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By Jordan Chiero and Dylan Hefflinger
Ohio Director of Scouting / Editor in Chief/Scout 

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Ohio Insider: Updated Class of 2017 Player Rankings (March)

As the winter showcase season comes to a close and the spring high school baseball season moves closer, we at PBR Ohio would like to take a look at the Class of 2017 Player Rankings.

Our staff evaluated talent all across the Buckeye state during the winter season and we have had the pleasure of seeing a number of solid players, both in the fall and winter. Prospects are popping up left and right, making velocity jumps, improving 60-yard dash times and showing more power with the bat.

With that being said, we will look into “What’s New At The Top”, some “Rising Prospects”, "The Newcomers" and take a look at some of the top uncommitted prospects.

What's New At The Top

The three biggest moves in the Top 30 were left-handers Clayton Cooper (Edison, pictured right), Colin Clark (Logan Elm), and Logan Sabo (Moeller).

Cooper, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound prospect moved from outside the top 30 up to the 15th spot after his performance at the Northern Preseason Preview. Clayton showed a velocity jump that had his fastball sitting 84-87 mph and was complimented by a sharp, 70-71 mph curveball.

Clark, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound prospect is making his first appearance in the rankings, climbing all the way to the 16th spot after a very impressive performance at our Stark Summit Showcase. Clark sat 82-84 mph with obvious athleticism and very loose arm. Clark also showed feel for his curveball and changeup, both having late life.

Sabo jumped from outside the top 150 to the 24th spot with his performance at the Cincinnati Preseason Preview where he showed an impressive three-pitch mix. The 6-foot, 170-pound southpaw from the Cincinnati area sat 83-85 mph with a sharp 1/7 curveball with good depth. Logan also flashed a solid changeup that he was able to keep down in the zone with some fade to it.

The Risers

Along with Cooper and Sabo, many players made jumps in the rankings. Typically, this is the time players begin to show the results from hard work in the offseason as well as additional maturation.

Manchester RHP Dalton Earich (pictured right) moved  from the 51st spot to the 33rd spot after an impressive winter. Earich has a projectable build at 6-foot-2, 175-pounds with advanced movement and pitchability for his age. Dalton showed command of his offspeed to go along with the most movement we saw on a fastball all winter.

Columbus Area RHP Josh Stover (pictured right) made a move from outside the top 60 to the 34th spot with several strong performances over the winter. A two-way prospect that sat mid-80s with his fastball, running up to 88 mph with sharp offspeed. Also showed athleticism in the infield and the ability to handle the bat at the plate.

Chris Meyers, an infielder from Miamisburg made a huge jump from outside the top 125 to the 42nd spot after his performance at the Miami Valley Preseason Preview. Meyers showed up looking like a new man from when we last saw him. He has grown and put on solid weight to become an athletic, physical prospect at 6-foot-2, 180-pounds. Along with Chris looking more physical, he showed it translated to his game with dropping his 60-yard dash over a second to 6.96, throwing 87 mph across the diamond, and driving the ball with authority in batting practice.

THE NEWCOMERS

With many new players now on our radar, we added 85 players to the overall rankings. Along with Colin Clark, here are some of the notable newcomers:

Springfield Shawnee RHP Cade Rybolt (pictured right) may have made the biggest jump over the past year of anyone we saw. Last winter we saw Cade sit 74-76 mph. He showed up at our final event of the winter sitting 84-86 mph and running it up to 88 mph with a hard, sharp 77-78 mph slider.

Jacob Youngpeter (Delphos St. Johns) added to the already impressive, LHP pitching depth in the 2017 class with a solid showing at Cincinnati Preseason Preview. Jacob has good size at 6-foot-2, 175-pounds and slinging arm action that creates natural run on his 84-86 mph fastball and a big breaking slider that darts across the plate at 70-71 mph.

Another guy who came on to the scene with an impressive performance with a strong performance at the Cincinnati Preseason Preview was Dublin Jerome RHP/SS Sam Wilson (pictured right). A possible two-way prospect, Wilson sat 84-87 mph off the bump with a true 12/6 curveball at 71-74 mph. As a position player he has athletic actions with a confident glove in the infield and an advanced approach at the plate with the ability to use the whole field.

Other Newcomers that made their way into the Top 100:

38th- Cory Brooks, RHP, Hilliard Darby HS
54th- Zach Straley, RHP/SS, Lake HS
58th- Tyler Archambeau, C, Maumee HS
60th- Treyben Funderburg, RHP/UTIL, Beavercreek HS
64th- Jamaris Cook, LHP/OF, Elyria HS
72nd- Tyler Burley, 3B, Vandalia Butler HS
78th- Ryan Schwartz, OF/LHP, Northwestern HS
81st- Jacob Peters, IF/OF, Bloom Carroll
87th- Joey Holiga, OF, Centerville

TOP UNCOMMITTED PROSPECTS BY POSITION:

Still have needs for 2017?  Below we look to name the top two or three prospects in specific categories. Beyond the top three, there are numerous prospects that can help a collegiate program in some capacity.

+ Top Right-Handed Arms: Cade Rybolt, Caleb Canter, Dalton Earich
+ Top Left-Handed Arms: Clayton Cooper, Colin Clark, Matt Dockman
+ Top Two-Way Prospects: Justyn Eichbaum, Josh Stover, Sam Wilson
+ Top Catching Prospects: Bubba Arslanian (pictured right), Brandon DeHass, Tyler Archambeau
+ Top Corner Infield Prospects: Hunter Hughes, Nicholas Binnie, Tyler Burley
+ Top Middle Infield Prospects: Dillan Smith, Chris Meyers, Christian Orr
+ Top Outfield Prospects: Cade Pipoly, Collin Mathews, Bryce Borton
+ Sleeper Prospects (ranked in the 100's): Liam Cunningham (MIF, Gamer), Trent Harrell (1B/RHP, Two-way Prospect/Physicality), Ryan Jacobs (OF, Hitter), Vince Donato (1B, Athletic/Power Potential), Dauson Dales (OF/RHP, Athletic/Two-way Prospect), Jared Telecky (1B, Raw Power), Max Schreiber (RHP, Projectable Arm), Jacob Meyer (RHP/SS, Two-way Prospect/Athletic), and Braden Frederick (RHP/SS, Two-way Prospect/Athletic)

PBR OHIO CLASS OF 2017 TOP 285

RANK	NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POS	COMMITMENT
1	Tyler Brown	OH	Olentangy Orange	2017	RHP	Vanderbilt
2	Xavier Moore	OH	Lorain	2017	RHP	Ohio State
3	Luke Waddell	OH	Loveland	2017	SS	Georgia Tech
4	Seth Lonsway	OH	Celina	2017	LHP	Ohio State
5	Jake Ruby	OH	Bishop Hartley	2017	OF	Ohio State
6	Andrew Abrahamowicz	OH	Elyria Catholic	2017	RHP	Nebraska
7	Alex Theis	OH	New Riegel	2017	LHP	Ohio State
8	Brock Mathis	OH	Fairfield	2017	C	Louisville
9	Collin Romel	OH	Olmsted Falls	2017	LHP	Kent State
10	Michael Kirian	OH	New Riegel	2017	LHP	Louisville

***** To view the entire top 285, please click here.