On Sunday, March 8th the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Future Prospects Showcase & Educational Camp at The MAX sports complex in McCook, IL. This event featured over 80 seventh and eighth graders looking to showcase their skills.

This showcase has a dual function: to teach prospects about the showcase atmosphere and the recruiting process as well as to identify young talent coming through Illinois over the next handful of years.

One prospect who put his name firmly on the map as a high-level 2024 to get to know is C/INF Randall Nauden (Marian Catholic). As you will see below, Nauden is featured towards the top of a number of categories from the day. The athletically-built, 5-foot-9, 164-pound worked out on the infield and behind the plate, showing elite arm strength from both spots. Nauden's arm plays especially well from behind the plate where he throws a true, accurate ball with carry and late life at 80 mph. Nauden ran a 7.26 60, well above average for his age and the catcher position. The high-level talent also took a loud round of BP showing off loose, strong hands and making a lot of hard gap-to-gap contact. 

Another big winner who will deserve plenty of attention moving forward was LHP Simon Skroch (Yorkville, 2024). Skroch has a well-proportioned, 5-foot-10, 135-pound frame that has plenty of room for continued physical development. Skroch's arm works clean, quick and he ran his fastball up to 82 mph with feel for a three-pitch mix. Both of Skroch's off-speed offerings are thrown with arm speed, have action and feel. 

Today, we'll be evaluating the top statistical performers from this event. Within the next few weeks, videos from this event will be posted into profiles, followed by scouting reports on every prospect from the event. For now, here are the statistical leaderboards in each of the measured categories taken from the showcase.

Max Fastball Velocity

LHP/OF Simon Skroch (Yorkville) was arguably the most dynamic arm from the day and took the top spot on the leaderboard by running his fastball up to 82 mph. The second spot on the list also belongs to a two-way prospect. RHP/SS Joe Dolenga (Stevenson) showed off his arm strength on the mound by topping out at 80 mph.

Top 60-Yard dash

SS/OF Mason W. Phillips (Oak Park-River Forest) put his athleticism on display and found himself atop the leaderboard running a 6.87 laser-timed 60. OF/RHP Jevan Andrews (Hobart) ran the next best laser-timed 60 of the day at 7.12.

Top exit velocity

C/RHP Randall Nauden (Marian Catholic), mentioned above led a number of categories from the day. Nauden's strength was on display at the exit velocity station, posting 88 mph from a tee. 6-foot, 162-pound, 3B/RHP Logan Voelz (Antioch Community) had the second best exit velocity of the day at 86 mph with 2025 Benjamin Mitchell (Hampshire) and 2024 Parker Violett (Kaneland) not far behind at 85 mph.

top infield velocity

Nauden showed natural infield actions and a big arm that played with carry across the diamond at 82 mph. 3B/RHP Jonah Weathers recorded the next best velocity for the infielders topping at 79 mph across the diamond.

top outfield velocity

Two-way prospect, Simon Skroch (Yorkville) registered an 80 mph outfield velocity at the event on Sunday, enough to find himself atop another statistical leaderboard. OF Anthony Campise (Kaneland) and OF/RHP Jevan Andrews (Hobart) shared the next spot on the leaderboard registering a 76 mph outfield velocity on Sunday.

top catcher velocity

Back at the top of the list, C/RHP Randall Nauden (Marian Catholic) showed off his defensive ability behind the plate registering an 80 mph velocity from the crouch. C/2B Jake Parpet (Conant) was second best on the leaderboard with a 71 mph velocity from the crouch.

top pop times

C/RHP Randall Nauden (Marian Catholic) paired his strong arm with quick footwork and clean transfers and managed to take the top spot for pop times at the event with pop times 2.10-2.31. C/2B Eloy Suarez (Hoffman Estates) recorded pop times of 2.15-2.22, enough to grab the second spot on the leaderboard.

 

+ CLICK HERE for a look at all of the stats from the McCook Future Prospects event.

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