Virginia's top junior prospects? Agreement on #1

Chad Morgan - Junior '09 prospect, C/3B/1B/OF/RHP, pretty much can play it all and do it all. First and foremost, great student athlete, currently carrying a 3.6+ GPA, pop time to 2nd under 2, consistently 1.85 to 1.93 range, 6.9 - 7.0 sixty runner (and for a catcher that's pretty darn good), can flat out swing it from the right side and for power, has been clocked throwing consistently mid 80's but there's plenty more in that arm. All around just a great kid who comes from a great family. Chad is currently being recruited by UVA, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Radford, Longwood, George Mason, Auburn, Michigan, among others.

I got a look at Blake Houser of Manchester yesterday and came away VERY impressed.

There were scouts there to look at others, but they left buzzing about Houser. This kid is nowhere near filled out, can barely keep his shirt from falling off him, but he was legitimately 88-90 on Stalker RADAR, struck out 5 in 2 1/3 innings, and showed a pretty good curve as well. Mechanics were very smooth, not a "max effort" guy at all.

Get this kid in the weight room and he's a mid-90's guy, I'd wager. That's what the scouts were thinking, you can bet on it.

Not to overlook someone who's not a new name:

You can't talk about the top juniors without including Hanover's Jacob Mayers in that discussion. Pitching and hitting wise.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Not to overlook someone who's not a new name:

You can't talk about the top juniors without including Hanover's Jacob Mayers in that discussion. Pitching and hitting wise.

Have to agree. Jake has topped this age group since he was 9. While not as dominant as he was at a younger age (it would be hard for anyone to match in HS what he did in youth ball), he, nonetheless, deserves a ranking at or very near the top of the 2009 class. Not taking anything away from Ethan Carter, he obviously burst on to the scene with some great outings last year, but those impressive numbers were helped, at least in part, by the presence of Cameron Roth getting the call against some (not all) of the tougher teams Denbigh faced last year. South Carolina obviously was impressed with him, so all the experts may be right. I'm just not ready to annoint him tops in VA just yet.

Some other 2009's in the Beach that you can look for (and yes, I am partial to Cox's junior class):

Ryan Mattes, RHP, Cox
Richie Salter, LHP, Cox
James Taylor, CF, Kellam
Kyle Profilet, CF, Cox
Ross Cardwell, OF/1b, PA
Austin Erb, C, Cox
Chris Taylor, SS, Cox
John Beasley, RHP, NA

I'm sure there are many others that I left off, but hopefully others will chime in and fill in the gaps.

Nanesmond River

Erikson Keeton - starting to hit his stride on the mound, but has always been able to hit the ball
out-of-sight.

Ombri Rivers - maybe, If.....

I think they are Juniors???

Kellam - Jeffrey Difulgo

His physical stature and power will not wow (he has grown a few inches over the past couple of years), but he knows how to pitch and he just WINS games!!! (currently 5-1)

FC - Trevor Hinson; (size to grow)can hit and pitch.

You are right about Difulgo but he told me he was a freshman last year.

Trevor Stevens, MIF (2B primary), Heritage HS (Lynchburg)...batting close to .600 for the season and just raking.

Posted April 19, 2008 06:47 PM Hide Post
You are right about Difulgo but he told me he was a freshman last year.



DiFulgo "was" a Freshman last year, making him a Sophmore this year! He also made All Beach District last year as a Freshman!

The topic was Virginia's Top Junior prospects so thats why I mentioned he told me he was a freshman.