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June begins the summer circuit for recruiting and player evaluation.  One event that has become a "must" for players, coaches, and scouts in the Carolinas is the NC/SC Border Battle.  This year's event took returned to UNC Charlotte's Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium for two days of action, featuring 130 of the best players in NC and SC.  They did not disappoint. 

On Tuesday June 11th, the position players went through their offensive and defensive evaluations.  North Carolina worked out first taking multiple rounds of BP, followed by their defensive evaluations and athletic testing.  As North Carolina finished, South Carolina started with their athletic testing, defensive evals, and finally their offensive evaluation.  Coaches and scouts were able to see multiple rounds of BP from each player plus see them move around at their primary defensive position, getting a feel for their athleticism and feel for the game.

Wednesday June 12th was game day.  Each player was scheduled to play in one 9 inning game with pitchers throwing live to hitters.  In total, NC and SC squared off in 4 exciting games and the roster of the top players in the two states put on a show.

Below we begin the process of unpacking everything we saw at the high level event.  From stats to player notes, to a deep dive into some analytics, we will work to uncover everything these players did and all the numbers they put up at the two day event.  To see the full roster and full statistical package, CLICK HERE.

By the Numbers:

• 5 Players ran under 6.74 on the laser timing system
• 22 Players ran 7.00 or under
• 39 Players tested their vertical jump at 30in or above
• 20 Players saw at least one of their splits come in at 20mph or higher
• 17 Infielders saw their arm strength at 85mph or higher across the diamond
• 6 Outfielders tested with arm strength at 90mph or higher
• 13 Catchers posted a pop timed of 2.00 or under in the workout
• 5 hitters saw an exit velocity of 100mph or higher
• 78 hitters peaked their exit velocity at 90mph or better
• 6 hitters carried an average exit velocity of better than 90mph over two rounds of 8 swings
• 14 hitters posted a BLAST bat speed of 70mph or higher
• 189.7psi was the top grip strength posted at teh event
• 89.3mph was the top fastball velocity
• 10 arms were above 87mph on the day
• 3 arms saw their fastball spin rate above 2400rpm
• 2975rpm was the top breaking ball spin rate captured on the day
• 1 committed player took part in the event

TrackMan Hitting Leaders - NC/SC Border Battle

EXIT VELOCITY

TrackMan is able to track every ball hit into fair territory, throughout the BP sessions.  Below are the best exit velocities produced by individual players, by category.

Max Exit Velocity

Best Average Exit Velocity

DISTANCE OFF THE BAT

TrackMan is able to measure and track the ball while in the air.  For every fair ball put in play it will display the distance the hit traveled.

Peak Distance - Best of the Hitter’s Session

Average Distance - Average of each ball tracked in the Session

SWEET SPOT PERCENTAGE

TrackMan is able to track and follow how hard the ball is hit as well as the angle off the bat. With this information, TrackMan has deduced the Sweet Spot as batted balls hit with a launch angle of 8 - 32 degrees.

LAUNCH ANGLE PERCENTAGE

Based on the ball flight, TrackMan is able to identify each hit as a ground ball, line drive, or fly ball.  While there are many factors as to why a hitter may approach each pitch in a certain way, the overall groupings of BP can give some insight to each hitter's approach.

Line Drive %

Fly Ball %

Ground Ball %