Prep Baseball Report

2016 Season Preview: Glen Allen Jaguars



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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

As we enter February, the high school season is quickly approaching. As the month progresses and February turns into March, we will take a look at high school programs throughout our coverage area as they prepare for the 2016 season.
 

Covenant School

Team: Glen Allen
Nickname: Jaguars
Class: 5A South
Conference: 11
Coach: Dave Savino
Twitter: @GAHSBaseball
2015 Record: 23-3
2015 Post Season: 4A State Champions and South Region Champions
Returning Starters/Position: 4
Returning Pitchers: 1

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kyle Battle (OF, 2016, Old Dominion)
Battle was named to the First Team All-State in 2015 and grew into his power as the season progressed. He has a good power/speed combination and is your prototypical three hitter who is also a very good defender in centerfield. He is currently ranked 46th in the VA/DC Class of 2016 Rankings.
Adam Collins (MIF, 2016, Norfolk State) Collins was also named to the First Team All-State in 2015 and is an athletic middle infielder who works gap to gap with doubles power. He is currently ranked 92nd in the Class of 2016.
Holden Davis (RHP/IF, 2016) Davis was the winning pitcher in the 2015 4A State Championship game and his fastball ran 82-84 that day and he showed a good, tight slider. At the plate, Davis also offers gap power.
Connor Dopp (SS/RHP, 2017) Dopp is an athletic defender at shortstop with a good arm and good actions. He has a short swing and sprays the field with line drives. He can jump up on the mound and have the arm strength to be effective. Dopp is currently ranked 38th in the VA/DC Class of 2017 Rankings.
Connor Hicks (C, 2018)
Ryan Skadra (1B/LHP, 2017)


SEASON OUTLOOK
Glen Allen was one of the best teams in our coverage area in 2015 and captured the 4A South Region and 4A State Championships. The Jaguars finished the season ranked second in the PBR VA/DC Power 25. The 2016 Jaguars will be unable to defend their 4A Championship as they have been impacted by reclassification and will slide up to 5A this spring. The Jaguars will have a very strong defense with Dopp and Collins manning the middle infield and Battle roaming in center. Those three and Davis will form the core of another potentially strong Glen Allen offense. Glen Allen will be impacted by graduation on the mound as they will lose a trio of lefties, Patrick Hall (Virginia Tech), Eric Neiman (VCU), and Austin Slough (Christopher Newport). Davis stepped up in a big way during the 2015 State Tournament and will need to do so again this spring to replace the innings that were lost to graduation. Davis will not be able to carry the load on his own and will need help from Hunter Cochrane (RHP, 2017) and some of the Jaguars’ younger arms for the team to be successful in 2016. The Jaguars have a very talented core and good team chemistry and will be a team that should compete for its second straight State Championship this spring as it moves into Group 5A.

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