By John Nolan
PBR Virginia/DC

Prep Baseball Report Virginia/DC recently hosted its first youth tournaments, the September Shootout and the Columbus Day Classic, in Northern Virginia. Teams from ages 9U up to 15U participated in two very competitive events. Here is the first group of 15U prospects that stood out at the tournaments.

Zach Agnos, MIF/RHP, Battlefield, 2019
Agnos is an athletic fielder who throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a strong arm. He has fluid footwork and good actions to go with a clean exchange. At the plate, Agnos hits from an open, athletic stance and has a leg kick stride and smooth back load. He has an explosive lower half and maintains balance throughout his swing. He has good bat speed and a short, fluid swing that generates line drives. On the mound, Agnos throws from a high three-quarters arm slot and has a loose, quick arm that generates easy velocity. His fastball has downhill plane and slight late run to it, and sat 79-82, touching 83 in his first inning of work. His slider was late and sharp with 10/4 action and ran 69. It has the chance to develop into a plus offering as he gets stronger and increases his spin rate.

Brandon Egress, RHP, Freedom (South Riding), 2019
Egress is a lanky RHP that throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a drop and drive delivery. He has a loose, quick arm action that generates easy velocity. He had an a abbreviated outing but his fastball had slight run and sat 74-75. 

Craig Miles, Jr., OF/RHP, Battlefield, 2019
Miles has an athletic frame and hits from the left side. He has a slight crouch and high hands to his stance and has a smooth load with a short stride. He has an explosive lower half and a quick bat. He knows the zone well and is very quick on the bases. On the mound, Miles throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a drop and drive delivery. His fastball was 74-76 and touched 77 and was commanded well. He threw a power, 11/5 curveball with decent armspeed that ran 62-66. He slowed his arm on his changeup, but the pitch showed good fade and came in at 63.

Alejandro Rodriguez, LHP/OF, Hayfield, 2018
Rodriguez is a talented two-way player with a lanky, athletic frame that is very projectable. On the mound, he throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a short loose arm action that generates velocity with normal effort. He has a drop and drive delivery and throws with a classic lefty crossfire. His fastball had late run and ran 76-77, touching 78. He threw a 1/7 power slider with good armspeed that ran 66-69. His command of both pitches was very good until he began to tire. At the plate, Rodriguez hits from an athletic stance and has a short stride. He maintains good balance throughout his swing and has an explosive lower half that generates a fast bat. He has a short path and extends through the ball. He has a line drive swing and works gap to gap with the potential to grow into a lot more power as he gets stronger.

Cole Wallace, RHP, Hanover, 2019
Wallace is a lanky righty who throws from a high three-quarters arm slot and has a short, loose arm action and a quick arm that generates easy velocity. He has a smooth drop and drive delivery and uphill shoulders that create angle. Wallace’s fastball has late run and sink to it and it sat 71-72, touching 73. He commanded the zone well with the pitch and used it almost exclusively. He occasionally mixed in a curveball that ran 62 and has the makings of becoming a good pitch.

Cullen Watson, MIF/RHP, Washington (WV), 2019
Watson has an athletic frame and hits from the right side. He has an open, crouched stance and a good, short swing path that generates line drives to the entire field. In the field, he has quick footwork and is an athletic defender with decent hands and good actions. On the mound, Watson’s fastball slowly increased throughout his outing, reaching 70-72 and touching 73 at the end. The pitch had late sink and was thrown for strikes. He threw a sharp, 12/6 curveball for strikes that had decent armspeed and ran 57-59.

Jake Wortman, C/CIF/RHP, Colonial Forge, 2019
Wortman is an athletic switch hitter. His left-handed swing is pretty and maintains good balance throughout it. He has explosive hips and a quick bat to go with a short, fluid swing path. He has a line drive stroke with a gap to gap approach. Defensively, Wortman has a short arm action and throws from a high three-quarters arm slot behind the dish. He has an accurate arm and fluid footwork to go with a clean exchange on his throws to second. He registered a 2.25 pop time during the game and demonstrated good blocking skills.