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After a long and eventful 2018 season, we have finally just about put a bow on the year. With Old Man Winter announcing his presence with authority by dumping snow on much of the Commonwealth last weekend, its time for us to help you think warm thoughts of the 2019 season to come.

To do that, we welcome back our Spring Forward series for its second winter. In this series, we will begin to look at the upcoming high school season with a number of regional topics that are intriguing to our scouting staff. Today we open the series with a look at arms in Northern Virginia who are going to make velocity enthusiasts excited by potentially lighting up radar guns all spring.

We will couch this by pointing out that there are inevitably guys who will make a big velocity jump and light up a gun that we left off of this list, and that's what makes our jobs so much fun every spring.

 

 

2019 NoVa Power Arms

 

 

Zach Agnos SS / Battlefield, VA / 2019 Agnos is the Bobcats' shortstop and closed games for them last year, but like his older brother three years ago, the East Carolina commit has an electric arm that can break the 90 barrier with a swing and miss breaking ball and we look forward to seeing what radar gun numbers he will put up after another offseason to get stronger.

 

 

Jake Berry LHP / Bishop O'Connell, VA / 2020 Berry got back on the mound this fall and looks to be healthy heading into the spring. He committed to Virginia very early but still hasn't pitched for O'Connell thanks to a few unfortunate injuries. It'll be exciting to just see him on the mound and healthy, and the tall lefty with the big arm should light up some big numbers as well.

 

 

Jimmy Curley RHP / West Potomac, VA / 2019 Curley is a High Point commit and has been a big factor on the mound for West Potomac for a while. Very early in cold weather last spring he was easy and in the mid-80s, it'll be interesting to see where he is after another year of development.

 

 

Riley Eikhoff SS / Patriot, VA / 2020 Eikhoff is a Virginia commit and is coming off a down 2018 high school season, but he rebounded with a strong summer and outstanding fall. Like Agnos, he is a true two-way player and will man shortstop for the Pioneers, but could also be the top guy in the rotation coming off of a strong Jupiter performance that saw him sitting in the high-80s and touching 90 in October.

 

 

Magnus Ellerts RHP / Woodbridge, VA / 2019 Ellerts was the big-time new face on the prospect block in the spring of 2018 as he piled up a ton of strikeouts in topping the Vikings' rotation. He is a Harford CC commit and was 86-88 touching 90 last May with a good slider. Its not hard to imagine another velocity jump for Ellerts and a second year in a row with pro scouts checking in on a southern Prince William pitcher.

 

 

Hunter Entsminger RHP / Sherando, VA / 2019 Entsminger is a James Madison commit and is a lanky loose arm that has projection. He was 85-87 touching 88 at the Commonwealth Games and there is a ton more in the tank. He could easily be a big jump guy who clears the 90 barrier this spring.

 

 

Michael Grupe RHP / Loudoun Valley, VA / 2019 Grupe is a Virginia Tech commit and sits 86-89 with feel for two secondary pitches. He's a higher effort arm but he is athletic and has the projection to break the 90 barrier this spring as he should again top the Vikings' rotation.

 

 

Cortland Lawson SS / Paul VI, VA / 2019 Lawson is a Tennessee commit and is a true two-way player like Agnos and Eikhoff. He will serve as the Panthers' primary shortstop but he can step up on the mound and has shown high-80s velocity with the projection to break 90 for a Paul VI team that may need to fill innings this spring after losing some innings to graduation.

 

 

Nick Lockhart RHP / Woodgrove , VA / 2019 Lockhart is a Virginia Tech commit and is a big 6-6 righty with a ton of projection. He has a quick, easy arm and worked in the 84-87 range last year but could touch a 90 when he muscled up. Another winter in the weight room could turn him into a very serious draft prospect who is breaking 90 consistently.

 

 

Teddy Merritt RHP / McLean, VA / 2020 Merritt is one of the top uncommitted 2020 arms in Virginia. He is a tall lanky arm who is similar in frame to where Lockhart was a year ago. He was 82-84 but touched an 87 in early 2018 and another offseason with his frame could easily push Merritt into the upper 80s this spring.

 

 

Matthew Michel RHP / Battlefield, VA / 2019 Michel is an East Stroudsburg commit and has a lanky frame with a bunch of projection. Michel has shown easy mid-80s velocity and could add the strength to sit in the upper-80s and touch or break 90 this winter.

 

 

Lyle Miller-Green RHP / Lake Braddock, VA / 2019 Miller-Green is a George Mason signee who was 86-89, touching 90 in the State Tournament in 2018. A big righty who has the prototypical frame that makes pro scouts drool, Miller-Green also has a swing and miss breaking ball and could easily end up being the highest drafted Prep player in Virginia this spring with a velocity jump and a healthy 2019.

 

 

William Pickford RHP / Bishop O'Connell, VA / 2019 Pickford has always had size and an arm action, and after a velocity jump this fall pushed him into the high-80s he committed to Virginia Tech. He and a healthy Berry have the potential to give O'Connell a strong 1-2 punch that gives them a chance to compete for a WCAC title this spring.

 

 

Nate Savino LHP / Potomac Falls, VA / 2020 Savino is a Virginia commit and is the top prospect in the Commonwealth in his class and is currently the number 11 prospect in the country in the Class of 2020. He has an argument as the top prospect overall in Virginia regardless of class. The big lefty with the easy arm worked 87-92 last year and touched 93 as a sophomore. Another offseason of development could push those radar gun readings higher for the best Prep prospect in Virginia since JB Bukauskas was pitching in the high 90s in 2014.

 

 

 

Look for more Spring Forward in the coming weeks