Austin
Ellis

2021-2022 PBR Future Games alum

Austin has been away for the summer playing out of New Jersey and playing along the east coast with a talented travel ball club, and we were able to reunite for the Future Games at LakePoint. One thing Austin continues to do is hit and drive the baseball and take quality AB's. During the game action, Ellis drove a 1st AB FB off the CF wall for a stand up 2B to get his game action underway. He continued to find the barrel in another couple of AB's. His 95 mph exit velo was a good start to his day in the workout faze, although he didn't find his rhythm throughout the BP portion, but more than made up for it in the game action later in the afternoon. Look for a breakout year for Ellis at Mountain Ridge HS in 2023.  

A returning Future Games player from 2021. Ellis played for the ‘24 Artillery out of NJ this summer and spent the summer away from home, so being home sick at the next level is not a problem. He had a great summer with the bat and caught well in Atlanta with many blocks in front and smothered balls, in keeping runners anchored at the bag. A solid receiver that sticks pitches and works underneath the ball to get the low K. With a 2.01-2.08 pop time, Ellis can improve this mark, with getting healthy, as he has been troubled by some tenderness in his arm, while gutting it out and playing through some nagging injs. A gamer that plays hard and really works his tail off behind the dish, while providing leadership and a mature team like approach to the game, Austin is a solid teammate that always has a smile on his face and has a powerful LD approach in squaring the baseball up and extending AB’s through a tough mindset to foul balls off and stay alive. The bat head stays in the zone and gives himself room to barrel balls on a line in all directions. Can chase the FB up at times, but makes adjs and once he does chase, he gets locked back down in the zone and gives a good AB. With health and a full HS season under his belt, Austin should take that next step into a solid backdrop at the next level for the right school, looking for the abilities and intangibles mentioned above. 

A Future Games participant, Ellis caught 2 games in LakePoint and received and worked well with pitchers. Ellis showed a flexible style of catching, in getting spread out with his legs and with his rear knee high to move well laterally and frame balls, and also being in position to drop to block and smother balls. Had to block an array of pitches as pitchers had a hard time gripping the ball with the sweat and humidity. Austin threw well in the workout phase with a number of balls carrying the bag and was online with his throws. A quick short bat path with a two hand finish, that produced deep gap power and the ball jumped off his bat. He’s gonna be a good one as he continues to mature and grow in the game over the next 3 years. Has an engaging personality and interacts with his coaches and teammates very well. 

Another young player that I like in November at our Fall Prospect ID and invited to the Preseason All-State event and didn’t disappoint, as he improved his hitting metrics across the board, while showing the same slightly uphill approach and path to the baseball, that will lend itself to hit and hit for power throughout his HS career and into college. The EV of 87, improved to 90 this go around, and his max distance from 303 to 330. Still young and raw behind the dish, but has tremendous potential with the bat and also just came out of the gym basically with limited time to get ready, as he was a contributing member of the 6A State Championship Hockey Team last week. Look forward to following Austin and his HS career moving forward.

Ellis is  a young good looking RHH catcher that has yet to take a HS at bat, and it will be fun to watch his development over the next four years. Ellis moved to northern Utah at the age of 12 from Texas and started playing for various Mountain West Baseball teams. This past fall, Austin was a stalwart for the national power USA Prime Baseball. Austin’s bat is the carrying tool right now, and all you need to do is watch him take BP and see the mechanics of the stroke to see that the base is there to build off, plus he’s performed at a young age with an elite group of players in Texas. Austin recently represented the state of Utah at the Power Showcase in FL. With a class 2nd best exit velo of 87.4 MPH, Ellis shows an even props square stance from a semi squat position, Ellis features a knee lift and maintains balance over his back side, then coils into his load with a solid 45 at launch, while stepping to stride and gets a good stretch/separation, which allows for leverage. He takes a short direct path through the baseball with length in front and whips the bat into a one hand high finish. The defense is adequate, but for a 14 yr old kid, we have time to improve and strengthen that part of the game, but make no mistake, he can hit!