By John Cackowski
State Director

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Prep Baseball Report Colorado's 3rd Annual Underclass Invitational took place January 29th at the Slammers South facility. 80 prospects showed up and strutted their stuff in a pro-style workout. Over the next several days the PBR Scouting staff will roll out position-by-position rankings of the event.  

Click Here to view complete statistics from the event in PDF format.

We also broke down the Top Tools of the event. Click Here to view the Top Tools based on various commonly used scouting criteria for analyzing prospects.

We start our break down of the Underclass Invitational by looking at the corners position. 

CORNERS ANALYSIS: BEST OF THE BEST

Sam Ireland, 1B/RHP, Mountain Vista, 2019
6-foot-1, 195 pounds. Bats and throws right. Wide-shouldered with a large frame that still has more development to come. Raw strength that is only going to get better. Simple, short path and approach, and the ball jumps off his bat gap to gap. 91 mph exit velocity. Has athleticism. Has enough speed to play corner outfield positions and possibly third as well. Ran a 4.28 home to first. On the mound delivered mainly out of a ¾ slot although he changed angles to manipulate different pitches. Fastball was 80-82 touching 84. Solid three pitch mix. Deceptive. Curveball was 68-69 mph. Good athlete who simplifies everything.

Alec Adolph, 1B/RHP, Cherry Creek HS, CO, 2019
6-foot-1, 170 pounds. Bats left throws right. Lanky athletic frame with quick hands at the plate. Swing works well and he has some strength although he is still wiry. Utilizes funky hand-cock to initiate his load which causes the swing to get long at times, but the ball jumps off the bat, and he produced a 91 mph exit velocity. Just a lot of things going on that he has to get out of the way to be on time. There is a foundation for him to get better. At 1B arm slot is lower then on mound. Good footwork around bag. 76 arm velo to 3B.  On the mound stays tall in stretch then drops and drives. Over the top arm slot. Could add more velocity if hand was on top more, but fastball was consistently 78-79 mph. Projetable frame on mound. Stides out and long towards plate to create good extension. Closes the distance. Changeup is same arm speed as fastball but stops arm in from of body instead of coming through like he does on fastball with 71 mph velo.

CORNERS ANALYSIS: BEST OF THE rest listed alphabetically

Cole Chapman, 3B/RHP, Bushland High (Texas), 2019
6-foot-1, 185 pounds. Bats and throws right. Strong player. At the plate stands tall. Waggle type load and drops bat head down to ball and centers ball up middle for line drive power and produced above average bat speed for his age at 87 mph. If lower body works more with upper body could produce more bat speed. At 3rd has soft hands. Exchange is good. Arm velo across the diamond was 72 mph. On the mound gets good in-line extension towards the plate. Arm is at high 3/4 arm angle, and fastball was 80 mph. Liked arm action on change which was 70-71 mph. Curveball had 11/5 shape at 69 mph. Ran a 4.72 home to first.

Jacob Danussi, 1B/RHP, Pine Creek, 2019
6-foot-2, 200 pounds. Bats and throws right. Big strong physical kid who has a lot of power potential. Has big presence at the plate. Tall, balanced stance. Bat stays levels through the zone and meets the ball out front. Gap to gap power. Exit velo was 83 mph but it played harder then that in live round. Can't ignore size. At 1B has good feet. Accurate throws to 3B at 73 mph. Does fine with double play exchange to 2B. On the mound has fluid, in-line mechanics to the mound. Arm works well with lower half and is on time. Fastball was 74-76 mph but looks like more there. Change has same arm speed as fastball but was almost same velocity. Ran a 5.3 home to first. Intriguing prospect out of Pine Creek.

Jay Lambert, 1B/RHP, Arvada West, 2020
5-foot-10, 145 pounds. Bats and throws right. Balanced wide stance at the plate. Short stride and slight load. Drops hands down to ball which creates line drives up the middle with bottom hand finish. Exit velo was 71 mph. Solid defense and plays with confidence at 3B. Accurate throws at 71 mph from over the top arm slot and comes through with good extension. On the mound arm is fluid. Hides ball. In-line to the plate. Fast ball was 72-73 mph. Curveball was 58-60 mph with 11/5 shape. Ran a 5.44 home to first. As he gets bigger and stronger has very good foundation as player. 

Zack Medina, SS/RHP, Highlands Ranch, 2019
6-foot, 180 pounds. Bats and throws right.  Tall balanced stance at plate, hands load straight back and swing is level through zone. Can get pull happy at times but squared everything up in live round. 89 mph exit velcoty off the tee. Upper and lower half worked well. Strong and accurate arm to 1B at 81 mph. On the mound he is square and in-line to the plate. On balance point has a tendency to swing leg up which can create balance issues at times. Short arm slot back and comes at you from high 3/4 arm slot. Fastball sat at 78-79. Better job of coming through with arm with better velocity from last event. Curveball was 69-70 mph from 11/5 shape.

Chase Olivier, 3B/RHP, Highlands Ranch, 2020
6-foot-1, 165 pounds. Bats and throws right. Another big 2020 player. At the plate has a wide base. Good extension through the zone. Swing path is slightly uphill, but made consistent line-drive solid contact in live round. Gap to gap power. Exit velo was 74 mph. Good lower half. Showcased good hands at 3B with accurate throws to 1B at 64 mph. Ran a 4.85 home to first. Good skill set for 2020 player.

Braden Thomson, 1B/OF, Arvada West, 2020
5-foot-10, 155 pounds. Bats and throws right. At the plate hits from a tall stance. Good live round with consistent line drives up the middle. Hands are good to the ball. Bottom hand finish. Improve exit velo to 82 mph since last event off the tee.  Looks as comfortable in OF as he does at 1B. Plays bag well. Arm action is fluid from high 3/4 arm slot. Was 71 mph across the diamond and from the OF.  On the mound has that same quick arm action. Could get more leg drive and extension towards plate. Fastball was up 5 mph since event in October at 71 mph. Keeps getting better every time we see him.