On Oct. 25, the PBR Illinois staff hosted its final event of the year: the Underclass Showcase. This event was open to all of the state’s prospects in its 2023, 2024, and 2025 graduating classes, and allowed us to end our annual showcase circuit with a bang. 

Our staff was treated to a look at some of the brightest up-and-coming talents in the state, and we began our event breakdown on Tuesday with a close examination of the event’s highlights, inside this Quick Hits post. We’re continuing our breakdown today by taking a closer look at the showcase leaderboards.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY (Trackman)

RHP Derek Jahn (Warren Township, 2023) stole the show when he came out hot with a 91 mph fastball on pitch one, and he eventually reached a 93.3 mph high in his bullpen – very comfortably the highest mark of the day, by over five ticks. Jahn’s physicality and advanced strength have propelled him up the ‘23 radar in-state, and he showed upside with his offspeed, too. It was an excellent look at a new name to know.

Freshman RHP Luke Oblen (DePaul College Prep, 2024) is an exciting prospect in the state, and one of the best ‘24s we’ve seen to date. He sat exclusively at 87-89 mph, and it was thrown with an effortless ease. His 88.5 mph high was also comfortably good for the No. 2 spot on this board, though there’s another freshman not too far behind, all things considered. RHP Michael Furmanek (Plainfield East, 2024) has a long, loose, and live arm that was able to produce big velo for his age, topping 84.9 mph on Sunday.

Sophomore RHP/INF William Ho (Hinsdale Central, 2023) is a physical 5-foot-11, 195-pound two-way player, and his strength finds a way to emerge from his profile in a multitude of ways, including on the mound. He topped 86.5 mph himself, with good vertical action attached to arm-side run.

RHP Christian Graves (Marengo, 2023) rounds out this top-five, inside another durable/strong 6-foot-1, 195-pound stature. He sat 82-84 mph on Sunday, topping 84.8 mph, per TrackMan.

TOP 60-YARD DASH

There were seven underclassmen who clocked in sub-7.00 times in the 60-yard dash, an excellent number for players no older than sophomores in high school. But it was actually a freshman who paced this group with a 6.81 time: OF Mason W. Phillips (Oak Park-River Forest, 2024). He’s a live athlete with budding athleticism and potential, underscored within this category.

OF/3B Luke Stulga (St. Laurence, 2023) was one of the day’s biggest winners, putting together a well-rounded performance. His 6.85 time in the 60 is especially impressive when considering that Stulga is built at a lanky 6-foot-2, 165 pounds.

C Colin Barczi (Naperville Central, 2023) was another one of this showcase’s top overall performers and he, too, is physical, listed at a strong 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame. With it, Barczi ran a 6.91 while taking one of the most robust rounds of batting practice. OF Krew Bond (Mendota Township, 2023) is a compact, strong 5-foot-9, and he recorded some standout measurements throughout the day, including here.

Another 2024, OF/INF Luke Jurack (Hinsdale Central), emerged as a follow freshman in the state after running a 6.97 while continuing to make his presence felt throughout the day.

Statistically, C Tyler Stack (Oswego) stole our attention at first with his highly projectable 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame, and he used it to run a 7.03 while also recording some of the top measurements from behind the plate, as you’ll soon find out.

MAX EXIT VELOCITY (BATTING PRACTICE)

We highlighted it in Monday’s Quick Hits, but C/1B Andy Roman (Wheaton Academy, 2023) clearly possesses some of the best raw power potential in the class. He’s a physical 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, and he takes aggressive right-handed swings but is still able to show fast, athletic hands that stay on plane, meeting the ball on a consistent incline which should best utilize his power in the long-term. His max exit speed was measured at 98.8 mph on Sunday, the event high by a couple ticks.

From Loyola Academy, 3B/1B Michael Clarkson (2023) has a stout/strong 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame, and he used it to land hard-hit contact with some consistency during BP. His max exit speed left the bat at 96.6 mph, and he averaged 89.8 mph during his round, the second highest of the event.

SS/3B Cal Sefcik (Marist, 2023) was genuinely one of the day’s top overall performers, and he may have produced the showcase’s best single round of BP. His max exit was measured at 96.4 mph and he was the lone hitter to average an exit velocity of 90-plus mph (90.1).

We mentioned Barczi earlier, as he ran well in the 60-yard dash and especially for his size. He leverages hard-hit contact from the right-handed box with some frequency, as he topped 95.3 mph off the barrel here, at an 88.3 average.

SS/2B Ryan Niedzwiedz (West Aurora, 2023) recorded the hardest exit speeds among left-handed bats on Sunday. His twitchy swing is really impressive, and he looks like a high-follow member in the state’s sophomore class. Niedzwidez recorded a max exit speed of 96.0 mph.

C Daniel Connelly (Mundelein, 2023) and SS Colin Schmitke (Stevenson, 2023) stood out during batting practice for repeating their hard-hit contact well. Connelly just missed the board above with a 91.6 mph top, but he averaged an exit speed of 87.5, which was actually among the day’s highest. Schmitke looks like a real shortstop, and his strong right-handed swing also produced a 93.0 mph high here.

MAX INFIELD VELOCITY

MAX OUTFIELD VELOCITY

Some familiar names that we’ve previously mentioned on this list, like Sefcik's. His all-around day was maybe the most memorable, as he also came in at the top of the infield velo board with an 87 mph high across, all while looking the part of an infielder fit for the left side. Ho’s physicality and strength shows itself here as well, as does Schmitke’s. SS/2B Charlie Wolf (St. Ignatius, 2023) was another statistical standout on Sunday, measuring some above-average exit rates while also taking a smooth round of defense. Normal Community’s Jacob O’Day (2023) is another prospect coming out of this event to monitor. He’s a two-way player who started his day with a 7.07 time in the 60, topped 82 mph across the infield, and eventually was up to 84.3 mph on the mound.

Bond’s athletic round of outfield defense was also complemented by his inherent arm strength, recording an 89 mph high to home here, the day’s best by three ticks. New Trier sophomore Drew Gilley (2023) performed well across several categories Sunday, both offensively and defensively. His 86 mph best to home was certainly noteworthy, and he demonstrated some bat speed while producing a 95.1 mph top exit speed during BP. Mike Polubinski (Oswego East, 2023) is a physical 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, and he ranged around the outfield with athleticism, and projects well overall – as do his two brothers of the same age. Lastly, after his excellent round of BP, Stulga’s athletic and rangy round of outfield defense established the St. Laurence prospect as a high-follow sophomore.

MAX CATCHER VELOCITY

TOP POP TIMES

Here, Stack continued to show why he's trending up as a prospect in the state’s sophomore class. Reiterating his lean/wiry 6-foot-2 size, Stack moves around in the crouch with athleticism and it resulted in him averaging the lowest pop times of the event – and by a healthy margin. His arm played accurately, too, topping 77 mph through the infield.

Barczi’s arm strength showed a tick better, but it was less accurate than Stack’s. Still, Barczi demonstrated the potential to continue developing into one of the state’s best backstops, especially if he continues to hit the way he has been. The aforementioned Connelly showed well here, too, as did Roman. Sean Ryniec (Downers Grove North, 2023) stood out at times this summer, and his round of defense was efficient, projecting well as he continues to develop.

For a complete look at the event’s stat leaderboards, click here. Keep a lookout the rest of this week as we dive deeper into the data gathered at Sunday’s showcase, examining the Blast Motion and TrackMan leaderboards more closely.

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