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St. Louis Open: Quick Hits

June 15, 2023
By: Diego Solares
Area Scout, Illinois & Missouri

On Tuesday, June 13th, the PBR Missouri and Illinois staff converged on the campus of Saint Louis University to host the annual St. Louis Open. This event was open to all 2024-to-2027 graduates and, like all PBR events, served as an identifier for future invite-only events, such as our Top Prospect Games and the PBR Future Games.

To see a list of those that attended, click HERE. For all of the statistics from this event, click HERE. 

Today, after compiling our notes and digesting the day as a whole, we’ve put together these ‘Quick Hits’ to shine some light on some of the day’s top performers. Below you’ll learn more about a few names-to-know from Tuesday’s trip to SLU.

QUICK HITS

+ Still uncommitted, MIF Cruz Harlan (Centralia, 2024; IL) was one of the standout prospects at SLU on Tuesday. A switch-hitter with a clean, athletic, and rhythmic swing from both sides of the plate, Harlan peppered line drives to all fields throughout his round, reaching a peak exit velocity of 97 mph on his firmest barrel. He’s proven to our staff he can hit in-game, slashing .426/.594/.660 this spring with 15 extra-base hits, while walking more than three times as much (33) as he struck out (11). Harlan ran a 7.06 60-yard dash, and he’s a fluid mover on the infield too, working in rhythm both up the middle and to his glove side with soft hands to pair. Harlan is one of the top prospects still on the market in southern Illinois.


+ INF Jake Stedman (Belleville West, 2024; IL) is another uncommitted soon-to-be senior that showed well at this event. Stedman continues to add noticeable strength, now standing at a more filled out 5-foot-10, 170-pounds with physicality throughout. He swung with authority throughout BP, generating some of the highest bat speed (77.8 mph) and hand speed (26.1 mph) at peak from this event. Stedman’s firmest batted ball jumped off his bat at 97.2 mph and he drove three balls 330+ feet at 90+ mph into the pull-side gap. Across the infield, Stedman fired an 86 mph strike on his first throw, good for the hardest mark of the event. This showing, coupled with yet another strong season at Belleville West where he slashed .356/.374/.442, has Stedman headed into a key summer with momentum.


+ At 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, 1B Jack Roessler (Waterloo, 2024; IL) doesn’t lack physicality in stature and showed that at the plate throughout his round of BP. Roessler blistered multiple baseballs from a short, uphill right-handed swing, launching four of his batted balls at 320+ feet, including three that traveled more than 345 feet, per TrackMan. His furthest barrel was bashed at 353 feet over the left field wall, leaving his bat at 97 mph, and his 101.2 mph max exit velocity was the second highest of this event. Roessler’s strength aided him in generating easy bat (76.4 mph) and hand speed (24 mph) on average. He’s also a football player and that athleticism shows, as running a 7.18 60-yard dash at his size is impressive. Roessler is a physical right-handed hitter that’s still uncommitted.


+ Coming off a strong spring season for the Wildcats, C Gavin Bradley (Eureka, 2024; MO) continues to trend upward in our eyes after another quality look on Tuesday. Built at a strong, thick 5-foot-10, 180-pounds, Bradley swung a heavy barrel, spraying line drives almost exclusively up the middle and off his barrel (80%) with a 95.6 mph max exit velocity and 319 ft. peak batted distance. His right-handed swing performed for Eureka throughout the MSHSAA season, as Bradley batted .402 with a .524 OBP and drove in a team-high 32 runs. Defensively, Bradley worked quickly to release, popping a 2.08 on his best bullet while peaking at 76 mph from the crouch, and he ran a 7.03 60-yard dash, too.


+ RHP Cale Berkbuegler (Kirkwood, 2024; MO) owns an impressive aptitude to spin his entire arsenal at a high rate and showed that throughout his ‘pen on Tuesday. Berkbuegler’s fastball played at 82-84, touching 85 mph, while spinning at 2463 RPM on average, peaking at 2529 RPM. He spun two distinct breaking balls, ripping them both off at an advanced rate. His curveball, a low-70s offering, had more depth and vertical break to it, averaging 2536 RPM with a 2654 RPM max. Berkbuegler’s slider played at 72-74 mph with lateral, more horizontal action, spinning at 2643 RPM on average, while peaking at 2859 RPM. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound soon-to-be senior was arguably the top pitching prospect in attendance and he’s still uncommitted.


+ CIF Brennan Nickerson (Parkway South, 2024; MO) is another physical uncommitted right-handed hitter that showed loud raw power and strength in BP at this event. The 6-foot, 215-pound soon-to-be senior swatted the day’s second furthest batted ball, barreling a ball up at 97.4 mph that traveled 370 ft., per TrackMan. Nickerson hit three other balls at 97+ mph - 97.8 mph, 98.9 mph, and his peak of 99.5 mph. His inherent strength helped him create plenty of bat speed, both on average (77.6 mph) and at peak (83 mph).


+ Two uncommitted 2024 arms that made the trip to SLU from Pittsfield, Illinois, that showed well: RHP Konner Allen and RHP Brennan Tomhave. Allen, who stands at 6-foot-3, 195-pounds, worked the strike zone with all four of his pitches, featuring both a fastball and sinker that each, respectively, reached 19+ inches of horizontal movement, with the former moving as much as 21.3 inches horizontally, per TrackMan. Allen landed a tighter-shape slider at 71-74 mph and he created some natural run on his changeup at 73-74 mph, too. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Tomhave also showed a four-pitch mix, including a projectable fastball from a loose, clean, high ¾ arm slot. His curveball and slider both had natural sweeping action from differing velocity bands, each of them spinning off a 10/4 plane and reaching as high as 17.8 inches of horizontal movement. Tomhave consistently spotted his changeup to the arm-side corner of the plate too, averaging 16 inches of run on the pitch, while peaking at 18.8 inches, per TrackMan.

+ INF Matthew Maue (Columbia, 2024) is a wiry 6-foot-1, 170-pound uncommitted soon-to-be senior that made for his best look to date at this event. Maue swung a loose, level right-handed bat that worked line drives exclusively to the pull-side throughout BP. He’s an agile defender with quick feet that play around the baseball and steady glovework to pair.

+ OF Hayden Bernreuter (Wesclin, 2025; IL) wields a loud, fluid left-handed bat that impressed in our live looks this spring, doing so again at Tuesday’s event. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound incoming junior squared his hardest ball up at 104.6 mph on his second swing of BP, which is one of the highest marks we’ve seen in the class. Bernreuter’s furthest batted ball traveled 371 ft., an event high, and left his bat at 96.5 mph, per TrackMan. He generates easy bat speed (74.1 mph) from a rotational attack and doesn’t exert much effort to impact the ball with as much authority as he does. This spring, Bernreuter slashed .440/.588/.800 with 19 extra-base hits and 33 RBIs for the 2A Warriors, and he heads into the summer as a name-to-know in the Illinois’ 2025 class.


+ OF Mason Marshall (Glenwood; IL) is another 2025 graduate that caught our attention this IHSA season and also looked the part at Tuesday’s event. A multi-sport 6-foot, 165-pound athlete that was an all-conference honoree on the basketball court, Marshall saw regular playing time for perennial 3A powerhouse Glenwood this spring. At SLU, he repeated steady line drive contact to the middle of the field from a short, simple, and direct right-handed swing. Marshall almost exclusively elevated the baseball (90%) and his firmest batted ball left his barrel at 93.1 mph. He was also up to 83 mph from the outfield and ran a 7.24 60-yard dash.


+ Fresh off a state championship as the starting center fielder for the Edwardsville Tigers, OF Greyson Rathgeb (2025) is a projectable 6-foot-1, 175-pound athlete to know in the Illinois’ 2025 class. Rathgeb produced line drives to the pull-side off his barrel in BP from a long, level right-handed swing that’ll add more thump as he continues to physically mature. He keeps showing one of the stronger outfield arms in the class too, firing all four of his throws at 88 mph to home during his defensive workout.

+ OF Nick Miller (Vianney, 2025; MO) is a lean, wiry 5-foot-11, 175-pound athlete that showed an upside offensive profile at this event. Miller favored the pull-side gap in BP, back spinning baseballs that way from a level left-handed swing that’ll impact the ball at a higher rate as he gets stronger.

+ A physical 6-foot-1, 185-pound athlete, C Ethan Heller (Beardstown, 2025; IL) showed advanced raw bat strength for his age at this event. Heller’s furthest barrel traveled 348 ft over the left-center wall in BP and he averaged 87.4 mph per batted ball, peaking at 93.1 mph, from a strong, uphill right-handed swing.

+ MIF Hayden Bugger (Triad, 2025; IL) consistently sprayed pull-side line drives from a short, direct right-handed swing that found the barrel often (67%) in BP at this event. Bugger averaged 85.6 mph per batted ball, peaking at 90.6 mph, and those are both marks that should increase as he continues to physically fill out his frame. On the infield, Bugger is a fluid mover who plays around the baseball with soft hands to pair that should stick on the dirt moving forward.

+ One of the top prospects in Missouri’s 2026 class, INF Brendan Pyle (Fort Zumwalt East; Mizzou commit) continues to look the part of a high-end name each time we see him. Pyle, who slashed .364/.520/.506 as a freshman hitting in the middle of the Lions’ order this spring, peppered line drives to all fields in BP from a rhythmic right-handed swing that he repeated consistently. His hardest ball left his bat at 93.3 mph and he sent his furthest batted ball into the pull-side gap 330 feet, per TrackMan. Pyle’s sure-handed on the infield too, with actions to stick somewhere on the dirt long term. He hopped on the mound later on in this event as well, averaging 18 inches of horizontal movement on his fastball at 83-84 mph. Pyle showed two secondaries; a tight, short wrinkle slider at 72-74 mph and a 75-77 mph changeup that he threw at fastball arm speed and slot, averaging 20+ inches of run.


+ RHP/INF Jackson Connoyer (Quincy Notre Dame, 2026; IL) stands at a lean, long-limbed, highly projectable 6-foot-3, 170-pounds. Connoyer’s upside on the mound is intriguing, as he controls his long levers well downhill for his age and has natural arm speed from a fast high ¾ slot. Connoyer’s fastball played in the upper-70s, with plenty more in the tank, and he spun a mid-60s breaking ball with natural lateral movement off an 11/5 plane that has swing-and-miss potential as he continues to gain intent on the pitch. Connoyer also featured a changeup that ran at 18.4 inches on average, per TrackMan, while effectively limiting spin (1541) and lift (9 IVB) on the pitch.

+ The lone 2027 graduate in attendance, OF Omar Avalos (Father McGivney; IL) is an intriguing athlete to follow as his high school career is set to start. Avalos ran a 7.15 60-yard dash, a noteworthy mark given his age, and he repeatedly produced pull-side line drives in BP from a flat, athletic left-handed swing. He reached the upper-80s exit velocity mark a handful of times, squaring his hardest ball up at 92.5 mph. Avalos moved well around the outfield too, playing around the baseball in rhythm with footwork feel to pair.

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