Prep Baseball Report

Top Prospect Games: Middle Infield Analysis (2016 Grads)



By Sammy Serrano
Director of Scouting

On the weekend of November 8 and 9, Prep Baseball Report hosted the 2014 Top Prospect Games at Davenport Field on the campus of the University of Virginia for members of the 2016 and 2017 classes. Over 65 players participated, with some of the best talent from all corners of the Commonwealth showing off their ability on the field over the weekend. Here is our analysis of the Middle Infielders. (Listed Alphabetically)

Alex Amos, SS, Millbrook, 2016

Amos is 5-foot-10, 165 pound two-way threat. At the plate, hits from a balanced athletic stance with high hands. Has a smooth load back and a leg kick.  Explosive lower half, with quick hands, short swing, and gets extensions. Leverage in swing, creates backspin, drives ball. Has an exit velocity of 90 mph off of the tee. In the field, has good feet, soft hands, and a slightly above average arm with 83 mph position and velocity. Smooth actions, plays through the baseball and has clean exchanges.

John Callahan, SS, Stone Bridge, 2016
Callahan is 6-foot-1, 175 pound, and hits from a in athletic balanced stance.  Starts with high hands, smooth load back, quiet rhythm, stays back behind the baseball. Short stride and explosive lower half. Has strong hands with outstanding bat speed. Recorded and exit velocity of 88 mph off of the tee. In the field, Callahan is athletic and a plus defender at SS.  Has soft hands, quick feet, and above-average arm with an 85 mph position velocity. Had clean exchanges that were quick and accurate. Has the ability to range left/right and utilize arm strength to make plays.

E’lan Goodwin, SS, Battlefield, 2016
Goodwin is a 6-foot-1, 165 pound, athlete that hits from a vertical, slightly open stance, with low hands. At times, his stride length caused him to collapse on the backside making his swing uphill. On swings where he kept his balance and stride length, he was able to take his hands directly through the ball creating a line drive stroke that was gap-to-gap. At Shortstop, Goodwin showed the ability to have soft hands. He also showed the ability to utilize his feet to create proper angles.  In the Outfield, Goodwin utilized his athleticism to get good jumps, take good routes, and make some outstanding plays on the weekend.

Pete Nielsen, SS, Madison, 2016

Nielsen is a 6-foot-2, 185 pound, switch-hitting Shortstop. At the plate, from the left side, hits from a balance stance that is slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Slight rhythm, quick load back, with a classic left handed stroke. Stays behind the baseball and utilizes his backside.  From the right side, sets up in a more vertical stance with slightly bent knees. Smooth load back, line drive approach, good extension. Doesn't engage backside entirely. Had an exit velocity of 87 mph from the left side and 90 mph from the right side off of the tee. In the field, Nielsen had smooth actions, above-average hands, a quick release, plus range, and the ability to stay athletic with his size.  Showed quickness and accuracy on all throws, with the ability to utilize arm strength when needed.

Patrick Ryan, SS, Bishop O’Connell, 2016
Ryan is a 6-foot-1, 170 pound, athletic Shortstop that hits from a slightly wider stance.  Sets up with high hands, slight bat rap, slight cast, created backspin, had leverage.  Smooth load back but did not engage the lower half. Had an exit velocity of 82 mph off of the tee. In the field, showed soft hands, good footwork, quickness in transition, and an average arm. Had a positional velocity of 79 mph.

Fox Semones, SS, C.D. Hylton, 2016
Semones is a 5-foot-11, 155 pound, two-way threat that hits from an athletic/balanced stance. Has a quiet rhythm, small load back, short stride, and utilizes his backside well.  Good line drive approach that stays in the middle of the field. Had an exit velocity of 85 mph off of the tee.  In the field, has average hands, good feet, athleticism, tendency to wait on the ball.  Throws were quick and accurate. Had a clean transfer.  Had a positional velocity of 74 mph.

Marty Tolson, SS, Hanover, 2016

Tolson is 5-foot-10, 170 pound, Shortstop that hit from a balanced stance. Set up with high hands, quiet rhythm, smooth load to the backside.  Had a nice line drive stroke, with quick hands, and good extension. Created leverage and backspin. Had an exit velocity of 84 mph off of the tee. In the field, showed some athleticism, with average hands and average feet. Moved laterally better to the glove side. Sat back on the baseball and showed average arm strength.

Jimmy Ziemke, SS, Great Bridge, 2016
Ziemke is 5-foot-10, 155 pound, Shortstop that hits from a athletic/balanced stance. Good rhythm, smooth load, slight arm bar, direct path to the ball, widens out his stance on occasion.  Line drive approach was a good backspin. Had an exit velocity of 80 mph off of the tee. In the field, Ziemke was a solid defender. Had above-average hands, average fee, instinctual fielder, created good angles. Had an easy/smooth transfer and his throws were quick and accurate. Had a positional velocity of 79 mph.

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