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PBR at The Rock 15U: Quick Hits Day 2

June 22, 2019
By Wisconsin Staff

In the second day of the week’s 15U PBR at The Rock Championship, nicer weather helped reveal even more high-follow Midwestern prospects to keep an eye on. The four-day tournament features 34 of the best travel programs from across the Midwest. Throughout this week, our scout team will be compiling end-of-day notes in a Quick Hit format, to provide you with the most impressive takeaways from that day’s action. You can find Day Two’s notes below.

If you missed Day One's notes, click here.

STANDOUT ARMS

+ Rhino Baseball’s (Blaesing) RHP Nick Kolze (Romeoville, IL, 2022) had one of the day’s most impressive outings on the mound. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound righty sat 83-85 mph, touching 86 mph, twice through Minnesota Blizzard’s order. His ability to mix in a power, hammer 12/6 breaking ball helped earn a number of swings and misses.

+ After slugging two grand slams on Thursday night, Drew Berkland (Wayzata, MN, 2022) looked similarly electric on the mound for NorthStar Navy on Friday. The right-hander tossed three innings and allowed just two hits, one earned run, and punched out three. Fastball sat 81-83 mph, with present run and occasional tilt down in the zone, worked both sides of the dish. His curveball is sharp at 12/6 shape with depth down at times, power type, occasional early break off the hand.

+ Berkland’s teammate Kristofer Hokenson (St. Louis Park, MN, 2022) got the start for NorthStar Navy, and went four strong frames of four-hit ball, allowing one run with seven punch-outs and two walks. The long limbed 5-foot-10, 140-pound southpaw sports a clean and easy delivery and lands closed, adding deception. He was up to 79 mph, ranging mostly from 75-78 mph with run and some tilt down in the zone. He went to his curveball often, which has power potential.

+ From the Green Bay area, lanky righty Caden Capomaccio (Notre Dame Academy, 2022) showed us a loose, quick arm that helped him get up into the low 80s, touching 82 mph a handful of times. He was also able to drop in a few tight curveballs with the confidence to throw it at any point in an at-bat. He struck out eight in his four-plus innings of work.

BACKSTOPS WHO BASH

+ Charlie Jarvis (Arrowhead, 2022) had a strong showing at the plate for STiKS Academy Black against Top Tier North. Jarvis hit in the eight-spot and went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. His lone extra-base hit on the day was an absolute rocket to straightaway center field and all but solidified the victory for his team. Behind the plate, Javis recorded in-game pop times between 2.21-2.23, showing a strong arm with quick and clean exchanges out of the chute.

+ A pair of Hitters Navy catchers starred from the batter’s box on Friday: Hayden Christiansen (Richmond-Burton, IL, 2022) and Will Vierling (Homestead, 2022). Christiansen started his day hot with a double smashed over the left fielder’s head, and he followed it up with some defensive work, hosing down a runner at second. He actually went on two throw out two more would-be base stealers in the game, too, popping in between 2.08 and 2.10 both between innings and in-game. As for Vierling, he swings a big left-handed bat with present pull-side pop, homering Friday morning after just missing one in a previous at-bat.

+ Another STiKS Black bat to watch: Levi Kline (Baraboo, 2022). He’s an excellent blocker and receiver, and he pulled his weight Friday afternoon on offense. Kline slugged a no-doubt three-run home run that landed well over the left field fence, which put his team up for good.

+ Berkland has some company behind the plate at Wayzata High. Noah Karschnik (Wayzata, 2022) hit in the three-spot for Minnesota Millers, playing both behind the plate and at third in the nightcap. He showed bat speed and was able to barrel a couple baseballs in this game, including a double that landed on the warning track.

+ Yet another Minnesota-raised catcher who can rake, from Roseville this time: Zakary Goodwin (2022). The left-handed-hitting backstop went 4-for-5 on Friday in his team’s two games. He wields a fast bat and hits in rhythm and also demonstrated some sound catch-and-throw skills from behind the plate, with pop times consistently in the low 2.00 range.

FOLLOW THESE BATS

+ Minnesota Starters’ shortstop Maddox Mihalakis (Hopkins, MN, 2022) has become one of this tournament’s breakout follows. He has a distinct rhythm to his all-around game with a sweet left-handed swing and all-fields approach. He backed up a great Thursday with a 2-for-3 day on Friday, all while showing the traits to be able to stick to the left side of the infield moving forward.

+ Like Mihalakis, STiKS Black’s Rory Fox (Catholic Memorial, 2022) has solidified himself as one of the state’s top 2022 talents. He looked great on the mound on Thursday and is also becoming a premium left-handed bat.

+ The sound A.J. Finco (Home School, WI, 2022) makes off the bat is head-turning. While playing for GRB Academy Green, it caught our attention on Thursday and grabbed it completely on Friday. He was 4-for-4 with a double and three singles, two RBIs, and a run scored on Friday, showcasing a gap-to-gap approach and innate feel for the barrel.

+ ProPlayer’s Max Scaravalle (Crystal Lake Central, IL, 2022) sparked the Canes to a big 10-1 win over ISA Stars Royal. The 5-foot-5 second baseman was 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in three runs.

+ Indiana Nitro’s Josh Kern (Noblesville, IN, 2022) hit for the cycle if you combine both of his team’s games on Friday. He tripled and homered against ProPlayer (Freund) – his homer banged off the left field foul pole, while the triple travelled to deep center. He was 2-for-2 with a double as a sub against Great Lake later in the day.

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