By Chris Fuller and Mike Clark

As we continue our in depth look and player write-ups from the Pre-Season All State Showcase, today we take a look at the outfielders as some very good performances were turned in.  The top performance belonged to 2014 Tates Creek OF Luke Rouse.  The left-handed hitting outfielder was solid in all areas, running a 7.07 sixty, 82 mph arm strength, and 87 mph tee exit velocity.  He showed an advanced approach at the plate, spraying line drives all over the field.  Other 2014 prospects that showed well included Griffin Neuer, Jared Proctor, and Chase Patton.

A couple of sophomores turned in good performances and established themselves as prospects to watch in the class of 2015.  Zach Hurley showed he has the skills to be a high-level prospect, running a 6.82 sixty with 88 mph arm strength, and 89 mph tee exit velocity.  With some improvement in his swing, Hurley has the potential to be a two-way prospect as he had an impressive bullpen session as well.  Ben Morin ran a 7.08 sixty and showed solid bat speed with an 85 mph tee exit velocity.  With added arm strength, Morin is certainly a prospect to watch in the 2015 class.

Let’s get to the details.

Top 2014 Outfielders

1. Luke Rouse, OF, Tates Creek HS, Class of 2014
5-foot-10, 160-pound, athletic, left-handed hitting  prospect, good outfield actions, plays through the ball, clean exchange, 82 mph arm strength.  At the plate, starts with an athletic stance, hands are high and stay high throughout the slight leg kick.  Has a nice rhythm that allows him to use a short quick swing path to the ball.  Has a line drive swing plane, hits to all fields, uses weight transfer, good lower half torque and stiff front side, shows an advanced approach at the plate, ran 7.07 60 yard dash, showed good bat speed with 87 mph tee exit velocity, a high-level 2014 prospect.

2. Griffin Neuer, OF/RHP, Lexington Catholic HS, Class of 2014
6-foot-1, 160-pound, left-handed hitting prospect with projectable frame, slow exchange, 80 mph arm strength from outfield.  At the plate, starts in a shoulder width stance with stiff legs, uses a slight leg kick trigger, tends to arm bar in load, gets lower half involved in swing creating some bat speed through the zone, runs well with a 6.89 60 yard dash, showed good bat speed with 88 mph tee exit velocity.

3. Jared Proctor, LHP/OF, Nelson County HS, Class of 2014
5-foot-10, 150-pound, left-handed hitting prospect, shows athletic outfield actions, slow exchange, good arm strength at 84 mph.  At the plate, starts in a balanced stance, front leg moves back in load prior to stride, takes an aggressive stride to the pitch, has an arm bar but is able to square it up at contact.   Gets good torque in the lower half and transfers weight through the swing, uses a stiff front side to drive through the ball, ran 7.01 60 yard dash.

Chase Patton, LHP/1B/OF, Bullitt East HS, Class of 2014
6-foot, 185-pound, left-handed hitting prospect, solid build, athletic outfield actions, plays through the ball, 80 mph arm strength.  At the plate, hits from open stance, squares frontside, starts with hands close to body, drops hands below back shoulder at load but is able to get above the ball in a short quick path.  Has a line drive swing with good weight transfer throughout and good extension through contact, registered 86 mph tee exit velocity.

Top 2015 Outfielders

1. Zach Hurley, OF/RHP, North Laurel HS, Class of 2015
5-foot-11, 170-pound prospect with athletic build, shows athletic actions, very good arm strength at 88 mph from the outfield.  At the plate, uses an open stance, squares frontside, bars arm in load which causes him to extend arms behind the plate at times, uses  lower half to generate some torque, transferred weight during the swing and did get inside some of the pitches to get to extension, runs well with a 6.82 60 yard dash, generated 89 mph tee exit velocity.  His impressive bullpen session was featured in an earlier article.  Hurley is a potential high-level 2015 prospect.

2. Ben Morin, OF, Madison Central HS, Class of 2015
6-foot, 160-pound prospect,  athletic build, good outfield actions, plays through the ball, clean exchange, long arm action, 76 mph arm strength.  At the plate uses a narrow stance with a slight crouch.  His hands start below the shoulder and load to shoulder level,  keeps hands inside the ball allowing him to be short and quick to the ball, gets some lower half torque in swing, high hand finish, solid round showing the ability to square up the baseball consistently, ran 7.08 60 yard dash, 85 mph tee exit velocity, good 2015 prospect.

3. Logan Banks, OF, Lexington Catholic HS, Class of 2015
5-foot-11, 165-pound prospect, clean exchange in outfield, 78 mph arm strength.  At the plate, starts in a tall athletic stance, short stide and quick swing path to the ball, uses good lower half torque to generate bat speed and a line drive swing plane, ran 7.20 60 yard dash, 83 mph tee exit velocity, solid 2015 prospect.

4. Kendrick Cruise, OF/RHP, Tates Creek HS, Class of 2015
6-foot-3, 175-pound prospect with very good projectability, can play through the ball more, needs to refine huge crowhop, arm strength at 75 mph should continue to improve.   At the plate, took an impressive round of BP, wide base, short stride, smooth load, consistently squares up the baseball, solid approach at the plate, ran 7.43 60 yard dash, projectable 2015 prospect.

Best of the rest (Alphabetical Order)

Kevin Campbell, OF, Central HS, Class of 2013
5-foot-9, 150-pound prospect, long arm action, 76 mph arm strength from outfield.  At the plate, starts in an athletic shoulder width stance, short stride, no load, has an arm bar and gets backside through the ball with a back leg coming off the ground at contact, gets extension with a slight front bent knee, Rn 7.30 60 yard dash.

Anthony Ethington, RHP/OF, Lexington Catholic HS, Class of 2015
6-foot-1, 157-pound prospect with lanky build, projectable frame with room to fill out, long arm action from the outfield, clean exchange, shows some arm strength at 80 mph.  At the plate, starts out at the plate in a narrow stance slightly crouched with an open front side.  He uses a slight leg lift trigger with hands at shoulder level, bat wrapped,  front foot lands open causing his front side to open early and a loss of lower half torque, hands drop below shoulder level and arm bars causing extension to happen behind the plate and bat to drag through the zone, swing will improve with added physical strength.

Jacob Keeton, OF, Whitfield Academy, Class of 2013
5-foot-10, 155-pound prospect, short arm action, 74 mph arm strength from outfield.  At the plate, uses an athletic setup and toe raise to get loaded up on the back leg.  His hands start up and back but drop after front arm bars, gets good extension with a slight uphill swing plane.  The head stays behind the swing and still throughout the swing, ran 7.26 60 yard dash.

Brandon Lawlor, OF, Scott County HS, Class of 2015
6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect, projectable frame, long arm action from ¾ slot from outfield, ball has some tail, 77 mph arm strength, At the plate, uses a good lower half base and hand position to start his swing, arm bars in load,  has some lower half turn with a slight backward lean at contact, ran 7.36 60 yard dash, 82 mph tee exit velocity.

Otis Leverette, OF, Central HS, Class of 2013
5-foot9, 167-pound prospect, athletic build, slow exchange, throws registered 66 mph from outfield.  At the plate, starts with a wider stance, his back foot faces back towards the catcher, his first move is his front foot picking up and stepping into the bucket.  His hands drop and arm bars as swing begins.  Has a short swing path and is able to keep swing level with some backside turn, ran 7.11 60 yard dash.

Nolan May, RHP/OF, Trinity HS, Class of 2014
5-foot-11, 170-pound prospect, medium arm action, 79 mph arm strength from outfield.  At the plate, uses an athletic base, short stride, he uses his lower body well to get good turn and weight transfer into the swing.  He has a slight uphill bat path with good extension and high hand finish, ran 7.26 60 yard dash, 82 mph tee exit velocity.

Patrick Merkel, OF, Tates Creek HS, Class of 2014
5-foot-9, 155-pound prospect, short arm action from outfield, 70 mph arm strength, At the plate, starts with hands up and back leaning slightly back weight on back leg.  Uses a toe tap to load as hands move back.  He gets quick to the ball and uses good turn on the backside while extending through a stiff front leg keeping his head over the back knee at contact, 76 mph tee exit velocity

Dillan O’Daniel, LHP/OF, Bardstown HS, Class of 2013
5-foot-10, 165-pound, left-handed hitting prospect, average build, long arm action, 80 mph arm strength from outfield.  At the plate, starts with an open stance,  squares frontside and gets foot down early, has slight arm bar.  He gets to the ball with a balanced attack and uses lower half to drive to the ball with a stiff front side that keeps him behind the ball, ran 7.40 60 yard dash, 80 mph tee exit velocity.

Andrew Patterson, OF, Whitfield Academy, Class of 2015
6-foot, 160-pound prospect, room to fill in on frame, plays through the ball, good arm strength at 84 mph.  At the plate, starts with a balanced stance, hands back and a short stride.  He lands with his front foot slightly open causing for loss of lower half torque.  He bars the front arm and drops hands but gets squared up with quick hands.  He has a good backside turn and stiff front side letting him transfer his weight though the swing.