16U National Championship: Scout Blog

With conclusion of the Prep Baseball 16u National Championship at Lakepoint Sports. We have quick hit style notes from each day with video of the prospect each day. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5. Now lets take a deeper look at some prospects that our scouts saw with full breakdowns of the players they saw. 

AJ Rice, RHP/SS, Pickens HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Ran the FB up to 90 on Thursday morning of the 16u National Championship games, grabbed the 90 mph heater in the fifth inning after consistently flirting with the upper-80’s throughout his outing. SL had a serious sweeping-break in the upper-70’s and low-80’s (~2894 RPM) that collected tons of whiffs, displayed the ability to throw it for command, giving a front-door look for strikes and also far-and-away from RHH. Deals quickly, out of a three-quarter arm slot. Twitchy guy at the plate, quick hands and flashed the bat speed early. High arm to follow for the summer going into his junior year.

Aiden Smith, RHP/OF, Shelbyville HS (IN), 2026
Uncommitted. Extremely impressive tournament for third ranked player in the state of Indiana. He had all the tools on display this week with barrels to all parts of the field. Tall, quick, athletic 6-foot-3, 170-pound frame with speed on the base paths. Generates tons of carry and backspin on fly-balls that seemed to just miss the fence. Had multiple triples in one game and then another triple in Wednesday’s morning game. Loose hands held high in the box, closer stance but widens and chops down with two-strikes. Always seemed to find his way on base with aggressive approaches early in the count. High follow.

Drew Abney, C/3B, Pope HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Two quality barrels on Thursday morning where Drew showcased his ability to work deep into counts, and then find a barrel with two strikes. He had one of the loudest rounds of batting practice at Top Prospect Games, and he continues to flash the hit tool. High IQ in the box makes for a strong presence in the 2-spot with tons of pull-side power. Strong and physical lower half, with an accurate feel for the barrel. Continues to be dominant behind the dish with good arm strength, blocks it up, and has fluent movement throughout his stance.

Dyllon Pratt, SS, Shawsheen Valley VOC Tech (MA), 2025
Uncommitted. Interesting look at Pratt on Thursday morning, good first impressions as he barreled up two line-drives to center field, one that drove in a pair of runs and another that got robbed by the center-fielder. Has a simple yet powerful swing, aggressive approach with opposite field power in his arsenal. Typical SS build, with long legs. Athletic 6-foot-2, 175 pound frame, has good bounce and good range at SS with quick hands and feet.

Michael Heath, RHP/OF, Brookwood HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Impressive look on Thursday morning. Had a tremendous day at the plate, had two good barrels, and drove in 3-runs. The first hit was 91.4 mph off the bat, and drove into CF that scored a pair, where he advanced on the relay throw to home. The second hit drove in what was at the time the game tying run into RF off a breaking ball up in the zone. Tall, lean, athletic 6-foot-1, 170 pound frame. Heath came out for a save opportunity where he struck out two batters and had the third hitter with two strikes before a miscue on a pass-ball. FB ran up to 86 and sat around 84 (~2200 RPM) and a SL in the lower 70’s.

Winston Pennant, OF, Jule F Sumner HS (FL), 2026
Uncommitted. Extremely impressive look Friday afternoon. Final statline: 2-for-3 w/ 2-RBI’s, 1-HR, 1-1B and scored 2 runs. Had an aggressive approach ahead in the count, and every swing was disciplined with balance throughout. Swing shows an all-fields approach and invites the inside FB with ferocious power. Tall, strong lower-half, has loads of confidence in the box. Bats in the 3-hole, and made a strong presence in a line-up stacked with talent. Looking to crack the top-100 players in the state of Florida. High follow.

Alex Espinoza, IF/C, Grayson HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Exciting morning at the plate on Friday with two solid knocks, one up the middle to lead off the game and the other deep to left-center field for a hustle triple. Smooth infielder, has the ability to play at any position, shines at SS and 3B. Bouncy, light on his feet, soft-hands with present arm strength makes for a quality MIF. Can hit anywhere in the lineup, has accuracy and a present feel for the barrel. Consistently finds a way to get on base. Battles well with two-strikes and makes good adjustments to the off-speed. Continues to make good impressions, high follow for the summer.

Andre Sweet, OF/SS, Cherokee HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Quick first impressions Saturday morning in the lead-off spot. Finished the game with two hits, a triple and a single; hard contact from both as they were peppered into the opposite field for line-drives. Very smooth movements in the box, slide-step load, with some hand movement to initiate his swing. Maintains good momentum in his lower-half, with a quick trigger. Impressive speed(+) on the base paths, had two stolen bases and then proceeded to tag and score off a very shallow pop-fly in center-field. Aggressive on the base paths and at the plate.

Preston Dean, C/OF, Lassiter HS, 2025
Uncommitted. Intriguing glance on Sunday afternoon, had talent in the field and at the plate. Has good speed, legged out an infield single to SS and then rifled a ball up the middle into center-field. Simple, short swing that produces hard contact. Made a good adjustment with two-strikes, got wider, and almost had zero load, as he dropped the barrel on the ball. A wall behind the dish with fluid movements throughout his stance. With runners on he never dropped to a knee, always stayed in a secondary position, ready to attack. Not afraid to pop-up and let it fly when runners get too far off.

Juan Luis Rivera Jr, C, Divine Savior Academy (FL), 2026
Uncommitted. On Sunday Rivera absolutely obliterated a ball that left the yard at 96 exit velocity and went 389 feet. Very smooth swing with a ton of power generated from the strong lower half, a lot of bat speed and he does a great job keeping the barrel through the zone for a long time. Rivera is a great leader behind the plate that playes with passion, urgency, and a cannon of an arm. Also has MLB bloodlines through his father Juan Rivera. Great name to look out for in the class of 2026.

Tate Troxell, RHP/3B, Guerin Catholic (IN), 2026
Alabama Commit. What a day on Tuesday for the 6’4 200 Crimson Tide recruit who smoked the ball all week. In his first at bat he deposited a breaking ball over the left field wall. In his second game of the day, he absolutely destroyed a fastball deep to right field that hit high off the wall and left the bat at 97.3 exit velocity. Troxell has a huge frame with immense power to all parts of the field. Loves to let that ball get deep and use his strong hands to send it to the outfield or even over the wall. Will be a great player at the next level and for years to come.

Brody Bumila, LHP/1B, Bishop Feehan (MA), 2026
Uncommitted. On Sunday the lefty Bumila took the mound and threw 2 innings with 5 strikeouts. It was a healthy dose of fastballs in his outing as the fastball sat anywhere from 90-95 and topped 96 on occasion. With his changeup sitting right around 76. Very imposing frame on the mound at 6’8 220 that likes to attack hitters consistently. Also a loose arm action and low 3 ⁄ 4 arm angle slot that is very hard for hitters to deal with, especially from the left side. Very interesting name to keep on eye on as he continues to develop and get stronger.

Colby Tadder, C/OF, Lawton Chiles (FL), 2026
Uncommitted. Absolute dawg behind the plate that has a ton of power to all parts of the field. In his first game on Thursday he turned on a fastball and sent a rocket into the LCF gap that left the bat at 95 exit velocity. Gets the hands and barrel through the zone very well and squares balls up consistently. Tadder playes the game the right way with a lot of passion, takes pride in being a leader. Sub 2 pop time.

Matt Strahan, 2B/OF, Col. Zadok Magruder (MD), 2026
Uncommitted. Swings the bat with a ton of confidence and has elite tools to be a great player at the next level. On Sunday afternoon Strahan launched a ball deep to left that went 365 feet and left the bat at 95 exit velocity. Fast twitchy athlete that creates great separation with the ability to pull the baseball or go backside. One of the top players in the state of Maryland that will continue to get better as he continues to develop.

George Ferguson, RHP, Abilene HS (TX), 2027
Uncommitted 6 foot 4 210 pound RHP out of Texas showed complete domination on the mound this weekend at the 16U National Championship for USA Prime. Ferguson overpowered hitters with his FB, while also throwing them off throwing a really good BB. Fastball at times had SNK and others had some ride to them, but showed good feel and lived up in the zone. Lived outer half with his BB and created some ugly swings with it. Size is already there, Ferguson will be a N2K in the upcoming years. FB 89-91 T93, CB 71-74.

Kyler Meccage, LHP/OF, IMG Academy (FL) 2027
Uncommitted 6 foot 2 170 pound LHP/OF from Florida put on a showcase this week at the 16U National Championship. Meccage is a 2 way prospect that showed a high ceiling at both sides of the field. Meccage has a simple swing and showed advanced ability to drive the ball with power to the opposite side of the field. A lot of room to add on the frame that will only add power in the future. The part of his game that intrigued me the most was his pitching. Not a typical lefty with good ASR, instead Meccage lived inside, testing the hands of hitters with a high spin FB 2500+ with 19+IVB creating ride that induced plenty of whiffs. Meccage also sprinkled in a sharp sweeper pitch. FB 86-88 T89.

Joseph Soto, LHP/OF, Brookwood HS, 2026
Joseph “Joe” Soto continues to get better each outing we get to see from him. From watching him at the beginning of the spring living 80-82 to now sitting 84-86 the hard work is really showing. Soto came out of the pen for Devine Baseball and showed lights out stuff working his sinking FB to both sides of the plate and dropping in a really deceiving change up. Soto showed good feel for the CB dropping it in backwards counts as well. Really looking forward to seeing soto continue to grow this upcoming fall and spring.

Jayson Parker, RHP/1B, Lincoln HS (FL), 2027
Uncommitted. Parker came in for a relief appearance for Florida Pokers and the upcoming sophomore flashed some electric stuff. Sat 86-88 MPH with the FB and touched 89 a couple times. Very live arm and a huge physical presence on the mound and at the plate at 6’4” 200 lbs. He generated a lot of whiffs in his short outing and commanded the zone well. Velocity will continue to rise as he gets stronger with age, making him a very good follow.

Evan Moody, OF, Carrollton HS, 2026
Uncommitted. Moody is a twitchy, strong, athletic bat that produced at a high level all week. He showed his good hit tool early in the week during pool play with several loud barrels to the opposite field, one of them being a backside bases clearing double for USA Scout. His high bat speed and good wheels makes him a constant threat at the plate, on the bases, and in the outfield. Moody already has an athletic frame at 6’0” 200 lbs, but could continue to get stronger and produce even higher exit velocities as he gets stronger. A lot of tools to like from the uncommitted upcoming junior.

Jaylen Crocker, C, American Christian Academy (AL), 2026
Uncommitted. Crocker put his power on display during pool play for Excel Blue Wave with a towering, no doubt home run at 95 MPH. Very strong lower half paired with a good feel for the barrel makes him a dangerous hitter, and a threat to go deep at all times. Big, but athletic build at 6’2” 188 lbs with room to fill out and add more power to his swing. Behind the plate, Crocker is very polished, receiving pitches very comfortably and controls the game well. His raw power, great hit tool, and proven defensive ability makes him an exciting follow.