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Northwest Suburban Summer ID: Quick Hits

July 11, 2024
By: Gavin Smith & Peter Hamot
Illinois Staff

On July 9th, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Northwest Suburban Summer ID at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg, Ill. Over 45 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball Illinois staff.

Yesterday, we took a look at the top measurable data performers from the event, found here.

We’ll continue rolling out our post-event content pieces from this week’s event with this ‘Quick Hits’ story. Continue reading below to learn more about a few name-to-know prospects from this year’s Northwest Suburban Summer ID.

QUICK HITS

INF Tyler Edmondson (Oak Park-River Forest, 2026) had an all-around impressive day on Tuesday. A 5-foot-7, 151-pound frame, Edmondson has athleticism throughout, and started the event by running one of the day’s top 60 times (7.02). He’s a right-handed hitter at the plate and showed a fluid swing with pull-side power, posting a max exit velocity of 89.2 mph while sending his farthest hit ball 340 feet. His athleticism translated to his defensive workout, showing fluid footwork with soft hands and the ability to move both up the middle and to the backhand. He displayed a long, loose arm action that played from multiple slots, topping out at 81 mph across the diamond.

MIF Kyle Ziebell (Harvest Christian, 2026) continues to look the part on both sides of the ball. Currently ranked No. 91 in the state, the 5-foot-11, 163-pound prospect started his day by cruising to a 7.00 in the 60. At the plate, the right-handed hitter displayed twitchy, quick hands that work direct to the ball with a slightly uphill path, staying balanced throughout his operation and through impact. Defensively, he moves well laterally to pair with soft hands and a strong arm (T85 mph).

C Jackson Merdalo (Stevenson, 2025) posted one of the loudest rounds of batting practice at this week’s event. He led the event in max exit velocity (97.1 mph), average exit velocity (89.1 mph), max batted distance (374 feet), and average rotational acceleration (17.1) He had impressive bat speed, too, recording the second highest average bat speed throughout his round (71.9 mph). Merdalo also posted a 2.03 pop time (second best) while firing his best ball to second base at 85 mph. An uncommitted name to follow in the soon-to-be senior class.

1B/OF Jacob Ganir (East Leyden, 2026) showed well in his Prep Baseball event debut during his round of batting practice. The 5-foot-9, 205-pound left-handed hitter showed strength throughout his frame, posting the second highest exit velocity at the event (93.9 mph) and the third farthest max batted distance (356 feet). It’s a loose, easy swing with a mostly flat path through the zone, showing a mostly pull-side approach throughout the round.

INF Grayson Hoffman (Latin School of Chicago, 2026) is a name-to-follow after an intriguing workout in his event debut. A 5-foot-8, 147-pound frame with seemingly more to come, Hoffman showed a fluid and easy right-handed swing, staying on the barrel throughout the entire round to the middle and pull-side of the field. He showed some bounce defensively with clean footwork and a steady glove, also showing the ability to range to both sides.

TWO WAY

RHP/C Enrique Villanueva (St. Laurence, 2025) had an impressive showing in multiple aspects Tuesday. On the mound, the right-hander worked exclusively out of the stretch into a medium balance point, moving into a drop/drive lower-half that stayed in-line down the mound. His arm is long and loose throughout it’s path, delivering his arsenal from a ¾ slot. His fastball played mostly straight with some life out of the hand at 80-84 mph, topping out at 85 mph. He flashed some feel for both a curveball and slider, both playing at 68-70 mph with slider having more lateral action. His final offering was a changeup with slight running action at 75-76 mph. On the other side of the ball, the strong right-handed hitter was on the barrel to the whole field, utilizing a flat bat path. He also recorded as low as 2.01 for his pop-time in the defensive segment.

LHP/1B Grant Statler (Hononegah, 2027) showed well both at the plate and on the mound. A left-handed hitter at the plate, Statler showed a direct path to the ball and was on the barrel throughout, posting a max exit velocity of 87.2 mph. He showed clean actions on the mound with minimal effort and a long, loose arm action. His fastball was up to 82 mph with arm-side run, also mixing in a change-up with fade and a curveball with sweeping action.

OF/LHP Caleb East (Oswego, 2028) stands in an intriguing frame at 5-foot-10, 145-pound frame. At the plate the left-handed hitter showed loose, athletic hands with an easy, flat path through the zone, hitting balls to all fields. On the mound he showed a loose arm and quality actions on a three-pitch mix. He also ran a 7.39 60 time.

PITCHERS

RHP Andrew Ulmer (Loyola, 2026) showed some intrigue on the mound Tuesday. Standing in at 6-foot-1, 161-pounds, the right-hander has all sorts of room to add on strength in the coming years. Perhaps the most notable part of his ‘pen was his final pitch, which clocked in at 82 mph, nearly four mph higher than what he was sitting beforehand. He showed an innate feel to spin the breaking ball, with his curveball coming in around 2,500 rpm and the slider at 2,400 rpm, both showing sharp action. There appears to be much more in the tank for the project bale right-hander.

LHP Lucas Kohlmeyer (Benet, 2026) emerged as a rising junior to know from the day. Listed at 6-foot, 181-pounds with some present strength throughout, the southpaw impressed with a quality three-pitch mix throughout his ‘pen. His fastball cruised in the low-80s, topping out at 82 mph with over 2,300 rpm at times, landing it for strikes with heavy run to the arm-side. His curveball showed some swing/miss potential, playing with 3/9 shape and some sweeping action at 67-67 mph. His final offering was a changeup at 72-73 mph, kept mostly to his arm-side with fade/sink.

RHP Cavan Dunne (Benet, 2025) popped as an uncommitted senior to know. Listed at a lean and projectable 6-foot, 168-pounds, the right-hander worked his fastball up to 83 mph, cruising around 80-82 mph with carry and notable spin (T2245 rpm), playing effectively at the top of the zone. His curveball showed some out-pitch potential with 12/6 shape and depth, 64-67 mph. His final offering was a splitter that he killed spin with, 70-73 mph flashing some arm-side action.

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