By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

The BOMC Midwest 15U World Series took place from July 15^th – July 19^th. The tournament was held at seven facilities throughout the Chicagoland suburbs and consisted of 32 15U baseball teams. Even with the heavy rains sweeping through the area over the four days they were able to crown a champion on Sunday night at Benedictine University. Elite Baseball Training (Courtwright) came away with the title, beating Chicago Elite, 12-4. Throughout the tournament our scouting staff compiled notes and highlights.

Below is a list of some of the top prospects we scouted, many of whom were previously unknown to our scouting staff. While it is still very early, these 15 prospects should be on many colleges high-follow list:

Jake Rosing, RHP, Richmond Burton, 2018
6-foot-1, 150-pound, right-handed pitcher. Recently committed to Louisville, one of the top 2018 arms in the Midwest. Works from a high ¾ arm angle with a short, quick arm action. Sat at an effortless 85-86 mph with his fastball thru his 3.1 innings of work. Compact, balanced delivery with a short leg lift. Toe down at balance point, falls off to first base side. Showed a good feel and command for three pitches in game. Changeup sat 72-74 mph with late fading action. Curveball showed 11-5 shape at 70-72 mph. In 3.1 innings of work struck out six hitters without allowing a hit.

Paul Bergstrom, LHP/OF/1B, Niles Notre Dame, 2018
5-foot-10, 145 pound left-handed pitcher. Came out of the bullpen on Sunday morning at Benedictine University. High 3/4 arm slot. Quick, clean, loose arm; Athletic delivery; On-line finish and lower half works well. Pounds the zone with the fastball and commanded it to both sides of the plate. Showed feel for three pitches. Continued to get better as the game went on. Fastball sat 76-78 mph and touched 79 twice. Fastball had some life and slight arm side run. Threw his curveball at 59-60 mph. Had 1/7 action with gradual break. Only threw a couple of change-ups which sat 63-66 mph with slight fade; Slowed arm action on the change-up but had good feel for the pitch. Given his lean build, athletic delivery and quick arm his velocity should climb as he adds strength.

Anthony Calarco, RHP/C, New Trier, 2018
6-foot-3, 190-pound, strong build, very projectable pitchers body, right-hander. On the mound showed long, loose arm action, worked from a high ¾ arm slot, landing on line. Fastball showed good sink, easy effort, sat 81-83 mph, touched 85 on his last pitch of his outing. Curveball showed 10/4 shape, sweeping action, sat 71-73 mph. Threw two innings, induced 5 ground balls (two reached safely on errors), 2 strikeouts, and no hits. Offensively is a switch-hitter, hitting from the left-side, hade a reverse toe-tap stride, gap-to-gap approach, went 1-for-3 two RBI, on a deep double to right-center field.