side. Myers hits from an open setup, has a short stride, good to average balance, and uses lower half adequately .Myers shows some pop off his bat but is an overall line drive type hitter. Myers went 1-for-4 in game play with a single. Shows good projectability and has an athletic frame.

Kevin McCarthy, 2017, Farragut HS, 2B
The 5 foot 8, 140-pound prospect posted a 4.91 home to 1^st time and had a 72 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively McCarthy had soft hands and showed fluid footwork. Showed short arm action and average arm strength with accuracy on his throws. McCarthy is a very solid second baseman and will stay there in the future. Has room to be a little more aggressive and catch the ball out front more.  Offensively McCarthy showed average bat speed and had a 72 mph exit velocity off the tee from the left side. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and good balance. Has a good approach at the plate and is a line drive type hitter. McCarthy went 0-for-4 in game play. Shows some projectability and has a smaller body type that will benefit from additional strength gains.

Corner Infielders

Wes Duffield, 2017, Murfreesboro Central, 1B/RHP
The 6 foot 7, 215-pound prospect posted a 4.97 home to 1^st time and had a 83 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively Duffield showed average hands , fluid footwork, clean exchange, long arm action, and good arm strength with accuracy. Offensively Duffield showed good bat speed from the left side and had an 83 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup and has a short stride. Showed good overall balance with good pop off the bat and is a pull type hitter. Has a chance to be a legitimate power threat at the next level. Duffield went 2-for-3 in game play with a double and a single.

Zach Sharber, 2017, Ravenwood, 3B/RHP
The 6 foot 2, 192-pound prospect posted a 4.90 home to 1^st time and had a 78 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively Sharber showed soft hands, fluid footwork, natural corner instincts, and a clean exchange with accuracy. Offensively Sharber had a 78 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and average balance. Is a gap to gap type hitter that has the ability to hit for power. Sharber went 1-for-4 in game play crushing a long home run over the left field wall. Shows projectable and should be an interesting player to watch during his high school career. Sharber has a tall athletic frame with room to continue to get stronger.

Paul Komistek, 2018, Knoxville Christian, 1B
The 6 foot 2, 180-pound prospect posted a 4.31 home to 1^st time and had a 71 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively Komistek has soft hands, fluid footwork, natural instinct and moves well around the bag. Shows good athletic ability for his size. Offensively Komistek generates good bat speed from the right side and had an 82 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and showed good balance. Has a good approach at the plate and shows projectable gap to gap power. Has a chance to be a middle of the order type bat at the next level. Komistek impresses in game play going 2-for-3 during with a single and a triple.

Michael Pope, 2016, Nahville Christian, 3B/OF
The 6 foot 2, 180-pound prospect posted a 4.50 home to 1^st time and had a 71 mph position velocity across the infield and a 75 mph position velocity from the outfield. Defensively Pope showed soft hands, fluid footwork, average arm strength with a long high-3/4 release. Offensively Pope showed average bat speed from the right side and had a 78 mph exit velocity off the tee. Pope hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and good overall balance. Is a line drive type hitter and went 0-for-3 in game play.

outfielders

Lofton Cotton, 2017, Franklin HS, OF/INF
The 5 foot 10, 165-pound prospect showed good speed in posting a 4.34 home to 1^st time and had a 77mph position velocity across the infield and a 78 mph position velocity from the outfield. Defensively Cotton has average hands, fluid footwork, natural instincts, short am action, plays through the ball aggressively in the outfield, average arm strength, and accuracy on his throws. Offensively the right-handed hitter had an 82 mph exit velocity off the tee. Lofton hits from a balanced setup , has a mid-length stride, good overall balance, has some length in swing at times and is a line drive type hitter. Cotton went 1-for-3 in game play with a single.

Easton Cline, 2017, Brentwood, OF
The 5 foot 9, 180-pound prospect posted a 4.78 home to 1^st time and had a 70 mph position velocity from the outfield. Defensively Cline has fluid footwork and played through the ball well, average arm strength, short arm action, some accuracy, natural outfield instincts. Offensively Cline has average bat speed from the left side and had a 75 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup, has a short stride, short and compact swing and is a line drive type hitter but shows the ability to have some gap power with his strong frame. Cline went 1-for-3 in game play with a single.

catchers

Jonathan Giles, 2017, Franklin HS, C
The 5 foot 11, 170- pound prospect posted a 4.44 home to 1^st time and had a 69 mph position velocity from behind the plate. Defensively Giles shows average arm strength, short arm action, footwork stays online, had 2.09-2.18 pop times. Offensively Giles shows some bat speed from the right side with a short swing path and had a 80 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from an athletic setup, has a leg kick involved, shows good balance, has a good approach, is a line drive type hitter. Giles went 0-for-3 in game play and has an athletic frame.Landon Hendrix, 2017, Lexington HS, C

Landon Hendrix, 2017, Lexington HS, C
The 6 foot 2, 165-pound prospect posted a 5.10 home to 1^st time and had a position velocity of 70 mph from behind the plate.  Defensively Hendrix shows short arm action, average arm strength, pop times ranged from 2.28-2.32, pop times will improve with quicker footwork and release.  Offensively Hendrix  had a 72 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from an open setup, has a short stride, average balance, showed a pull approach in batting practice. Hendrix went 0-for-3 in game play.

Ethan Keller, 2017, East Hickman HS, C
The 6 foot 1,190-pound prospect posted a 5.03 home to 1^st time and had a 71mph position velocity from behind the plate. Defensively Keller shows average arm strength, short arm action, some accuracy, fairly quick glove to hand transfer. Keller had a 2.13-2.18 pop times. Offensively Keller had an 84 mph exit velocity off the tee from the right side. Hits from a balanced setup, has a slight leg kick involved, overall good balance, good approach, is a gap to gap type hitter. Keller went 1-for-3 with a double in game play and has a strong/athletic frame.

Matthew Fine, 2018, Bearden HS, C
The 5 foot 10, 205-pound prospect posted a 5.13 home to 1^st time and had a 70 mph position velocity from behind the plate. Defensively Fine shows average arm strength, short arm action, accuracy, Fine had a 2.22-2.32 pop times. Offensively Fine shows average bat speed from the right side and had a 76 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from an open setup, squares front side with a short stride, fair balance, has some upper body stiffness, pull type hitter. Fine went 1-for-3 with a single in game play.