Prep Baseball Report

Unsigned Senior Games: Corner Infield Analysis



By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The Unsigned Senior Games Event at Northern Kentucky University last weekend saw a solid group of corner infielders and some impressive performances.

Justin Warren continues to show improved arm strength and ripped 3 doubles in game action.

Nick Nonos continues to show solid hitting skills from the left side.  Nonos showed an advanced approach with an opposite field double and smoked a line drive up the middle that was caught in self-defense.  .

Jack Noftsger and Taylor Henley led the event with 94 mph tee exit velocities, and Noftsger showcased an 84 mph arm across the infield.

The following is a look at all of the corner infielders from the Unsigned Senior Games.

Top Performances

Justin Warren, 3B, R/R, Henry Clay HS, 2014
5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect with strong frame, shows soft hands and good corner infield actions, arm strength continues to improve at 77 mph, accurate arm.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, smooth load, short stride, hands show some quickness, good round of batting practice consistently barreling up the baseball, gap to gap approach with some pop, showed improved bat speed with 87 mph tee exit velocity (+4 mph), smoked 3 doubles in game play (2 to left-center, 1 down the left field line).

Nick Nonos, 1B, L/R, Ballard HS, 2014
5-foot-11, 200-pound, left-handed hitting prospect prospect, hands work okay, shows some athleticism, accurate arm at 74 mph.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, brings front foot back in load, aggressive approach, good use of strong lower half creates barrel whip through the zone, shows ability to hit to all fields with some pull power, consistently barrels up the baseball, went 1-for-3 in game play with an opposite field double off the top pitcher at the event (McHugh), and hit a rocket back to the mound that was caught in self defense, impressive left-handed hitter, ran 5.03 down the line, showed bat speed with 93 mph tee exit velocity (+ 6 mph from previous event).

Daulton Mason, 3B/RHP, R/R, Lewis County HS, 2014
6-foot, 190-pound prospect with strong build, shows average corner actions, accurate arm across the infield at 80 mph.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, shows some gap to gap approach, strong prospect shows good hand strength, good use of strong lower half generates bat speed through the zone, registered 91 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.81 down the line.  Mason went 2-for-3 in game play, smoking a double to the left-center gap and beating out an infield single to 3B, also pitches which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.

Alex Ralph, 3B, R/R, Bullitt East HS, 2014
6-foot-2, 200-pound prospect with strong/athletic build, shows good corner actions and lateral movement, good body control, arm plays well across the field at 81 mph, accurate arm.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, uses a leg kick trigger with aggressive stride, gap to gap approach with occasional pull power, flashed bat speed with 93 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.85 down the line, had sharp single to center field in game play with another well hit ball as well, good strength in swing with power potential.

Jack Noftsger, 3B, R/R, Lafayette HS, 2014
6-foot-3, 192-pound prospect with strong frame, hands work, good lateral movement, good arm strength at 84 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, starts with high hands and elbow with bat wrapped, uses a leg kick trigger, foot gets down late at times, long swing path, shows strength in swing and uses strong lower half, showed bat speed with 94 mph tee exit velocity, ran 5.00 down the line, went 1-for-3 in game play with a double to the right-center gap and 2 strikeouts.

Blake Rose, 3B, L/R, Tates Creek HS, 2014
5-foot-11,180-pound, left-handed hitting prospect, shows good lateral movement and soft hands, has a quick exchange with an accurate arm across the field at 73 mph.  At the plate, the left-handed hitter hits from an open setup, smooth load, good rhythm in swing, line drive hitter with some gap to gap pop, shows ability to use all fields, ran 4.50 down the line, registered 81 mph tee exit velocity, hit well in game play going 2-for-4, with an opposite field single, and line drive single to right, also hit a line-drive missle to 2B that was caught, shows good leadership skills on the field.

Cody Kalinowski, 1B/LHP, L/L, Lexington Christian Academy, 2014
6-foot-1, 180 pound prospect with athletic build, shows athletic feet and good hands, athletic first baseman, accurate arm at 78 mph.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, uses lower half well to generate bat speed through the zone, gap to gap approach with occasional pull power, flashed bat speed with 90 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.66 down the line, went 1-for-4 in game play with an infield single and smoked a ball to right field that was caught, solid hitting skills from the left side.

Hayden Ford, 1B/OF, R/R, St. Xavier HS, 2014
6-foot-3, 200 pound prospect, athletic build with good athleticism around the 1st base bag, soft hands, accurate arm at 75 mph, also plays outfield, plays through the ball well, online throws at 81 mph.  At the plate, hits from an open stance, squares front side with a short stride, has slight uphill path to the ball, uses lower half well, shows some gap to gap power, showed bat speed with 90 mph tee exit velocity (+2 from previous event), ran 4.48 down the line, went 2-for-3 in game play with single to left field and an infield single to the right side that he beat out.  Primary first baseman but athletic enough to play outfield as well.

Taylor Henley, 1B, R/L, Lexington Catholic HS, 2014
6-foot-5, 235-pound prospect, shows soft hands, accurate arm 79 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, short stride, good use of strong lower half generates bat speed, gap to gap approach with occasional pull side power, flashed bat speed with event best 94 mph tee exit velocity, ran 5.06 down the line, went 1-for-4 in game play with a hard single to left field, struck out 3 times mainly due to non-aggressive approach on this occasion but have seen much more aggressive approach from him previously, still like him as a hitter with power potential.

 

Black team

Jacob Long, RHP/3B, R/R, Mercer County HS, 2014
6-foot-1, 207-pound prospect, shows good corner actions, hands work, arm strength plays at 80 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open stance, short stride, good use of strong lower half, shows a pull approach at the plate, short path to the ball with some hand quickness, ran 4.97 down the line, showed bat speed with 88 mph tee exit velocity.  Long went 0-for-3 in game play that included a hard line drive out to left field, also pitches which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.

Ryan Hinkley, 3B, R/R, Glasgow HS, 2014
6-foot, 190-pound prospect with strong build, continues to improve arm strength from previous events, this time throws registered 75 mph (2 mph increase), hands work.  At the plate, hits from a wide base, no stride, quiet approach with a short path to the ball, good use of lower half, line drive type hitter, had good round of batting practice consistently barreling up the baseball, ran 5.03 down the line, registered 88 mph tee exit velocity (2 mph increase from previous event).

JJ Poole, 1B/RHP, R/R, Daviess County HS, 2014
6-foot-5, 220-pound prospect, shows some athleticism around the bag, accurate arm at 73 mph.  At the plate, hits from a wide base, no stride, high hands, squared up several pitches in batting practice with a gap to gap approach and occasional pull power, went 1-for-3 in game play with a sharp line drive single to center field, ran 5.07 down the line, flashed bat speed with 90 mph tee exit velocity (7 mph increase over previous event), also pitched which will be featured in pitcher write-ups.

white team

Joe Holliday, 3B/RHP, L/R, Logan County HS, 2014
6-foot-1, 176-pound, left-handed hitting prospect, shows average corner actions and hands, good lateral movement, has solid arm at 80 mph across the infield with carry.  At the plate, hits from slightly open setup, squares front side with a short stride, gets lower half involved in swing, line drive type hitter uses all fields, gets lower half involved in swing, flashed some bat speed with 86 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.53 down the line, went 0-for-4 in game play with 3 strikeouts, also pitched (featured in pitcher write-ups).

navy team

Jack Cress, 1B/RHP, R/R, Paul Laurence Dunbar HS, 2014
6-foot, 210-pound prospect, decent feet around the bag, shows soft hands, good arm strength at 82 mph.  At the  plate, hits from a wide base, no stride, hands show some quickness, short path to the ball, shows occasional pull power, squared up several pitches in batting practice, ran 5.19 down the line, showed bat speed with 89 mph tee exit velocity, went 1-for-5 in game lay with a hard single down the 3B line, aggressive approach at the plate, also pitches (featured in pitcher write-ups).

Jacob Yeager, 3B/RHP, R/R, Newport Central Catholic HS, 2014
5-foot-8, 165-pound prospect, shows average corner actions, some stiffness in movement, has a quick exchange with short arm action at 79 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, hands drop in load, foot gets down late at times, long swing path, ran 4.51 down the line, registered 79 mph tee exit velocity, went 1-for-5 in game play with a bloop single to right, also pitched (featured in pitcher write-ups).

Chase O’Connor, 3B, R/R, Gallatin County HS, 2014
6-foot, 170-pound prospect with athletic build, shows athletic corner actions, good lateral movement, arm plays at 80 mph with carry, made several nice plays in game action with strong/accurate throws from the line.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, squares front side with a short stride, showed better bat speed in batting practice and game play than exit velocity shows, ran 5.03 down the line, went 1-for-5 in game play with a hard single to left, showed a pull approach in game action.

Brad Mullins, RHP/1B, R/R, Little Miami (OH) HS, 2014
6-foot-5, 195-pound prospect with lanky build, shows average feet and hands, arm strength at 74 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a tall setup, short stride shows average bat speed with a long path to the ball, has a pull approach, ran 5.06 down the line, registered 79 mph tee exit velocity, went 0-for-4 with 2 K’s in game play, also pitches (featured in pitcher write-ups.

royal team

Jonathan Thrasher, 1B/RHP, R/R, Butler HS, 2014
6-foot-2, 225-pound prospect with strong lower half, moves well for big guy around the bag, arm at 76 mph across the infield, accurate arm.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, good lower half torque generates bat speed, showed bat speed with 89 mph tee exit velocity, good round of batting practice consistently squaring up the baseball with occasional pull power, ran 4.93 down the line, went 2-for-4 in game play with a hard single to right field and an infield single, also pitched (featured in pitcher write-ups.)

Chance Rogers, 3B, R/R, Bryan Station HS, 2014
6-foot, 160-pound prospect with average build, showed some improvement in feet and hands since previous event, slow exchange, improved arm strength at 75 mph (+3 mph from previous event).  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup, no stride, gets some lower half involved in swing, flat bat path, showed an increase in bat speed with 81 mph tee exit velocity (+6 mph), ran 4.94 down the line, went 2-for-4 in game play with a double to deep center and hard hit single off the pitcher’s leg, also had a SAC fly in game play.

Tyler Smith, 3B, R/R, Simon Kenton HS, 2014
5-foot-11, 200-pound prospect, fields ball deep, below average arm at 67 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from an open setup, smooth load, short stride, a lot of pre-pitch movement, gets some lower half involved in swing, registered 75 mph tee exit velocity, ran 4.75 down the line, went 2-for-4 in game play with single to left and bloop single to righ-center.