By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting

2014 Top Prospect Games participant and North Stafford High School Outfielder Austin Gregory has verbally committed to attend Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall of 2016. Gregory is the first current Wolverine to commit to a Division I school, joining senior right handed pitchers Taylor Barker (Hendrix College) and Austin Meyer (King University) to make a trio of college bound baseball players from North Stafford. Gregory was also accompanied to the 2014 Top Prospect Games by teammates Ryan Kennedy (LHP, 2017) and Dawson Sims (SS/P, 2017). North Stafford looks to take advantage of that deep talent pool to build on last year’s Regional tournament appearance, where they were knocked out by eventual 5A Northern Region champion Stone Bridge.

Gregory is a 5-foot-11, 155-pound, left-handed hitting outfielder that hits from an athletic stance with high hands. Gregory has minimal backwards movement in his swing, but created a solid line drive stroke with back spin. Gregory creates enough torque to generate bat speed that led to an 84 mph exit velocity. In the field, Gregory is a plus defender. He has the ability to track the baseball down by taking good routes and getting outstanding reads. He showed average arm strength, reaching 72 mph from the outfield. He has an accurate arm and a very quick release that makes up for his average arm.

When he arrives at Virginia Commonwealth, Gregory figures to immediately be able to help the Rams as a left-handed bat off the bench and as a defensive outfielder who can play all three outfield positions late in games. As he fills out and develops, Gregory could grow into a good defensive Centerfielder who will hit for a high average and set the table for middle of the line-up bats.

Congratulations Austin!