By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

The Prep Baseball Report Scouting staff hosted a Pitcher Showcase and Analysis on Wednesday, September 21^st at Team Demarini Facility in Burr Ridge, IL. The event designed to be a small setting, featured pitchers from the 2017-2020 classes, working directly with the PBR scouting staff in a hands-on, instructional bullpen setting.

The two 2020’s in attendance RHP Connor Gill (Oswego East) and RHP Ben Hernandez (De La Salle) should be high follow’s moving forward. Gill is wiry, athletic, right-hander with a quick arm and the makings of a three-pitch mix. Gill also ran his fastball up to 82 mph. Hernandez features a loose arm, touched 80 mph and has advanced feel for his changeup.

2019 RHP Griffin Holderfield (Oak Park-River Forest) impressed with his feel for off-speed. Holderfield threw every curveball for a strike and sat 79-82 mph with his fastball during the expanded bullpen setting.

Pitcher Reports (Listed Alphabetically)

Michael Denton, RHP, Marian Catholic, 2018
5-foot-10, 225-pound, right-handed pitcher. Up-tempo, drop and drive delivery, stays on-line, lands square, lower half has a tendency to open early, regular effort throughout and spin off on finish. Better overall command out of the stretch. Short arm action, slight cupping action out of the glove and comes out of a high ¾ window. Fastball flashed arm-side-run and sat 72-74 mph. Changeup projects as best off-speed pitch; feel for the zone, consistently down in the zone, firm, flashed arm-side-run and sink, 71-72 mph. Curveball, 11/5 shape, gets underneath at times, 63-64 mph.

Connor Gill, RHP, Owego East, 2020
5-foot-10, 150-pound, right-handed pitcher, lanky, athletic build, projectable athlete. Athletic, clean, slow paced, smooth, deliberate, tall and fall delivery with minimal effort throughout; works online, lands square, athletic finish, some recoil. Highly projectable arm action; loose and quick out of a high ¾ slot. Fastball, feel for the zone, occasional life, run and tilt action when down in the zone, sat 80-81 mph, touched 82 twice. Feel for changeup, located down in the zone, near fastball arm speed, flashed fade action, 69-72 mph. Curveball, has potential to be quality offering; sharp action, flashed depth, 12/6, 11/5 action, lacked feel on this day, missing down in the zone, 65-68 mph. High follow 2020 right-handed pitcher.

Ben Hernandez, RHP, De La Salle, 2020
6-foot, 180-pound, durable, projectable, right-handed pitcher. Smooth, repeatable, tall and fall delivery, easy effort, slight cross fire action, creates deception and lands closed. Long and loose arm action out of a high ¾ slot. Feel for a three-pitch mix. Fastball, thrown for strikes, arm-side-run, some sinking action when down, 77-79 mph, touching 80. Curveball, slurve type, 11/5 shape, tendency to get underneath and miss up in the zone; when down in the zone flashed depth, sat 61-64 mph. Changeup, advanced feel, located at the bottom of the zone, sink and fade action,  69-71 mph. High follow arm in the 2020 class.

Griffin Holderfield, RHP, Oak Park-River Forest, 2019
6-foot-2, 220-pound right-handed pitcher with a large, strong frame. Works from a high ¾ arm angle with a short, quick arm action. Tall and fall, online delivery with a square landing and smooth rhythm. Good balance throughout delivery. Fastball showed slight running action at 79-82 mph with good command. Thrown for a strike 60% of the time. Throws both a curveball and slider, both show similar 11-5 shape with sharp breaking action. Curveball sat 67-72 mph, slider sat 70-72 mph, thrown a little harder with tight rotation. Threw every curveball for a strike. Slider thrown for a strike 71% of the time.

Mitchell Schroll, LHP, Fremd, 2017
5-foot-10, 145-pound left-handed pitcher with a wiry frame. Works from a high ¾ arm angle with a short arm action. Stabs out of glove with a wrap on the backside, creating deception. Works exclusively from the stretch with a drop and drive delivery with a closed landing and good balance throughout. Fastball showed slight running action at 79-81 topping out at 82 mph. Curveball has 1-7 shape with sweeping action at 62-64 mph. Slider has similar shape as curveball thrown harder at 64-66 mph. Changeup has fading action at 69-70 mph.

Jeff Stajduhar, RHP, Warren, 2017
5-foot-7, 155-pound right-handed pitcher. Side-arm pitcher. Tough matchup for a right-handed hitter. Loose, quick arm action. Works out of the stretch only; smooth rhythm, repeats, ability to slide step, some effort throughout, works online, lands square and finishes athletically. Fastball, thrown for strikes, works down in the zone, natural side arm run and sink action, ranged between 73-77 mph, touching 78. Features a curveball and a slider. Slider has sharp, lateral sweeping action, tight spin, works uphill, lacked feel at times; 66-69 mph. Curveball, comes out of a slightly higher slot, 10/4 shape, 61-65 mph. Changeup, fade action, decelerates arm at times, 63-66 mph. 

Michael Sykora, RHP, Plainfield North, 2019
6-foot-1, 170-pound right-handed pitcher with a lanky frame. On the mound works from a ¾ arm angle with a long, loose arm action. Long draw to the backside. Tall and fall delivery with a high leg kick and slight coil at balance point. Slightly closed landing with good balance throughout delivery. Lacked command of three pitch arsenal. Fastball sat 77-79 mph with slight running action. Curveball has gradual sweeping action at 61-66 mph. Maintained arm speed on changeup at 69-73 mph. 

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