footmaster

More from PBR: Jake Ziegelmeyer, RHP/1B/, R/R, Ryle HS, 2016 6-foot-3, 205-pound prospect, right-handed hitter hits from a balanced stance, short stride, aggressive approach at the plate, swing generates some lift, good bat speed and shows power potential, shorter swing with good extension through contact, showed his ability to generate bat speed with 92 mph exit velocity, ran 7.64 60-yard dash. Defensively, athletic first baseman, moves well with good footwork, good arm strength at 84 mph across the infield, good combination of size and athleticism.

Saw this on Prep Baseball Report's twitter feed earlier today: Jeffrey Purnell, RHP/SS, R/R, Boone County HS, 2016 6-foot-3, 175-pound prospect with lanky frame, right-handed hitter hits from a balanced stance, short stride, level swing path with flat finish, line drive type hitter, showed ability to use all fields, generates some bat speed, 88 mph exit velocity off the tee, ran a 7.49 60-yard dash. Defensively, shows good footwork, plays through the ball well, hands work, showed a quicker exchange than he did at previous event, short high-3/4 release, 82 mph arm across the infield (84 at previous event), solid footwork allows him to play faster defensively than straight line speed indicates. Evan Slone, SS, L/R, Ludlow HS, 2016 5-foot-9, 163-pound prospect has added 10+ pounds to frame since last summer, left-handed hitter has made some adjustments allowing for better balance and more compact swing, balanced stance, short stride, good balance, line drive type hitter who shows good ability to use all fields, ran 7.53 60-yard dash, personal best 81 mph exit velocity. Defensively, shows good hands and feet, gets rid of the ball quickly with short arm action, high-3/4 release, showed slight increase in arm strength at 73 mph across the infield, accurate throws. Short little write-ups from the Pre-season All-State showcase... Two good, young players to watch this year for sure. This is for MIF players... More write-ups for other positions at the event will be posted soon.

Well, let's hope Ludlow's season goes better than it's off-season... Geez Top players: Slone - recovering from eye surgery Eads - had an emergency appendectomy Lyons - got taken away in an ambulance from last night's basketball game...throat injury. Durham - (knock on wood) is healthy as far as I know... That seems like an inordinate amount of bad luck for a small school team. Wishing them luck this year!

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.

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.

I'm digging it so far... Great characters...

Yep, it'll be a shame for Doty if he doesn't get a lot of Varsity playing time... But Highlands has the opposite numbers problem of a team like Ludlow... I'm sure Coach Gray would rather have "too many" good players to find spots for, like HHS...

Numbers are a problem for sure... I heard they only had about 20 kids to tryouts yesterday... And some of those were 7th and 8th graders hoping for a freshman team spot. I heard if more kids don't come out, they may not have a freshman or even JV squad... Hope they can get more kids involved...Coach Gray is awesome!

Yeah, for Ludlow: Lyons and Durham are their top Seniors.... Slone is their top Junior... Eads is their top Soph... Not sure who the upcoming Freshman are....

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...

^^^^ Being from Northern Kentucky, I have seen and been impressed by: Borman, Fieger, Purnell, Raisor, Slone and Ziegelmeyer... And I've heard of many of the others that will be there tomorrow.... Impressive kids on and off the field. Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

The following Juniors will be in Lexington tomorrow working out for PBR.... preseason all-state showcase roster Last Name First Name B/T HT WT Position School Class Abbott Jacob R/R 6'0 175 SS/RHP Lafayette 2016 Arflack Landon L/R 6'4 215 1B Western Hills 2016 Beavers Nate R/R 6'2 168 RHP/2B Woodford County 2016 Boggs Jackson R/R 6'0 165 OF Lafayette 2016 Boils Vincent R/R 5'11 195 C Southwestern 2016 Boothe Will R/R 5'11 155 SS/RHP Muhlenberg County 2016 Borman Drew R/R 5'11 170 OF/RHP Conner 2016 Brown Christopher R/R 5'11 185 RHP/3B Allen County Scottsville 2016 Bush CJ R/R 6'1 210 1B Lexington Catholic 2016 Childress Hunter R/R 5'10 155 SS Nelson County 2016 Chilton Bryan R/R 6'0 182 C Christian County 2016 Cobb Colton R/R 5'9 185 C Model Laboratory 2016 Coleman Carson R/R 6'2 175 SS/RHP Lexington Catholic 2016 Cunningham Tyler R/R 5'10 165 C Greenwood 2016 Dacci Cam R/R 6'1 170 SS Henry Clay 2016 Damron Brock R/R 5'11 185 SS Boyd County 2016 Elias Aidan R/R 6'2 170 OF/RHP Sayre 2016 Embs Kori L/R 6'0 165 OF Bishop Brossart 2016 Enlow Colin R/R 5'11 210 3B Woodford County 2016 Fieger Kyle R/R 5'11 165 RHP Beechwood 2016 Floyd Josh R/R 6'4 175 RHP Warren Central 2016 Gooding Jackson R/R 5'11 175 SS Bowling Green 2016 Hammers Bradley R/R 5'9 165 C Garrard County 2016 Hayden Andrew L/L 6'4 185 LHP Daviess County 2016 Higgins Michael R/R 6'1 165 RHP South Oldham 2016 Holland Logan R/R 6'0 165 1B Lafayette 2016 Holland Kelsey R/R 5'8 180 C Montgomery County 2016 Horsley Tyler R/R 6'1 190 RHP Ballard 2016 Howard Trevor R/R 6'3 210 3B Southwestern Pulaski 2016 Howe Allen R/R 6'1 190 RHP/2B Trinity 2016 Hughes Noah R/R 5'7 180 C Scott County 2016 Johnson Seth R/R 6'1 160 OF/RHP Franklin Simpson 2016 Kennemore Lane R/R 5'10 165 SS Mayfield 2016 Kopriva Ben R/R 6'0 178 3B Trinity 2016 Lineberry Isaac R/R 6'0 200 C McCracken County 2016 Maple Tanner R/R 5'11 180 1B/RHP Greenwood 2016 Martin Grant R/R 6'2 196 C Prestonsburg 2016 May Lindon R/R 6'4 170 RHP Henry Clay 2016 McGraw Rick R/R 5'9 155 3B/RHP Christian County 2016 Nunnelley Wyatt R/R 5'9 165 C Henry Clay 2016 Pawley Brandt L/R 5'11 155 2B Central Hardin 2016 Pope Reid R/R 6'0 185 OF/RHP McCracken County 2016 Purnell Jeffrey R/R 6'3 175 RHP/SS Boone County 2016 Raisor Ricky R/R 6'1 175 RHP Highlands 2016 Redmon Blake R/R 5'8 155 2B/RHP Franklin County 2016 Redmon Parker R/R 6'5 180 RHP Scott County 2016 Robbins Josiah R/R 6'1 178 SS Boyle County 2016 Schneider Derek R/R 6'2 225 C McCracken County 2016 Slone Evan L/R 5'9 163 SS Ludlow 2016 Stephens Ty R/R 5'8 145 OF Lexington Christian 2016 Stone Adam R/R 6'3 200 C University Heights Academy 2016 Thatcher Luke R/R 6'3 170 OF East Jessamine 2016 Watkins Langston L/L 5'10 170 OF Louisville Male 2016 Wegenast Zach R/R 5'10 180 2B Holy Cross 2016 Wimber Will R/R 5'10 165 2B Reitz Memorial (Indiana) 2016 Ziegelmeyer Jake R/R 6'3 205 RHP/1B Ryle 2016 A ton of talent will be on display... Several 2015 and 2017 kids will also be there... Man, I wish I could see this one!

If you think you can just pay NCSA and they'll do all the work, you'll have a bad experience. If you join NCSA and you (and especially your kid) will really "work" the website... Sign up for web seminars, go through their info library, put together a good profile, use their search engines, talk to the recruiting coaches, etc... Then you will have a great experience with it and really expand your kids' college recruiting opportunities by a large margin.

Some kids had to cancel due to injury and stuff. PBR events don't cost a fortune, plus the kid gets a video and a scout evaluation which are both valuable for a kid that wants to play at the next level. No need for kids to go to every event, but PBR definitely runs some of the best around.

NCSA is awesome! The kid must still do the real work... Like getting good grades, scoring well on ACT and /or SAT, and reaching out and talking to coaches... But NCSA helps organize everything and walks / and literally talks you through the process. It's unreal how many schools are a match for your kid when you know where to look... NCSA even reviews your profile and recommends the best level for the athlete.

Yeah, this is gonna be a great series...

I liked it... It shows how he is becoming Saul... Also, introduced how he met some Breaking Bad characters. There's a deep back story, so I guess I'm in the minority in that I expected it would take a few episodes to pick up the excitement level. As someone said in this thread...it took Breaking Bad a few episodes to get full on awesome.

If it's true that his catching days may be done.... That's a shame for the kid and HHS baseball IMO. I think he has the makings of an elite HS catcher and I've heard from several people that his hitting improved over the summer and fall. Guess we'll see how it all unfolds soon enough.

From what I heard, it will be Holmes' field only. Two different people said that to me, but might not be true. If it is true, where would the Holy Cross home field be?

Agreed... "Every" team has earned their particular seed, good or bad.

Sounds like a great game.... What's Ludlow's record now?

Meant for that to say, do they see him as a pitcher / catcher "only"? Do they seem him playing varsity "only" or also JV? My thought is, if Doty is gonna be a 4th or 5th pitcher... Why not let him play some 2nd base or somewhere so he can get more Varsity at bats? Just a thought, thinking outside the box... Only if they don't already have a couple kids in mind for second base.

There will be a lot of solid Junior prospects at the PBR "pre-season all-state showcase" in a couple of weeks. I'm sure they will release the list of invites before long...

Could the Doty kid get a shot to play some 2nd base? Or are the coaches seeing him as more pitcher/catcher? Also, playing varsity? Or does he play some JV as well?

I did not see Latin at all last season... I did see Calvary once and I know their new coach is working hard to improve that program... We will need some input from people closer to those programs though to get a better feel for the match up. Anyone have thoughts?