Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

IL/WI Underclass Games: Takeaways

July 22, 2020
By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

The eighth annual PBR Illinois/Wisconsin Underclass Games took place at Ozinga Field, in Crestwood, Ill., on Tuesday, July 21. The invite-only event featured over 75 of the top 2023 prospects from both Illinois and Wisconsin with a handful of committed prospects in attendance.

The event featured a pro-style workout in the morning followed by game-play in the afternoon. The game-play was live-streamed and can be viewed by CLICKING HERE or by visiting the @PBRIllinois twitter handle.

A number of 2023s made strong impressions over the course of the day and emerged as high-follows in their respective states. Today we take a look at some of the standout performances from the event, as well as a full statistical breakdown from the day.  

TAKEAWAYS

All of the committed prospects in attendance; SS Ryan Jefferson (Providence Catholic; Illinois), RHP/OF Adam Switalski (Westosha Central (WI); Indiana), OF Dillon Head (Homewood-Flossmoor; Michigan), OF Trey Swiderski (Joliet Catholic; Louisville) and C TJ Schuyler (Antioch; Indiana), showed they were committed for a reason. All five showed well in all facets of the game and were clearly some of the top prospects in attendance.

Of all the impressive performances on the day, committed or not, Illinois commit, SS Ryan Jefferson (Providence Catholic) stood out amongst the rest. Jefferson is as smooth as they come on the infield, with advanced range, soft hands and the knack for making the difficult plays look easy. Jefferson made multiple plays in the 6-hole that he had no business getting too, let alone completing the assist. Jefferson, a left-handed hitter, also took one of the more impressive rounds of BP on the day and found the barrel for two line-drive singles during game-play.

When looking at the uncommitted talent in attendance, four catchers; Thomas Curry (Arrowhead, WI), Ryan Bakes (Huntley), Cooper Cohn (McHenry) and Bryce Nevils (Brother Rice) put together some of the top performances on the day.

Curry is a 5-foot-11, 190-pound, physical right-handed hitter and routinely recorded sub 2.0 pop times during the workout. Curry finished game-play 2-for-2. 

Bakes was another catcher who stood out during the workout but then took it to another level during the game. Bakes has a compact, strong, 5-foot-9, 181-pound frame, ran a 6.93 60, was 80 mph from the crouch, was consistently in the low 1.9’s with his pop times and was all over the barrel in BP. Bakes averaged 90.06 mph exit velocity off the bat during BP which was fourth highest on the day. In his first in-game at-bat, Bakes showed off his bat strength once again, launching a moonshot of a home run down the left-field line. 

Cohn has a repeatable right-handed swing with present twitch and thump off the bat. Defensively, he has highly-athletic feet, a quick glove-to-hand transfer and above-average arm strength (75 mph) from behind the plate. He has also been up to 86 mph on the mound this summer. 

Nevils continues to add strength to his athletic 6-foot, 176-pound frame and was one of the top bats in attendance. Nevils creates advanced bat speed, stays through the zone a long time and has an advanced feel for the barrel. 

Two corner infielders; Charalambos Nicoloudes (Naperville Central) and Graham Mastros (New Trier) elevated their stock moving forward. Nicoloudes is a 6-foot, 172-pound, right-handed hitter with plenty of room for added physicality. Offensively, he features a simple, easy, strong swing and the ball jumps off the barrel. Nicoloudes finished game play 1-for-2 with a walk and a loud double to deep left-center field. His out was barreled right at the second baseman.

Mastros has a 6-foot-2, 195-pound, strong, wide-shouldered frame and he moves exceptionally well (6.72 60) given his physical stature. The right-handed hitter averaged 93.32 mph off the bat during BP and carried that over into the game when he launched a deep home run over the left-field fence. He also showed the athleticism and body control to potentially stick at third base moving forward. 

Another intriguing infielder with upside is left-handed hitter Bryer Arview (Civic Memorial). Arview has a lean, athletic, 5-foot-11, 160-pound frame, with room for added strength and showed the ability to stick up the middle of the diamond. Offensively, he has athletic, strong hands, with sneaky pop. Arview finished game play 1-for-2 with a deep triple to left-center field. 

Two of the higher-upside outfielders on the day were Adison Worthman (Bloomington) and JT Kelenic (Catholic Memorial, WI). It is impossible to miss Worthman when he walks into the building thanks to his 6-foot-2, 230-pound, physically-advanced, imposing frame. On top of that, he turned in a head-turning workout. Worthman ran an event-best 6.57 60 and was runner-up with a 94 mph exit velocity off a tee. The powerful right-handed hitter averaged 91.01 mph off the bat during BP, third best on the day. Worthman cemented himself as one of the top uncommitted position players in the class.

Kelenic fills out the jersey at 6-foot-4, 195-pounds and seemingly is not done adding to the already impressive frame. At the plate he has athletic, loose, strong hands, controls the barrel, made a lot of hard contact and showed a polished approach. 

ARMS

Switalski, an Indiana commit, who was mentioned above, led the day when it comes to the firmest fastball, at 87 mph. He has a live, loose arm and went right after hitters with his firm fastball.

Behind Switalski was RHP Zachary Olson (Muskego, WI) and RHP Grant Tenuta (Sandburg). Both topped at 85 mph and showed clean, quick arms that should produce plenty of more velocity to come down the road.

When it comes to baffling hitters and getting a number of swing-and-misses, RHP Jack Duncan (Macomb) is one to know. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound right-hander sat 82-83 mph but it was his slider/slurve that played 70-72 mph that was giving hitters all kinds of trouble. Duncan struck out the side in his inning of work and will be one to follow closely moving forward.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

TOP 60-YARD DASH

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY

MAX EXIT VELOCITY

MAX INFIELD VELOCITY

MAX OUTFIELD VELOCITY

MAX CATCHER VELOCITY

TOP POP TIMES

CLICK HERE to view the full statistical breakdown of the day.

CLICK HERE for a look at the complete roster.

RELATED CONTENT

Premium Content Area

This article is only available to PBRPlus Subscribers. If you wish to continue reading this article:

Login to the Subscriptions Website.
To purchase a NEW SUBSCRIPTION, please click here to go to our subscription products page.