Sean McCann
PBR Kansas Scouting Director

Recently, I attended an 18U fall select team event at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The weekend featured three Kansas City area teams: Building Champions, the KC Bullets and 3&2 Select in a six-team showcase tournament with teams from Iowa and Nebraska. As luck would have it, one of the first games I saw was a match-up of two top pitching prospects from Kansas: Zack Engelken and Isaiah Campbell.

Engelken, RHP, Blue Valley West HS, Class of 2014, is no stranger to Prep Baseball Report as he pitched in the Midwest Futures Games for Team Missouri last summer and is also the topic of a PBR Plus feature by Nathan Rode. On that Saturday, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound right-hander was outstanding in his 3 innings of work, surrendering only 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 4 against a very solid KC Bullets lineup. The Nebraska commit worked from a high ¾ slot with fastballs registering mostly in the 87-89 mph range, topping out at 91 – and even the 91 looked easy. His delivery is simple and efficient, especially for a big man, and his arm works. He flashed a hard, late-breaking curveball (76-78 mph) and advanced feel for a 77-80 mph change-up. He went about his business in a focused, workman-like manner - definitely a guy who knows what he is doing. After watching his 3 innings, it's safe to say that Engelken is this year's reminder that there must be something special in the water fountains in the halls of the Blue Valley schools as, once again, the state's top MLB draft pick is likely to be a tall right-hander from there.

Dale Reed's Bullets countered with the emerging 2015 RHP Isaiah Campbell (Olathe South HS). The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Campbell pitched 5 innings, giving up 1 hit, 2 walks while striking out 5. Campbell's fastball was mostly 86-87 mph, topping out at 89. He also featured a 76-77 breaker and 76-78 change-up. Throughout his 5 innings he displayed composure well beyond his years (he just recently turned 16). He has an advanced frame already and his body control for a kid that age/size is quite remarkable, allowing his powerful arm to deliver strike after strike.

Another Tale of Two Righties – Little Apple Version

Coach Hess of Manhattan HS has reason to be excited about his 2014 pitching staff, as the KC Bullets threw two very capable high school arms from Manhattan over the weekend. RHP Henry de Noble (Manhattan HS, 2014) features the prototypical pitching prospect build: 6-3, 185, wide-shouldered with long arms. A 2013 6A All-State First-Team Pitcher, de Noble's fastball was an easy 81-83 mph (85 tops) with a 74 mph breaking ball and what looked like a cutter type pitch. He threw a lot of strikes and will be a pitcher to follow as he develops throughout the fall and spring.

RHP/INF Jake Biller (Manhattan HS, 2014) is a sturdy 5-foot-9, 170-pound pitcher with a compact delivery that is built to throw strikes with the potential for high-level fastball command down the road. His fastball was 80-82 mph, topping out at 83. College coaches that value strikes and competitiveness (who doesn't?) will take note when he pitches. Biller also played 2B (2013 6A All-State 2B - 2nd Team) and flashed some leather in pre-game infield/outfield work as well as in the games. The solid arm strength and release point on the mound translated well for him in the infield making a number of strong accurate throws. Offensively, he has a high motor and switch hits - he worked the count and saw a lot of pitches, taking some walks and also flattening out some balls in the middle of the field. Very much an ideal leadoff or 2-hole type of player.

I noticed looking over the Bullets roster that de Noble and Biller are excellent students both with 3.90+ GPA's and 26 and 27 ACT scores, respectively. 

Next Stop, Gold's Gym

Jeremy Jones' Building Champions squad could quite possibly be the most physical 18U team I've seen. These guys clearly know their way around the weight room. Although most of their players were from Missouri high schools, they do have Engelken, plus two physical, strong-armed catching prospects from Kansas in Tanner Gragg (Blue Valley West HS, 2014) and Noah Croft (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, 2015).  Gragg is a durable, athletic 6-foot-1, 190-pound catcher that looks like he could easily handle catching a triple header. Even more impressive is his throwing arm – I will spare you the technical breakdown and just say the kid has an absolute hand-cannon. When the college coaches stop what they are doing just to watch you throw down to second base between innings, you know you have freakish arm strength. He also showed solid receiving skills and because he's catching at Blue Valley West HS, you know he has experience handling front-line arms. A year younger, Croft is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound beast that also displayed good arm strength and moved around well for a big catcher. Just beginning his junior year, he's definitely going to be an exciting player to follow the next two years.

Strikeout Festival

Clearly the story from the weekend was the right-handed pitchers, but one Kansas lefty put in his bid for pitching performance of the weekend: 2015 LHP/1B Jace Burdette (Maranatha Christian Academy). Burdette, pitching for 3&2 Select, struck out an impressive 6 batters in 3 innings of work vs. the Bases Loaded Academy Spiders from Iowa. Working mostly 77-80 with his fastball, topping out at 82, mixing in a 63-65 curveball in the strike zone and a 72-73 change-up. Definitely a 2015 to watch.

Burdette's coach, Bob Jones, has been running the JC Hornets and 3&2 teams since 1993 and over that time has sent hundreds of players on to the next level, but his love for the game hasn't missed a beat over the years – his passionate and animated coaching style is something to see, even at 8 am in the morning on a Saturday.

In addition to Burdette, 3&2 has a lot of athletic players from the KC area that need to be followed. One such player is 2014 SS/RHP Evan Brull (Bishop Ward HS), a 6-foot, 170-pound two-way talent. Brull is a three-sport athlete at Ward (also starting quarterback and basketball point guard). His athleticism translates to the diamond as he showed good, easy actions at SS in pre-game and in game action. He struggled a little on the mound but it's loose and he worked in the low 80s with his fastball despite clearly being tired from playing the field (and probably football workouts, etc.). At the plate, he takes an aggressive hack and squared up a few pitches in limited at bats.