On Sunday, February 8 the Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout tour stopped in Mobile, AL. Our host venue was the Bussie Greer Memorial Baseball Field on the campus of St. Paul’s Episcopal School.

Four pitchers posted notable fastball velocities, led by 2016 RHP Austin Franklin (Paxton, FL HS) with a top bolt of 92 mph. Franklin, a 6-foot-3 215 pound Samford University commit, has increased his top end fastball velocity by 12 mph since we first saw him two years ago.

Austin Franklin
Baseball Factory Velocities

78-80 mph — February 2013
76-78 mph — June 2013
85-86 mph — December 2013
83-86 mph — January 2014
87-91 mph — February 2014
85-87 mph — October 2014
87-92 mph — February 2015

2016 RHP/3B Austin Franklin

At the February 2013 Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout & Premium Video Program in Mobile, he topped at 80 mph with his fastball and spun a 63-66 mph breaking ball. Our scouts (most notably Mark Daniels, our Southeast Regional Director) noted his loose and easy arm action along with the depth of his secondary pitches as reasons to project future fastball velocity. At the time of this event, Franklin was a 6-foot-2 and 190 pound freshman three-sport athlete – basketball and football were noted in addition to baseball.

At the end of 2013, in December at the Pensacola, FL Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout, he ran his fastball up to 86 mph and threw his best breaking ball around 70-71 mph. This outing marked a six mph increase on his fastball, and a five mph firmer breaking ball. The breaking ball velocity increase offered the newest reason to project future fastball velocity.

In January 2014, he was named as one of the Top 2016 graduates at the 2014 Under Armour All-America Pre-Season Tournament. In his outing at that event, he leveraged an 84-86 mph fastball to the bottom of the zone and flashed a swing-and-miss breaking ball. His best two pitches were much the same as we saw a month previous, only this time it was in a game outing instead of a bullpen session.

Three weeks later, at the February 2014 Under Armour Baseball Factory National & Premium Video Program in Mobile he topped at 91. His changeup registered 77-82 mph, a remarkable achievement in that only twelve months earlier his fastball was 78-80 mph.

Around this time he was in communication with a number of Division I schools, along with well-known Florida JUCO’s like Chipola. The Major League clubs had taken notice as well, as his outings regularly drew scouts numbering in the double-digits. In November 2014, Franklin ended up deciding on Samford University, a member of the NCAA Division I Southern Conference located in Birmingham, AL.

2015 3B Dalton Cobb

Back to present day in Mobile, 2016 RHP/SS Colby White (West Marion HS – Foxworth, MS) was next with a top velocity of 83 mph, followed by 2017 LHP Hayden Dupuy (Pass Christian, MS HS) and 2018 RHP Herndon Akridge (St. Pauls HS – Mobile, AL) at 82 mph.

The raw velocity category saw quite a few high readings as well. 2015 3B Dalton Cobb (Alexandria HS – Anniston, AL), a Jacksonville State Univ. commit, touched 88 mph to lead the way. 2017 OF Preston Stringer (St. Patrick Catholic HS – Ocean Springs, MS) was close at 86 mph. He was followed by 2016 outfielders Orrion Bailey (Hattiesburg, MS HS) and Nick Thompson (St. Patrick Catholic HS – Petal, MS) along with 2016 C Hayden Harrell (Stone HS – Perkinston, MS) at 83 mph.

With a 60 yard dash of 6.82, Dalton Cobb was also the top runner of the day – and the only player to post a sub-seven time. 2016 Orrion Bailey posted 7.00, 2017 OF Preston Stringer and 2018 SS Jeremiah Jackson (St. Luke’s Episcopal – Mobile, AL) both ran 7.03, followed by 2015 3B Chandler Thomas (Jackson Academy – Jackson, AL) at 7.09.

2018 SS Jeremiah Jackson

Jeremiah Jackson has been the starting shortstop since the 7th grade on the back-to-back AHSAA 1-A state champion St. Luke’s Episcopal High School team. Stop and let that sink in for a few seconds…he’s getting ready to start his freshman season and already he’s started on two state champion teams. Following his performance at the September 2014 USA Baseball 14U NTIS, he was selected to the USA Baseball 15U National Team Trials. A tender arm prevented him from throwing at our workout, but it didn’t stop him from showing his remaining four tools at a level we don’t commonly see from seniors, let alone a freshman.

The lone qualifying pop time was turned in by 2016 left-handed hitting catcher Beau Bratton (St. Patrick Catholic HS – Biloxi, MS) at 2.03.

The Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout Tour is rolling through all 50 states. Tryouts are held for players ages 12-14 and 14-18. Don’t miss your opportunity to Be Discovered.

Find an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout near you and register online or call (800) 641-4487.