IL Senior Games: Quick Hits
August 12, 2021
On Tuesday, August 10th, the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Illinois Senior Games at Triton College in River Grove. The invite-only event featured 70+ uncommitted 2022 prospects from all across the state in Illinois. Players displayed their talents in both a workout setting and added game play.
Today we begin the post-event coverage of the event with a look at some of the notable standouts.
QUICK HITS
POSITION PLAYERS
The day featured plenty of intrigue throughout but the one thing that stood out the most was the amount of hard contact and quality at-bats that took place throughout the game play portion of the event.
One of the top bats worth noting on the day was left-handed hitter, OF Blake Edmonds (Hinsdale Central). Edmonds has strong hands, a knack to elevate the baseball with authority and has power to all fields. After taking a noteworthy round of BP, Edmonds got a ball up in the zone during the game and took it over the batter’s eye in center field for a home run.
#ILSRGames lifting off with LHH @balakay40 (Hinsdale Central, 2022) showing some pull side pop. Up to 97 EV. pic.twitter.com/gfyiLJxYim
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
Another home run during game play came off the bat of INF Colin Lewandowski (Neuqua), one of the biggest winners of the day. Lewandowski, who was making his PBR debut, showed off an impressive combination of tools during the workout portion of the event. The 6-foot, 195-pound, compact, strong right handed hitter ran a 6.62 60, was 90 mph across the infield and registered a 93 mph during BP. Lewandowski has simple swing, strong hands with present bat speed and the foot speed, arm and athleticism to profile almost anywhere on the diamond. Athletic 2022 to follow moving forward.
Strong yet simple approach out @Colin_Lew14 (Neuqua Valley, 2022). Started of his day with a 6.62 in the 60.#ILSrGames | @PBR_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/myqDSYklC8
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
Another potent bat worth noting belongs to catcher Ryan Kelly (Huntley). Kelly swings with controlled aggression, stays flat and on top of the baseball, routinely making hard/loud contact to the big part of the diamond. Kelly has the ability to backspin the baseball to both gaps and does so with authority thanks to his 6-foot, 195-pound, strong frame. Kelly finished game play 2-for-2.
RHH @RyanmKelly25 (Huntley, 2022) hitting it hard repeatedly to the middle of the diamond. Top EV of 96mph.#ILSrGames pic.twitter.com/SOrMzfPiCH
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
INF Matthew Morsovillo (Sandburg) has been on the rise over the last year plus and showed no signs of slowing down at the Senior Games. Morsovillo, listed at 6-foot-4, 180-pounds, has an athletic, long-levered frame. The right-handed hitter does a quality job of controlling his levers, leading to a compact, highly-repeatable swing that stays short to the ball and always seems to be on time and on the barrel. Morsovillo has a chance to be an offensive threat who should only see his bat continue to ascend as he adds strength to his long frame.
At 6-4, 180 @mattmorso7 (Sandburg, 2022) is a long levered hitter who's short to the ball with above average bat speed.#ILSrGames pic.twitter.com/PTKBiZSWdF
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
OF Myles Supurgeci (Mount Carmel) opened eyes right out of the gate, thanks to his 6.45 laser-timed 60. He followed it up with an advanced round of outfield defense, flying around the field, playing extremely light and fast on his feet. Supurgeci also showed off surprising pop at the plate, driving a double to the left-field wall during game play.
Starting off his day with a 6.45 in the 60, @MylesSupurgeci (@CaravanBaseball, 2022) is a gap to gap LD hitter to pair with his plus speed.#ILSrGames @PBR_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/owXZlgtvc4
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
Fellow Mount Carmel HS product, INF Jorgie Vazquez has a lot to like in his game. Defensively, he is natural on the left-side of the infield, playing in rhythm, comfortable on the move with the ability to throw from multiple arm slots and get rid of the baseball in a hurry, when needed. Vazquez also has a knack for the barrel, finishing game play 2-for-2.
INF Jorgie Vazquez (@CaravanBaseball, 2022) strung together a consistent round of hard pull gap contact. His best metrics here ⬇️#ILSrGames | @PBR_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/ZXC5CA7g2f
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
A couple of infielders who were all over the barrel and tough outs during game play were INF Colin Husko (Wauconda) and Trevor Morris (Neuqua). Husko swings a repeatable left-handed bat, staying short and inside the baseball with the ability to spray line drives to all fields. Morris, who ran a 7.15, is a spark plug type who takes competitive at-bats and finished 2-for-3 during game play with a triple.
A couple of right-handed hitters who potentially could profile in the middle of an order are Matthew Bivens (Yorkville), Brian Twomey (Riverside-Brookfield) and Javy Garcia (Harlem). Bivens, listed at 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, was on the barrel, going 3-for-3 with a double to left field during game play. Twomey has a physical, 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame and creates easy bat speed and loud contact from the right-side of the plate. Twomey went 2-for-3 with two doubles to center field during game play. Garcia has a broad-shouldered 6-foot-3, 205-pound and creates leverage and lift to the pull side of the diamond. Garcia went 2-for-2 with a double to left field.
Two highly-athletic outfielders who measured towards the top of the list when it comes to max hand speed, according to Blast, were OF’s Drew Wellington (Mundelein) and Angelo Luna (St. Laurence). Wellington is a left/left outfielder who ran a 6.60 60, was 88 mph and profiles in center field and at the top of an order. Wellington went 3-for-3 during gameplay, including running a 4.18 on an infield single. Luna is also a dynamic prospect in his own right, despite not running the 60 on this day (6.72 60 runner in the past). Luna showed off advanced outfield actions, playing fast and taking proper routes to go along with a plus arm that topped at 92 mph from the outfield. Luna also has sneaky pop in his right-handed swing, doubling hard into the right-center field gap during game play and registering a max exit velocity of 96 mph during BP.
Another athletic outfielder who can run is switch-hitter Bryce Goodwine (Hononegah). Goodwine beat out an infield single running a 4.18 from the right-side of the plate. Goodwine ran a 6.80, played a lock down center field during game play and was 87 mph from the outfield during the workout.
ARMS
In total 11 arms ran their fastball up to 83 mph, or harder, with RHP Tyler Altenbaumer (St. Joseph-Ogden) leading the way with the firmest fastball at 89.07 mph (T2304 rpm). Altenbaumer challenged hitters throughout his outing with a lively fastball that got on hitters quick, sitting 87-88. Altenbaumer also went to a 76-78 mph that worked off a 10/4 plane with a short late wrinkle, to keep hitters honest. Altenbaumer was one of the day's biggest winners’ on the mound.
RHP Tyler Altenbaumer (@SJOBaseball, 2022) with one of the better two-inning stints so far.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 10, 2021
Lively arm, attacked hitters, landed the BB for a strike and FB sat 86-88, T89. #ILSrGames pic.twitter.com/icTkbX80pg
RHP Chase Krueger (Glenbard West) also had an impressive showing in his stint. Krueger has an athletic/broad-shouldered 6-foot, 185-pound frame and throws from a low ¾ slot with some deception throughout his delivery. Krueger gets hard run on his 85-86 mph fastball (average of 15.9 inches of horizontal break; T23.6 inches) and pairs it with a 70-71 mph curveball that plays out of the same window with sweeping action across the zone.
LHP Gavan Wernsing (Stewardson-Strasburg) is a durable 6-foot-2, 230-pound, durable arm who showed off intriguing stuff in his outing. Wernsing creates angle on a mid-80s fastball, T86 (T2223 rpm) with an average induced vertical break of 17.3 inches, T21.4 inches; indicators that Wernsing could create plenty of swing-and-misses on his fastball as he learns to move it up and down in the zone. Wernsing also showed solid shape and action on his slider which worked 1/7 and sat in the upper-70’s. Follow left-handed arm in the 2022 class.
LHP Hunter Cash (Paris) is far from polished on the mound but there is plenty of upside to dream on. Cash is listed at 6-foot-5, 190-pounds with long, loose-levers and plenty of physical development left to tap into. Cash has a short arm, creates tilt on his fastball and ran his fastball up to 84 mph. Upside left-handed arm to follow in the 2022 class.
RHP’s Matthew Cuzco (St. Ignatius) and Mason Weckler (Belvidere North) both showed off loose arms and ran their fastball up to 86+ mph.
There were a number of other players worth mentioning, that we will touch on in the coming days and weeks.
CLICK HERE for a full roster and stats from the event.
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