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PBR IL: John Wood CC Scout Day, Takeaways

September 19, 2023
By: Gavin Smith and Diego Solares
Illinois Scouting Staff

On Friday, September 8th, PBR Illinois traveled to John Wood Community College in Quincy, IL for the John Wood CC Scout Day. The event featured over 22 of John Wood’s players. The Blazers are coming off a 37-19 record in 2023.

To see a list of those that attended, click here. For all of the statistics from this event, click here. 

Now, at the event’s conclusion, our staff has rolled out a handful of takeaways and names-to-know from the Blazers’ scout day, which you can find below. 

TAKEAWAYS

+ OF/1B Payton Mansfield (Fremont (MI), 2021) stands in a hard-to-miss frame at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds with clear strength throughout his frame. Another right-handed bat that’s sure to be a middle of the lineup producer for the Blazers, Mansfield was named First Team All-American last season after posting a .433 batting average with 24 home runs and 74 RBIs. Delivering missile after missile during BP, Mansfield was consistently on the barrel throughout his round (100% hard hit), peppering baseballs 100+ mph throughout the round. His hardest hit ball of the day was blasted at 105.1 mph  with a max batted distance of 407’. Mansfield’s bat speed was well above average at 77.6 mph (avg.) and 83.9 mph (max). From the outfield, he showed a strong arm with his hardest bullet at 85 mph on his throws to home.

+ CIF Carson Moreno (Cristopher Columbus (FL), 2022) has present power production and he took one of the most impactful rounds of BP on the day. Standing in a strong 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame, Moreno led the event in nearly every hitting category. He posted the highest exit velocity of the event (107.7 mph), the highest average exit velocity (104.1 mph), the farthest max distance (413’), the farthest average distance (313’) and he was tied for the first in hard hit percentage (100%). Moreno also led the event in average and max bat speed (79.9 mph; 89.6 mph) and average and max hand speed (24.5 mph; 26.3 mph). The simple, right-handed swing takes little effort to produce loud numbers and he has the inherent bat strength to provide thump within this John Wood lineup. 

+ MIF/OF Garrett Meyer (Jacksonville, 2022) stands in an athletic 6-foot, 170-pound frame with room for added strength. Meyer had an all-around impressive showing on Friday. The right-handed hitter has twitchy hands that turned on the barrel with authority, sending his hardest hit ball 99.4 mph with an average of 94.6 mph. Meyer showed clean infield actions with confident hands and a strong and accurate arm on throws across the diamond (89 mph). Translating well in the outfield, too, Meyer’s arm played at upwards of 91 mph. 

+ RHP Tyler Dance (Quincy Notre Dame, 2023) is a name that jumped on our staff's radar last spring after anchoring a QND staff that made a deep run into the 2A state playoffs. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder impressed again in this look. A quick mover on the mound with clean and athletic actions, Dance’s fastball sat 82-85 mph.  He mixed in three offspeed pitches, showing the ability to throw his slider and changeup for strikes 100% of the time. His slider sat 68-71 mph with quality 10/4 shape (12.6” HM avg.). He killed the spin on his changeup, sitting in the mid-70s, with fade to the armside. He rounded out his arsenal with a curveball that had 15.7” of horizontal movement and more vertical depth than his slider. In his first year at John Wood, Dance figures to be a key arm for the Blazers. 

+ RHP Ethan McMasters (Westville, 2023) toes the rubber at 5-foot-10, 180-pounds with some present strength in his build. McMasters is a loose mover with intent down the mound, pitching at 84-85 mph (T85.7); a true four-seam that has carry and ride through the zone (17.9” IVB avg.). He showed an aptitude for spinning two breaking balls, spinning the slider at 2700+ RPM with 15.5” of horizontal movement on average and the curveball at an average of 2545 RPM. He rounded out his four-pitch mix with a changeup that sat 79-80 mph.

+ CIF Noah Deas (Lithonia (GA), 2022) took an impressive round of BP from the left side of the plate. Deas has an easy and simple swing with some uphill tendencies that produced a max exit velocity of 95.9 mph. He was consistently barreling the baseball with an average of 91.4 mph. He sent a ball over the right field fence that traveled an estimated 358’, per Trackman.

+ C Byron Blaise (Sycamore, 2022), a transfer from Rock Valley College, is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-handed hitter that consistently sprayed barrels gap-to-gap throughout his round. His hardest hit ball was 95.2 mph and he consistently blasted balls in the low-90s with his farthest hit ball traveling 354’. From the crouch, Blaise posted a 2.02 pop time and he fired his best bullet down to second at 78 mph.


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