Prep Baseball Report

AL/MS Border Battle: Alabama Trackman Files


Prep Baseball Alabama Staff

BOONEVILLE, MS - The AL/MS Border Battle was held on Saturday, October 12th and Sunday, October 13th at Northeast Mississippi CC in Booneville, MS. This event was an invite-only event hosting some talented prospects from the 2025-2028 classes in Alabama. These players went through extended pro-style workout that included batting practice using Trackman and Blast Motion, ran the 60-yard dash using Swift Performance, and much more. Pitchers were able to throw during gameplay and were able to get numbers and metrics off of our Trackman unit, such as pitch velocity, spin rate, horizontal & vertical movement while facing live hitters in simulated innings. There were some players who showed up and continued to build off of prior performances, but there were also some new names who jumped onto our radar with a strong showing this week.

Continuing our post-event coverage for this event, we look at some of the leaders from each Trackman category from the event. Please continue to check back over the next week, as we will release quick hits articles, other various event leaderboards, individual scouting reports, and much more on each player present at the event. 

View entire event stats HERE.


MAX FASTBALL & AVERAGE SPIN RATE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Joshua Wilhide AL Bob Jones 2026 RHP 86.0 mph
2 Corbin Driskell AL Southside 2025 C 85.1 mph
3 Jackson (Chappy) Chapleau AL Homewood 2027 RHP 84.8 mph
4 Hayden Schell AL Hazel Green 2027 RHP 84.2 mph
5 Brenner VanDeWynckel AL Sparkman 2026 LHP 83.9 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Jack Sims AL Hartselle 2027 2B 2067 rpm
2 Ethan Wade AL Auburn 2026 1B 2035 rpm
3 Joshua Wilhide AL Bob Jones 2026 RHP 2017 rpm
4 Hayden Schell AL Hazel Green 2027 RHP 1983 rpm
5 Brenner VanDeWynckel AL Sparkman 2026 LHP 1978 rpm

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

Spin Rate: This metric calculates the rate of spin on the baseball as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Historical data shows that high-spin fastballs lessen the impact of gravity, allowing for more ‘rise’ (or less fall, in other words) as it carries through the zone. Low-spin fastballs typically indicate the pitch has greater horizontal action, often making it tougher to square up, but generally easier to make contact with, leading to more ground balls, while high-spin fastballs show a correlation with swings and misses.


AVERAGE INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Corbin Driskell AL Southside 2025 C 18.5 in
2 Ethan Wade AL Auburn 2026 1B 18.2 in
3 Hayden Schell AL Hazel Green 2027 RHP 17.4 in
4 Walker Sellars AL Madison Academy 2027 1B 17.1 in
5 Joshua Wilhide AL Bob Jones 2026 RHP 16.5 in

Induced Vertical Break: As far as deception and importance goes, fast induced vertical break (IVB) may be the most important. Induced vertical break is not what is sounds. IVB simply means the pitch is "breaking" upward from the average level a pitch falls from release to home plate. This is a stat that you want to stay away from being average at. Fortunately, this can be tweaked slightly depending on release height. To put it simply, the higher number = more "rise" the pitch has compared to average. 


AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Brenner VanDeWynckel AL Sparkman 2026 LHP -17.5
2 Jack Sims AL Hartselle 2027 2B 17.4
3 Jesse Isensee AL James Clemens 2026 SS 16.1
4 Jordan Elleard AL Spanish Fort 2028 SS 14.4
5 Ethan Wade AL Auburn 2026 1B 12.9

Horizontal Break: Outlined on TrackMan’s own website: “... horizontal movement is measured in inches between where the pitch actually crosses the front of home plate side-wise, and where it would have crossed home plate side-wise if had it traveled in a perfectly straight line from release. A positive number means the break was to the right from the pitcher’s perspective, while a negative number means the break was to the left from the pitcher’s perspective.”


AVERAGE CURVEBALL SPIN RATE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Hayden Schell AL Hazel Green 2027 RHP 2395 rpm
2 Jack Sims AL Hartselle 2027 2B 2150 rpm
3 Joshua Wilhide AL Bob Jones 2026 RHP 2083 rpm
4 Jordan Elleard AL Spanish Fort 2028 SS 2061 rpm
5 Jackson (Chappy) Chapleau AL Homewood 2027 RHP 2024 rpm

Spin Rate: The metric calculates how fast the ball is spinning as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, reported in the number of times the pitched ball would spin per minute (“revolutions per minute” or “rpm”).


AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Jack Sims AL Hartselle 2027 2B 20.1
2 Ethan Wade AL Auburn 2026 1B 15.5
3 Jordan Elleard AL Spanish Fort 2028 SS 15.2
4 Braydon Nichols AL Munford 2027 C 14.2
5 Joshua Wilhide AL Bob Jones 2026 RHP 13.2

Horizontal Break: This metric measures the distance, measured in inches, between where the pitch actually crosses the front of home plate side-wise, and where it would have crossed home plate side-wise if had it traveled in a perfectly straight line from release. A positive number means the break was to the right from the pitcher’s perspective, while a negative number means the break was to the left from the pitcher’s perspective.


PEAK EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 James Lucas AL Vestavia Hills 2025 C 104.9 mph
2 Brue Milner AL Tallassee 2027 C 101.4 mph
3 Paul Barnett AL Mountain Brook 2027 SS 100.8 mph
4 Parker Daniels AL Briarwood Christian 2026 C 99.9 mph
5 Kyle Sanderson AL Hoover 2026 OF 99.6 mph

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.


TOP AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 James Lucas AL Vestavia Hills 2025 C 99.3 mph
2 Brue Milner AL Tallassee 2027 C 95.2 mph
3 Noah Eady AL Oak Mountain 2025 3B 93.0 mph
4 Brody Sabo AL Thompson 2026 3B 92.8 mph
5 Kyle Sanderson AL Hoover 2026 OF 90.0 mph


PEAK ESTIMATED BATTED DISTANCE (HITTING)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 James Lucas AL Vestavia Hills 2025 C 386 ft
2 Brue Milner AL Tallassee 2027 C 374 ft
3 Noah Crosby AL Mountain Brook 2026 1B 370 ft
4 Jackson (Chappy) Chapleau AL Homewood 2027 RHP 368 ft
5 Brenner VanDeWynckel AL Sparkman 2026 LHP 363 ft

Distance: This metric measures the estimated “carry flat” distance, measured in feet, meaning the distance that the ball travels before it lands, or would have landed if it were not caught or obstructed.


 

Upcoming Fall Events

SHOWCASE DATE LOCATION
AL/MS Border Battle (Invite-Only) October 12th-13th, 2024 Northeast Mississippi CC (Booneville, MS)
Central Alabama Fall ID October 20th, 2024 Prattville High School (Prattville, AL)
North Alabama Fall ID October 27th, 2024 James Clemens High School (Madison, AL)

 

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