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Hounds Scout Day: Takeaways

August 26, 2024
By: Illinois Scouting Staff

On Wednesday, June 12th, the Prep Baseball Illinois team hosted the Hounds Scout Day at Providence Catholic HS in New Lenox, Ill. The event was for all high school classes (2025-2027), serving as an early opportunity to experience a showcase and be seen by Prep Baseball Illinois staff.

Today, we're going to break down the top prospects from the event inside this takeaways story.

TAKEAWAYS

+ OF Luke Nicholaus (Lyons Township, 2025) is an uncommitted bat to know from the event. Standing at a strong and sturdy 6-foot-1, 185-pounds. Nicholaus began the event with the event’s second-best 60 at 7.04. He then put up the second-highest max EV during batting practice at 97.1 mph with a simple, repeatable left-handed swing that was consistently on the barrel. Nicholaus also stood out defensively - posting the highest outfield velocity for the event at 85 mph.

+ INF Luke Fordonski (Downers Grove North, 2025) is a speedy uncommitted middle-infielder to follow. Presenting an athletic frame at 6-foot, 165-pounds, he ran the event’s best 60 time - clocking in at 6.79. The right-handed hitter also impressed during batting practice with his middle of the field approach, paired with occasional barrel strength (T88 mph EV).

+ OF Ryan Brown (Downers Grove North, 2027) is an upside left-handed bat from the event. A loose-levered prospect at 6-foot, 150-pounds with room for projection, Brown displayed the ability to use the whole field during his round of batting practice. He uses a direct path to the baseball and uses his levers to his advantage, and showed occasional pop - recording a max EV of 87.5 mph.

+ OF Gavin Powels (Downers Grove South, 2025) posted the loudest round of batting practice at this event. He recorded the highest average exit velocity (85.1 mph) and max exit velocity (98.6 mph), while also sending his farthest hit ball 373 feet, which also led the event. Powel’s BLAST metrics were highly impressive as well, leading the event in both average (77.4 mph) and max bat speed (80.5 mph). A 7.12 runner, Powers showed some quality actions in the outfield with a compact arm action that produced an outfield velocity of 82 mph.

+ INF/OF Henry Milburn (Hinsdale Central, 2027) produced one of the better rounds of batting practice at the event as an underclassmen. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound right-handed hitter was on the barrel throughout his round with a short, direct swing path, utilizing the whole field. Milburn recorded a max EV of 89.1 mph - which was 5th best for the entire event.

+ OF Josh Gugora (Benet Academy, 2025) had a loud showing with the bat. The strong 5-foot-10, 170-pound right-handed hitter recorded the third-highest exit velocity for the event at 92.5 mph, paired with the second-highest average EV at 83.9 mph.

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