That is quite an impressive list of juniors. Can't wait to see the numbers that come out of this one. Too bad I have to work or I would head down to see it firsthand.

According to tweet from PBR...

 

Ryle 2016 RHP Jake Ziegelmeyer tied PBR Kentucky record for fastball velocity at 91 mph

 

Southwestern 2016 3B Trevor Howard set a new PBR Kentucky record with 102 mph exit velocity.

 

Wow! And it's pre-season...

According to tweet from PBR...

 

Ryle 2016 RHP Jake Ziegelmeyer tied PBR Kentucky record for fastball velocity at 91 mph

 

Southwestern 2016 3B Trevor Howard set a new PBR Kentucky record with 102 mph exit velocity.

 

Wow! And it's pre-season...

 

Boone's Jeff Purnell hit 87.

Raisor hit 85mph..

I am a bit skeptical, and have been, of PBR's exit velos. I was not there yesterday, but historically I have felt the #s were incorrect. I buy the pitching numbers, but the hitting ones are tough to buy

Curious why you would question the exit velos? When I took my nephew to one showcase they appeared to be using the same stalker radar gun for pitchers and exit velos. his exit velo also matched up with the testing he did at the facility he works out at.

Curious why you would question the exit velos? When I took my nephew to one showcase they appeared to be using the same stalker radar gun for pitchers and exit velos. his exit velo also matched up with the testing he did at the facility he works out at.

 

Just my eyes. I have been to other events and watched kids like Braden Combs and Zach Shannon hit, and they were in the low 90's. Was difficult to see the ball come off their bats. I very well could be wrong, but I watch these kids and IMO there is no comparison. Combs puts on the most impressive cage I've seen, and I saw on Twitter he is in the low 90s at his Midland workouts. At the one last winter I witnessed pop ups register high 90's, I am 100% sure that one was wrong.

Curious why you would question the exit velos? When I took my nephew to one showcase they appeared to be using the same stalker radar gun for pitchers and exit velos. his exit velo also matched up with the testing he did at the facility he works out at.

 

Sorry, guess i can't edit for some reason my response. My other reason for questioning is that I don't see the same #s coming from other states. I know we have great baseball here, but so do others. This is from the Ohio PBR showcase over the weekend of their top velos. Now, I honestly have not looked to see if the age groups were the same, but even if not Ky #s are consistently higher than others.

 

 

PBR Ohio ‏@PBR_Ohio 16m16 minutes ago

Top Exit Velos from 2/16:

@thebambatman 92

@FisherRiley25 92

@IanSwan62 91

@Baker_Cael12 91

@TheReal_VinnyV 90

@MattDavenport21 90

I think it depends on the event. I just went and checked Ohio's site out and they run way more events than KY. This was the big event for our state this winter and probably had most of the top players there is my guess so maybe that explains the higher numbers due to the talent being spread out at Ohio events? Who knows?

Cool little write-up that PBR did on Jake Ziegelmeyer:

 

Eight months can make a big difference in the development of a high school baseball player, case in point, Jake Ziegelmeyer.

 

We got our first look at Ziegelmeyer last June, at our Top Prospect Games event at Western Kentucky University. Below is a look at his scouting report on the mound from that event.

 

Scouting Report, June 17, 2014: On the mound, arm is loose and works well, works through a ¾ arm slot that produces some arm-side run and good sink to his fastball, fastball sat 82-83 mph, showed a 76-77 mph slider with short and late break, good command of both pitches and works both sides of the plate, allowed one hit and recorded four ground ball outs in the five hitters he faced in game action, more velocity likely to come, potential high-level prospect on the mound.

 

Ziegelmeyer impressed that day, and his upside was obvious. I anticipated to see more velocity to come from him, and it happened four months later at our Fall Prospect Games event at Bellarmine University. Below is a look at his scouting report from that event.

 

Scouting Report, October 19, 2014: 6-foot-3, 200-pound prospect with strong and athletic frame, arm is quick, up tempo delivery, works through a ¾ slot that produces hard arm-side run and late sink on his 84-86 mph that topped at 87, throws a 76-78 mph slider with late bite, changeup is thrown with good arm action at 79-80 mph and has good arm-side run and sink, throws strikes consistently with all pitches, worked two perfect innings with two strikeouts, sinking fastball produced four ground ball outs, has shown recent velocity gains with the potential for more, high-level prospect on the mound.

 

Fast forward to last Saturday and the Preseason All-State Showcase at Champions Baseball Academy in Nicholasville where Ziegelmeyer continued to show his development into one of the top arms in Kentucky’s 2016 class.

 

Ziegelmeyer’s fastball routinely sat 86-88, touching 91 mph on one occasion and continued to show the good arm-side run and sink he has shown since we first saw him. His 73-76 mph curveball showed sharp and late 11/5 action, and he also showed good command of his slider which sat 79-80 mph with late break. Ziegelmeyer complemented the breaking balls with good feel for his 78-80 mph changeup that showed good sinking action through the zone.

 

The 2016 RHP from Ryle HS had been drawing some Division I interest prior to his performance last Saturday, and it’s safe to say that will continue to pick up as we head towards spring.

That's good stuff. Should be interesting to see some of the pitching matchups this spring in NKY.

Sorry, guess i can't edit for some reason my response. My other reason for questioning is that I don't see the same #s coming from other states. I know we have great baseball here, but so do others. This is from the Ohio PBR showcase over the weekend of their top velos. Now, I honestly have not looked to see if the age groups were the same, but even if not Ky #s are consistently higher than others.

 

Curiosity was getting the best of me on this. PBR has an advanced search thing that you can search for players on different stats, etc. You can search by any category you want and change what number you want that search to begin at. So using that I did a search for players in all states who have had an exit velocity of 95 mph or better. It looks like this includes players back to the 2013 class. These numbers include the PBR states who were around back in 2013 and the number of players in each state who have had a 95 mph exit velocity or better since then.

 

Illinois-14

PA-11

KY-10

Wisconsin-9

OH-7

MI-7

IN-6

Nice PBR write-up on Trevor Howard:

 

By Chris Fuller

Kentucky Scouting Director

 

I’m 45 years old and haven’t pitched competitively for 20+ years, but one of the great things about baseball is that there are certain sights, sounds, and even smells that can take you directly back to a moment you had on the field so many years ago. I had one of those moments this past Saturday.

 

Before I ever even got to college, I had the good fortune (or misfortune) of pitching against some very good hitters, the most notable of which were Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mark Lewis. Of course, you would have to live under a rock to not know who Junior is. Lewis played at Hamilton High School located just north of Cincinnati and had a 10-year major league career after being the No. 2 overall pick in the 1988 MLB draft. I can distinctly remember the ball sounding different off their bats. As a 17-year old, Griffey hit the longest ball off me that I ever gave up.

 

This past Saturday, at our Preseason All-State Showcase, as I watched Southwestern 3B Trevor Howard take batting practice, I heard that familiar sound. Now I am in no way, shape, or form comparing Howard to Griffey or Lewis. To do so would be ridiculous. But what I am saying is the ball sounds differently coming off of Howard’s bat, and it was immediately noticeable. For a split second it took me back to that day as a 17-year-old.

 

At 6-foot-3, 215-pounds, Howard generates tremendous bat speed, and it translates to his power numbers on the field. The right-handed hitter clubbed 16 doubles and nine home runs for Southwestern High School as a sophomore last spring. He makes extremely loud contact, and the ball jumps off his bat with backspin carry. He is as legitimate a power hitter as I have seen in my 2 ½ years as Director of Scouting in Kentucky. Need proof of his ability to generate bat speed? Howard broke the PBR Kentucky record in recording a 102 mph exit velocity on Saturday.

 

Defensively, Howard shows the hands and arm strength to play the hot corner at the next level. His hands are soft, and his 86 mph arm across the infield is plenty for the positon. His 6-foot-3 frame allows him to play the other corner as well.

 

Look for big power numbers again from Howard this spring as Southwestern looks to return to the State Tournament out of a tough 12th region.

MAX COLE FAIRDALE HIGH SCHOOL CATCHER 1.88 POP Time

 

5-foot-7,146-pound prospect participated as a catcher and 3B at the event, showed good arm strength at 78 mph from the crouch with pop times that ranged from 1.88-2.00, good setup behind the plate, very good receiving skills, athletic behind the plate. As a 3B, showed soft hands with good lateral movement, uses short arm action with 79 mph arm strength across the infield. At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, hands are quick and uses lower half torque in swing, likes the ball middle-in with a pull approach, shows some pull-side power, ran 7.07 60 yard dash, 83 mph tee exit velocity.

By Chris Fuller and PBR Kentucky Staff

More than 70 players convened at Bellarmine University on July 15 for the Kentucky College Prospect Showcase, and some very good performances were turned in. The following is a look at the group of catchers who participated in the event. Fairdale 2016 catcher Max Cole recorded the top pop time and catcher velocity of the event at 1.88 and 78 mph respectively.

He has been playing Catcher, 3rd, 2nd base SS and pitcher. Has started since he was a freshman.

Batted 3rd had 117 PA and only struck out 3 times all of last year. Keep an eye out for this kid.

 

20 Stolenbases

He is looking for a College!