Jeffrey Witney Blasts Into 2018 Top 5 With 95 mph Exit Velo
2018 RHP/1B Jeffrey Witney
After posting 95 mph exit velocity at the Redwood City, CA (San Francisco area) Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout on March 20, RHP/1B Jeffrey Witney (Oakland, CA) is one of three 2018 graduates tied for fourth place, with only three players between he and 2018 leader Holden Richardson (Live Oak, FL) at 99 mph. Witney, a right-handed hitter, stands a physically mature looking 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and has a solid foundation of tools to build on as a position player.
2016 LHP Laren Fleeman (Central, SC) also reached 95 mph to tie for the highest exit velocity of the weekend, though he is farther back of 2016 leader Dakota Cassaday (Milton, FL) at 101 mph. Fleeman, like Witney, stands at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and hits right-handed.
The ball left the bat of Oklahoma State commit 2017 C/3B Jake Taylor (Tecumseh, OK) at 92 mph, while fellow 2017 grads OF/RHP Shane Dalton (Orinda, CA) and C Andrew White (Moore, OK) checked in at 91 and 90 mph respectively. A right-handed hitter listed at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, Taylor narrowly missed qualification among class leaders in raw velocity (86 mph) and pop time (2.08).
In Redwood City, CA, SS Orpheu Hanwright (San Francisco, CA) recorded 86 mph exit velocity to enter a tie for the seventh in the class of 2019.
Other 2019 qualifiers included 6-foot-1, 225 pound RHP/1B Alexander Campbell (Frankfort, KY) and RHP Aniyah Younce (Cherokee, NC) at 84 mph. SS Logan Castleman (Hebron, KY), RHP/3B Justin Doyle (Prospect, KY) and RHP Austin Windham (Lynchburg, SC) were each just one tick back at 83 mph, and each qualified for multiple leaderboards. Castelman added a 6.99 60 yard dash, Doyle touched 81 mph with his fastball, and Windham’s heater topped at 79.
2019 C Ashton Mixon (Lynchburg, SC) was next at 82 mph, followed by 2019 OF Jaquez Smith (Gaffney, SC) at 81.
Exit velocity was just one of four leaderboards joined by 2019 C/3B Kyle Harbison (Georgetown, KY) and 2019 3B/C Wade Elliott (Edmond, OK) — each made the 2019 exit velocity cut on the number at 79 mph. Harbison placed highest with a 1.97 pop time, good enough for solo-second among 2019 graduates, while 84 mph raw velocity earned Elliott a tie for fourth place, with only nine players between he and the class lead of 87 mph held by Vanderbilt commit Chris McElvain of Thompson’s Station, TN.
Harbison also ranked among class leaders with a 7.18 60 yard dash and 79 mph raw velocity. Elliott, a secondary catcher, ranked higher on the 60 yard dash leaderboard at 7.04, but was a lesser catch-and-throw guy with a low pop time of 2.18. Joining Harbison and Elliott at 79 mph exit velocity was 2019 OF Lucas Allen (Moraga, CA).
After Jeffrey Witney’s 95, the next best 2018 exit velocity came from OF Brad Page (Inola, OK) at 89 mph. A 6-foot-1, 195 pound right-handed hitter, Page missed qualification among top runners by less than one tenth of a second at 7.08.
6-foot-1, 210 pound switch-hitting 1B/LHP Benjamin Huber (Pendleton, SC) recorded 82 mph exit velocity left-handed to miss placement among 2018 leaders by three ticks, but saw the ball leave his bat at 87 mph right-handed to qualify with room to spare.
At 86 mph were 2018 C Justin Cope (Fort Mill, SC) and 2018 left-handed hitting SS Josh Haney (Stanley, NC), with 2018 OF Declaudio Irvin (Midwest City, OK) close behind at 85 mph. Irvin, an interesting all-around player with a 6-foot, 170 pound frame, also ran 6.81 in the 60 yard dash to qualify among 2018 top runners.
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.
Register online for an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout near you or call (800) 641-4487.
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