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Peoria Summer ID: Quick Hits

June 20, 2024
By: Gavin Smith & Tyler Defibaugh
Illinois Scouting Staff

On June 18th, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Peoria Summer ID at East Side Complex in East Peoria, Ill. Over 30 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.

Earlier today, we released our Statistical Analysis with leaderboards that highlight some of the best metric from the event. To find all of the statistics from the event, click here.

Today we take a look at some of the top performances from the event, and will later roll out our position-by-position scouting analysis stories.

QUICK HITS

+ C Anson Zaiser (Washington, 2026) stands in a strong, athletic frame at 5-foot-10, 175-pounds. He continues to impress in front of staff at the plate, showing a right-handed bat with consistent well-hit balls. During batting practice, Zaiser averaged an 87.4 mph exit velocity, peaking at 92.5 mph while sending his farthest hit ball 339 feet (event best). Zaiser continues to be a follow uncommitted prospect in the stateโ€™s to-be junior class.

+ A pair of incoming juniorโ€™s from East Peoria showed well at this weekโ€™s event in SS Jackson Ahrens and 1B Auggie Lohnes.

Ahrens stands in an intriguing 5-foot-11, 163-pound frame with athleticism throughout. He showed one of the better rounds of batting practice on Tuesday, showing a short, slightly uphill bat path, hitting line drives (88%) consistently throughout the round. He produced a 90.5 mph max exit velocity and averaged 87.2 mph, and also sent his farthest hit ball 327 feet. He showed steady actions defensively, with clean and fluid footwork to both sides. Ahrens is a name-to-follow in the stateโ€™s 2026 class.

Lohnes stands in a strong 6-foot-1, 227-pound frame. He posted the second highest exit velocity (96.3 mph), the highest max bat speed (78.3 mph), and the second highest average bat speed (72.3 mph) at the event.

+ RHP/SS Madden Johnson (Mattoon, 2025) is currently ranked No. 114 in the stateโ€™s soon-to-be senior class. Johnson showed well throughout the entirety of the event on Tuesday. At the plate, he showed loose, athletic hands from the left side. He also showed quality actions up the middle with soft hands, a clean transfer, and an accurate arm across the diamond. Johnson then hopped on the bump and showed to be one of the better arms in attendance. He is an athletic mover downhill with a quick and athletic arm to pair. He threw the eventโ€™s hardest fastball at 84 mph, while sitting 81-83 with sink (avg. 8.6โ€ IVB), in the zone 75% of the time. He also showed a 69-71 mph changeup that flashed out-pitch potential with some fade at the bottom of the zone.

+ OF Deegan Aeilts (Normal University, 2025) had one of the most impressive all-around performances at Tuesdayโ€™s Peoria Summer ID. Aeilts began the event, running the second fastest 60 time (6.93), a significant improvement since the last event he attended. He followed with a strong round of batting practice, showing a short and simple swing from the left-side of the plate. Defensively, Aeilts attacked the ball in-stride and showed a long, loose arm with quickness out front, recording the highest outfield velocity at the event (85 mph).

+ 1B Jackson Griffith (Arcola, 2026) stands in a strong and sturdy 5-foot-11, 225-pound frame. He produced the highest exit velocity of the day (96.3 mph) while sending his farthest hit ball 306 feet. Griffith also recorded the highest average bat speed on the day (73.5 mph) and the second highest max bat speed (77.9 mph). An uncommitted right-handed hitter to follow.

+ INF August Burr (St. Bede Academy, 2026) emerged as a follow prospect after Tuesdayโ€™s event. He stood out during his round of batting practice, showing a simple, fluid swing at the plate with a slightly uphill bat path. He produced his hardest hit ball at 90.9 mph while sending the ball 322 feet, and he stayed on the barrel 81% of the time, per TrackMan. During his round of defense, Burr showed clean actions with a steady glove and clean transfer. He also ran a 7.09 60 time, the third best at the event. Burr is an uncommitted name-to-follow heading into his junior year.

+ OF Braden Mehn (Normal University, 2025) showed a twitchy left-handed swing that produced a max exit velocity of 89.6 mph, staying on the barrel for most of his round. He showed well in the outfield, too, moving well around the baseball and showing a long, loose arm action, topping out at 82 mph on throws to home.

+ OF/1B Cal Boeker (Morton, 2025) stood out in a hard-to-miss 6-foot-4, 202-pound frame. Boeker showed well during batting practice with a simple, left-handed swing, consistently making quality contact with the ball. He produced the second highest rotational acceleration at the event (23.5 mph) and a max exit velocity of 88.6 mph. Boeker is an uncommitted follow in Illinoisโ€™ 2025 class.

+ OF Chase Decker (Newman Central Catholic, 2025) is an intriguing uncommitted 2025 to follow from this weekโ€™s event. He stands in a 6-foot, 165-pound frame with more strength still to come. From the right side of the plate, Decker showed a direct, slightly uphill bat path, producing a max exit velocity of 91.7 mph and a max batted distance of 327 feet. He also showed a strong arm from the outfield, recording an 85 mph throw on his best bullet to home.

+ RHP Colson Welgat (Kewanee, 2025) made his Prep Baseball event debut this past Tuesday and emerged as a follow in the class. Heโ€™s a 5-foot-10, 152-pound prospect with athleticism in the frame and seemingly more strength to come. On the mound he showed a clean, easy delivery with minimal effort paired with a long, loose arm action out of a ยพ slot. His fastball sat 79-82 mph and came out of his hand clean. He turned to a curveball that showed 11/5 shape with quality spin (2,359 rpm), and a slider that he threw from a lower slot, sitting 72-74 mph.

+ OF Jacob Kenney (Mercer County, 2025) stood out at the event with some impressive Blast metrics. Kenney led the event in max hand speed (26.8 mph), average hand speed (23.4 mph), max rotational acceleration (38.1 mph), and average rotational acceleration (23.4 mph). He also posted the best 60 time of the day, running a 6.91.

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