Four Reach 89 mph, One Below 1.8 in Lakewood, CO
On Sunday, May 3 the Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout Tour rolled through the Denver area, with a stop at Coca-Cola All Star Park at Keli McGregor Field in Lakewood, CO.
Photo Credit: www.GoldCrownFoundation.com
The biggest tools (those earning at least grade-55 on the Baseball Factory 10-70 Scouting Scale) belonged to:
2017 C Casey Optiz (Heritage HS – Centennial, CO), a 5-foot-11 155 pound switch-hitter, showed standout arm strength along with advanced fielding ability behind the plate. He posted release times between 1.77 and 1.88, with even the high end of his range good enough for the top marks turned in by a 2017 graduate (look for updated top measurable rankings at some point in June).
2016 RHP Nathan Sweeney (Cherry Creek HS – Centennial, CO), listed at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, threw a high volume of fastball strikes at 86-89 mph with late arm side life. He worked from a high-three-quarters arm angle, and generated notable downhill plane on his pitches.
2016 1B/LHP Adam Neider (Grandview HS – Aurora, CO), a 6-foot-2 175 pound left-handed hitter, showed a quality hit tool along with standout raw power. He drove through the ball authority, and naturally leveraged the ball up into the air.
Top performers by measurable category appear below:
Catcher Release Times
| Sec | Pop Time Leaders |
| 1.77 | Casey Opitz (2017 – C – Heritage HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 2.02 | Joseph Milano (2017 – C – Centaurus HS – Louisville, CO) |
| 2.02 | Matthew Sims (2017 – C – Weld Central HS – Lochbuie, CO) |
| 2.06 | Gunnar Kroeger (2017 – C/3B – Holyoke HS – Holyoke, CO) |
| 2.08 | Tyson Hays (2017 – C – Grandview HS – Aurora, CO) |
| 2.09 | Dylan Kotch (2015 – C – Holyoke HS – Holyoke, CO) |
| 2.10 | Blake Tyrell (2018 – C – Legend HS – Parker, CO) |
In May 2013, as an eighth-grader, Joseph Milano posted release times between 2.62 and 3.10, along with raw velocity of 66 mph. We saw him again about six months later, in November 2013 at the Baseball Factory Select Training & Competition in Arizona, where he showed great progress in a short time. He got his low end pop time down to 2.37, and bumped his raw velocity up to 69 mph.
Now, almost exactly two years after we first saw him, he has improved his low end pop time by six-tenths of a second (from 2.62 down to 2.02), and his raw velocity by thirteen mph (up from 66 to 79 mph).
Matthew Sims has made steady progress of his own in the last year-and-a-half or so. He posted 2.31-2.49 along with 79 mph raw velocity in October 2013, and followed that up with times between 2.21 and 2.30 in January 2014 at the Baseball Factory Spring Training in Arizona.
His move down to 2.02 in May 2015 marked an improvement of nearly three-tenths of a second. His raw velocity bumped up a few mph from 79 to 82 mph in the same period of time.
In October 2014, Blake Tyrell posted times between 2.38 and 2.52, along with raw velocity of 65 mph. Now, a little more than six months later, he got his low end pop time down to 2.10, and raised his raw velocity by seven mph up to 72.
Fastball Velocity
| mph | Fastball Velocity Leaders |
| 89 | Nathan Sweeney (2016 – RHP – Cherry Creek HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 82 | Billy Moreland (2016 – SS/RHP – Heritage HS – Littleton, CO) |
| 82 | Adam Neider (2016 – LHP – Grandview HS – Aurora, CO) |
| 81 | Cody Kohl (2017 – RHP – Thunderridge HS – Littleton, CO) |
Raw Velocity
| mph | Raw Velocity Leaders |
| 89 | Isaac Bracken (2016 – SS – Berthoud HS – Berthoud, CO) |
| 86 | Casey Opitz (2017 – C – Heritage HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 84 | Austin Chouinard (2017 – SS – Regis Jesuit HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 84^ | Billy Moreland (2016 – SS/RHP – Heritage HS – Littleton, CO) |
| 83 | Tyson Hays (2017 – C – Grandview HS – Aurora, CO) |
| 81 | Gunnar Kroeger (2017 – C/3B – Holyoke HS – Holyoke, CO) |
60 Yard Dash
| sec | 60 Yard Dash Leaders |
| 6.99 | Matthew Givin (2017 – SS – Rock Canyon HS – Castle Rock, CO) |
| 7.00 | Casey Opitz (2017 – C – Heritage HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 7.01 | Nathan Sweeney (2016 – RHP – Cherry Creek HS – Centennial, CO) |
| 7.07 | Tanner Gettman (2016 – SS – Platte Valley HS – Gill, CO) |
| 7.09 | Isaac Bracken (2016 – SS – Berthoud HS – Berthoud, CO) |
| 7.10 | Preston Askew (2017 – OF – Rangeview HS – Aurora, CO) |
2017 SS Matthew Givin
In October 2013, Preston Askew ran 7.59 in the 60 yard dash and posted 69 mph raw velocity. A few months later in January 2014 at the Baseball Factory Spring Training in Arizona, he ran very slightly better at 7.56.
Now in May 2015, about eighteen months after we first saw him, he got his 60 yard dash down to 7.10 and his raw velocity up to 80 mph — improvements of about a half-second and eleven mph respectively.
Matthew Givin ran 7.12 in October 2013, and posted 73 mph raw velocity at the same workout. He ran 6.99 in May 2015 to mark a move below seven seconds with his 60 yard dash. At the same event, he notched 80 mph raw velocity to mark an improvement of seven mph.
Bat Exit Velocity
| mph | Bat Exit Velocity Leaders |
| 90 | Mitch Tyse (2016 – 3B – Fairview HS – Boulder, CO) |
| 89 | Mitch Zundel (2017 – SS – Thompson Valley HS – Loveland, CO) |
| 86 | Colby Carlson (2017 – RHP/? – Fort Collins HS – Fort Collins, CO) |
| 85 | Dalton Bishop (2017 – 2B/RHP – Mesa Ridge HS – Colorado Springs, CO) |
| 83 | Patrick Kauffmann (2017 – OF – Denver East HS – Denver, CO) |
| 83 | James Kester (2017 – SS/RHP – Heritage HS – Aurora, CO) |
| 83 | Stryker Lewis (2018 – 3B/OF – Cherry Creek HS – Cherry Hills Village, CO) |
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.
