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The Virginia Top Prospect Games were held on June 19th, 2018 on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Today we highlight our initial thoughts from the event and the players involved.

 

Mason Delane RHP / Colonial Beach, VA / 2019 Delane has continued to get himself better since his breakout performance for us at the Preseason All-State. He once again impressed at Liberty as he has continued to gain velocity over the spring. He has a long and lanky frame with projection and room for growth as he matures. He topped out at 88 mph on the day and with his frame and arm action I don't doubt there is more in the tank. His breaking ball development looks to be improving as he showed a shorter action slider in the upper 70's that looks like could be a solid base pitch to build off.

 

William Pickford RHP / Bishop O'Connell, VA / 2019 Pickford continues to be an interesting prospect on the mound with his frame and shorter whippy arm action. Pickford again topped out at 88 mph at the event and showed nice later action on his breaking ball. Pickford still is relatively raw on the mound and as he shows more comfort there should only continue to get better as he strengthens his projectable frame.

 

Ben Capehart RHP / Maury, VA / 2019 Capehart was one of the more interesting pitchers coming out of the event after having never laid eyes on him before this event. A youthful frame with room to add weight, Capehart has a clean and loose arm action that showed flashes on the day of what could be once he logs more innings and strength to the frame. Capehart was mainly 84-86 on the day but did have a couple occasions where he touched 88 in his outing. The flashes were there and the relative ease of his delivery to go along with his young frame give plenty of reason to believe there is more there. His breaking ball was a bit inconsistent and I would like to see it get harder, but Capehart could be an interesting arm to following as the summer progresses.

 

Logan Ransom LHP / Steward School, VA / 2019 Ransom has been one of the most consistent and top pitchers in the state serving as the ace of Steward School for the past two years and he will yet again be their guy for the 2019 spring. Ransom showed an increase in velo, pitching 82-83 topping out at 84 mph. An ultra-competitor, Ransom displays excellent body control, varying his delivery and attacking the strike zone to create non-stop frustration for hitters. He has a harder breaking ball that has continued to improve and is hard at 76 mph but his best pitch might be the hard changeup with late action at 77 mph.

 

Gabe Lassiter RHP / Patrick Henry (Ashland), VA / 2019 A player who I could see gaining momentum as the summer progresses is this righty out of Patrick Henry (Ashland) HS. Lassiter has a projectable frame and clean arm action who pitches with light effort. Lassiter was up to 84 so far, but he is going to get more as he continues to mature with his youthful body. I would not be surprised if he made a jump as over the summer and became an interesting one to watch come end of summer/early fall.

All in all pitching stole the day with 12 arms topping out at 83 or better (Capeheart (88), Delane (88), Zack Kennedy (85), Lassiter (84), Daniel Leo (83), Alex Markus (85), Elijah Parks (86), Pickford (88), Ransom (84), Mark Smith (86), Dylan Weber (83).

Stay tuned as next week we give our position player portion from the event along with our Rapid Reaction from the Underclass Games.