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PBR at The Rock 15U: Day 3 Quick Hits

June 21, 2020
By Wisconsin Staff

A loaded Day 3 at The Rock featured some exciting action and revealed some more follow prospects for our Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota staffs.

We’ve already published Quick Hits highlights from Day 1 and Day 2 of the tourney, and we’re onto Day 3 today.

+ NorthStar 3B Parker Lewin (Orono, MN; 2023) is one of the more intriguing prospects to watch at The Rock this weekend. A left-handed hitter, Lewin got Northstar on the board early today with a no doubt homer to right field. He's a lanky 6-foot-1, 170-pounds with a smooth left handed swing that is arguably the highest ceiling in the tournament.

+ LHP Brady Louck (Plainfield East, IL, 2023) dominated his start against MVP Elite on Saturday. Louck struck out eight in four innings of work with a blistering fastball that sat 81-83 mph. Louck works out of a long ¾ slot that plays to a natural 2/8 shaped breaking ball with above average lateral action and ability to consistently drop for strikes. His confident demeanor and pitchability on the mound lifted his stuff to another level.

+ Marian Catholic's (IL) Kevin Denty had a huge day for Chicago Elite. Denty boasts a strong athletic build in the left-handed box with a confident pole-to-pole approach. He's a strong-handed hitter with above-average feel for the barrel. Denty went 3-for-3 in his first game with a double and pair of singles that he sprayed to each part of the outfield, en route to an 8-3 win. Denty kept the hot bat going in his second game, smoking a double off the centerfield wall and beating out a handcuffed ground ball to the second baseman. Denty hit out of the leadoff spot and played both left and centerfield on the day and looks to profile as a two-hole type left fielder.

+ It was a competitive contest between Fastball Elite and Illinois Premier. LHP Jordan Green (South Elgin, IL; 2023) toed the rubber for Elite and pitched well, striking out six batters in four innings of work. His fastball sat 75-76 mph, touching 77, and flashed natural arm-side run. He mixed in a late-breaking curveball, particularly the second time through the order, and effectively kept hitters off balance. Offensively, Elite was led by C/OF Jake Parpet (Conant, IL; 2024), who pounded a bases-clearing double into the right-center gap for the lead late in the game. 

+ Midwest Halos’ 1B A.J. Rieck (Catholic Memorial, 2023) brings some advanced strength into the batter’s box with his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. He showed that at the plate today, crushing a fastball to deep center field in his first at-bat for a bases-clearing double and finding the barrel later on in the game for another double. Rieck’s power potential paired with his athleticism make him a sneaky follow in his class. His teammate, Vidal Colon (Grafton, 2023), continued his hot streak this tournament by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. 

+ SS Ethan Thulin (Downers Grove North, IL; 2023) backed up a big day on Friday with another couple of hits, including a double he launched off the tall wall in left field on the Fenway replica. He's a smooth defender at shortstop, too, which has elevated his prospect stock as he enters the critical summer months. RHP Ryan Dawson (Downers Grove South, IL; 2023) was clearly tough to barrel, filling the zone with mid-70s velocity that had arm-side run/sink. He pitched four innings, allowing just a single run, K'ing five without walking anyone. Dawson was aiming at Sean Ryniec (Downers Grove North, IL; 2023) behind the plate, an athletic catcher who added a deep double to left-center himself, another Downers Grove-area prospect to follow this summer and beyond.

+ One of the most competitive games of the weekend took place Saturday afternoon, between CBT Wolfpack and MN STARTERS. Wolfpack starter RHP Wyatt Brown (Menasha, 2023) stifled STARTERS bats in his 5.2 innings of shutout work, dodging barrels all game. Sitting in the low-70s, up to 73 mph, Brown located effectively on the corners while utilizing a change-of-pace breaking ball that kept opposing bats honest. Tall, lanky RHP Jonah Conradt (Hortonville, 2023) relieved Brown with the tying run on third and looked like a high-follow member of his state's 2023 class. Conradt K'd the first batter he faced to escape the jam with exclusively fastballs, sitting 81-83 mph with jump and carry through the zone. On a pitch limit, he earned a couple outs in the seventh before handing it over to RHP Nathan Vela (Hortonville, 2023) to record the final out, who himself is another intriguing arm in this class. Vela has some long, wiry levers and sat in the upper-70s, up to 78 mph, in his brief outing.

For MN STARTERS, RHP Maddox Foss (Chaska, MN; 2023) is a quick arm for our Minnesota staff to watch mature and develop. He was earning some late swings in the zone with his quick arm that had his fastball living in the upper-70s, topping 80 mph multiple times throughout, with an above-average breaking ball.

+ RHP Grant Schultz (Menomonee Falls, 2023) twirled a complete game, two-hit shutout against MASH Baseball late Saturday afternoon. He sat 74-77 mph, touching 79, from an unconventional arm slot that makes for an uncomfortable at-bat. There’s more room to fill out his lanky 6-foot-2, 155-pound frame, giving him an intriguing ceiling on the bump. 

+ Chicago Elite’s Nathan Ruzich (Lincoln-Way East, IL; 2023) made all at-bats count during their game against STiKS Academy Red. In his first at-bat, Ruzich showed off his speed with an infield single and later stole second base. During his second at-bat, Ruzich singled down the third baseline before he recorded an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to wrap up the day.

+ The right-handed-hitting Joseph Pender (Lemont, IL; 2023) of Illinois Premier went 2-for-2 with three RBIs in their game against NorthStar Neon. Pender helped get the scoring early for his team when he batted in the second run with a RBI single to center. With the bases loaded in the second inning, Pender roped a double to left field to score another two runners.

+ PTA Cardinal certainly has a few follow names in their dugout, but one we’ve been high on this weekend who’s stirring some attention is OF Nathan Cumberbatch (Shorewood, 2023). He’s garnered some high, high praise as a track athlete, and it clicks, given his high waist and long legs and longer strides that allow him to bounce up and down the baselines and in center field. He’s taken some excellent routes in center and the speed helps him glide to baseballs with relative ease. Cumberbatch uses his lanky levers in the right-handed box to produce some loose swings, and he’s barreled a few baseballs this weekend, but clearly there’s more to tap into offensively.

+ Naperville Renegades scored 31 runs on Saturday in two overwhelming wins and just about everyone exploded offensively, it felt like. SS Josh Wenz (Neuqua Valley, IL; 2023) was identified in Friday’s Quick Hits as a smooth shortstop with a fast and loose left-handed bat, and he was more of the same prospect on Saturday, tallying another couple of hits. The huge, physical T.J. McMillen (St. Francis, IL; 2023) looks like a high-follow football prospect, but that didn’t stop him from making some really loud contact all day, adding four hits in the two wins for Renegades. In game one, Luke Rue (Naperville Central, IL; 2023) launched a deep double to the left field fence and barreled another baseball in his next at-bat. He’s another big body to keep an eye on this summer.

+ LHP Riley Peterson (Verona Area, 2023) pitched four strong innings for Edge Baseball in their night game against Illinois Steel. Peterson did not allow a hit, though did give up one earned run, while he struck out five. Peterson fastball sat 70-72 mph, with a curveball and changeup to help complement this fastball.

+ ISA Stars Royal put together a complete team performance against Windy City to close the night out in an 8-1 win. ISA sent hulking 6-foot-3, 225-pound RHP Eli Zollar (Ashwaubenon, 2023) to the mound and he was overpowering Windy City with low-80s running, sinking fastballs, sitting 80-83 mph for just about the entirety of his four-plus inning outing. Given Zollar’s imposing frame, you’d expect him to power fastballs by his opposition, but the big right-hander works with some finesse, mixing in a slurve-type breaking ball that worked off a 10/4 plane, flashing sharp, late action that froze some batters and earned chases from others. He also showed the makings of a reliable changeup, thrown at arm speed, giving him three pitches to work with, an advanced mix for someone his age.

Zollar wrapped up his outing without allowing a hit, walking four and striking out five, and we was relieved by RHP/SS John Kinziger (De Pere, 2023). Kinziger, we’ve heard, has earned some next-level attention for his prowess on the basketball court, but he’s establishing himself as a prospect in baseball, too. He’s a really athletic defender up the middle with loose hands attached to his right-handed bat, but he stole some attention for himself on the mound after yesterday’s performance. He was filling the zone up out of the gate with 80-81 mph velocity out of a loose, quick, athletic arm over-the-top, with a sharp, downer breaking ball. He was mostly 77-78 mph the rest of the way, touching the occasional 80, but Kinziger’s lean, wiry frame and arm speed has earned him high-follow status in Wisconsin’s ‘23 class.

At the plate, 3B/C Boone Kirst (Ashwaubenon, 2023) broke out this weekend for his long levers combined with an athleticism that produced some fluid swings out of the right-handed box. He battled inside his first at-bat of the today to go down and get a fastball at the bottom of the zone, depositing a line-drive to shallow center. He’s shown well from behind the plate, as well as at third base, so we’ll see where his future home lies, defensively.

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