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Milwaukee Area Technical College: Gameday Takeaways

October 28, 2021
By: Diego Solares
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

On Wednesday, October 27, the PBR Wisconsin staff made one final trip to The Rock Sports Complex in 2021 to check in on one of the state’s lone JUCO programs - the Milwaukee Area Tech Stormers.

In the midst of their Fall World Series, our staff got an up-close look at a talented bunch of players littered throughout the MATC roster - all of which are uncommitted.

Below, we’ve provided our notes from the day’s action, including which players popped as follow names.

TAKEAWAYS 

ORANGE TEAM

+ The orange team kicked this game off with two quality freshmen toeing the rubber, starting with RHP Logan LeTourneau. An ultra-physical 6-foot-3, 210-pound athlete, LeTourneau comfortably moved down the mound, controlling his body and maintaining direction throughout. He featured an 84-86 mph fastball from a clean slot, attacking hitters at the knees. He complimented that projectable heater with three different pitches, all of which he threw around the zone in any given count. His go-to offering appeared to be a slider, throwing it with intent at 76-78 mph with late sweeping action. LeTourneau also landed a high-60s curveball for strikes and occasionally mixed in a tumbling low-70s splitter. He figures to be a staple inside the MATC rotation throughout the season.

+ The second freshman, pitching two innings in relief, that looked the part on the orange squad was LHP Dylan Lapic. A top-60 prospect in his high school class, Lapic is a lanky 6-foot-2, 175-pound southpaw with thin levers capable of adding weight and square shoulders. He pumped his fastball in at 84-86 mph from a difficult slot, working both corners of the plate throughout this brief stint. Lapic turned to a sweeping hook at 74-75 mph when he needed to and it’s a pitch that projects to miss bats, especially if he adds velocity to it. He struck three batters out and induced three weak ground balls, too.

+ Perhaps the loudest arsenal we saw yesterday afternoon came from 6-foot-3, 225-pound RHP Justin Grosse. Our scouting staff got an up-close look at Grosse at the Region IV showcase in September and he impressed us yet again in this quick one inning look at The Rock. Grosse struck out the side on three fastballs, a pitch he pumped in at 85-88 mph from a loose, live arm. He flipped in a sharp, swing-and-miss breaking ball that he threw with fastball intent at 66-68 mph in any count, showcasing clear confidence in the pitch. Still uncommitted, Grosse will undoubtedly be a key piece to the MATC pitching staff this spring.

+ Freshman 1B/LHP Daniel Flores looked like a real two-way contributor for the Stormers’ orange squad, hitting out of the three-hole and entering the game in late relief. A top-110 prospect in the Illinois’ 2021 class, Flores may ultimately be more valuable to MATC on the bump, featuring an 85-87 mph fastball that jumped from a loose high ¾ slot and low-70s breaking ball.

Daniel Flores

+ Another arm that showed well at the Region IV showcase from this MATC squad is LHP David Go, who graduated as a top-75 prospect in Wisconsin’s 2020 class. A 6-foot-4, 220-pound southpaw, Go sat at 82-84 mph in-game, touching 85 mph early in his inning. He showed capable of landing two different breaking balls for strikes and looks like a quality left-handed option for MATC this spring.
 David Go


+ Hitting leadoff for the orange team was freshman LHP/OF Brett Stuessel. He boasts an athletic frame with a strong lower half and paced his respective squad in hits, finishing the day with two singles. Stuessel hopped on the mound late in the game and filled up the lower quadrants of the strike zone with a low-80s fastball, spinning a slurvey-type breaking ball at 71-73 mph as well.

Brett Stuessel

+ OF Winston Parke is a highly athletic prospect that has the tools to be an everyday asset for this MATC squad. From Florida, Parke put up extremely impressive metrics at the Region IV showcase in September, running a 6.63 in the 60-yard dash and finishing amongst the day’s best in all Blast Motion categories. Yesterday, Parke showcased a loose right-handed stroke that just missed impact-type contact a handful of times, but his natural ability to generate bat speed was on display. In pregame warmups, Parke naturally glided around the outfield and uncorked several on-target throws to home from center field.

Winston Parke

+ 1B Erick Rodriguez homered in a key moment, tying the game late at 2-2. He’s a 6-foot, 208-pound left-handed hitter that was penciled into the cleanup spot for his squad.

GREY TEAM

+ Set to make an impact at MATC as their likely everyday shortstop, INF Jared Cortez showcased his advanced defensive skill-set multiple times throughout this game. He made a handful of quality plays at shortstop and his arm played true to the bag, firing accurate throws across the infield from a few different slots. Cortez has the athleticism to stick up the middle in  the long run, as he was a 6.62 runner back in high school and ran a 4.18 down the line yesterday while beating out an infield grounder.

+ C Joe Fiorillo was another freshman that stood out on the grey team, hitting out of the three-hole. A strong left-handed hitter with clear physical definition in the upper half, Fiorillo uses that forearm strength to generate easy bat speed, flicking his wrists and accelerating his barrel through the zone. He elevated baseballs to both gaps in this game, the first one being a hard-hit line out to right field. Fiorillo is capable of providing the Stormers with quality contributions as a freshman, especially on offense.

Joe Fiorillo

+ Starting things off for the grey team was RHP Hruz Wagner, who worked two clean and efficient innings. Wagner worked his fastball at 83-85 mph, but it’s a pitch that’s capable of getting swings-and-misses up in the zone thanks to the vertical carry he creates from a lower average release slot. He spun two different breaking balls across his outing - a harder, more cutter-type that worked east-to-west at 76-77 mph and a looser 68-70 mph hook with 12/6 spin.

+ LHP Aidan Williams makes for an uncomfortable look in the batter’s box, creating natural deception from a short, unorthodox slot that’s certainly difficult to pick up out of the hand. Added to that is the natural action he creates on his fastball, as Williams’ 82-85 mph heater showed late, sinking action and occasional run, too. He complimented it with a 71-73 mph breaking ball that spun off a 2/8 plane, flashing sharp sweep at times.

+ Freshman RHP Gage Smith appears to have grown a few inches since we last saw him in high school, further lengthening out what already was a tall frame. Smith was a top-75 prospect in Wisconsin’s 2021 class and he looked the part of yet another quality freshman arm inside this Strormers’ rotation. Smith spotted his fastball almost exclusively in the lower-third of the zone, pounding it at 83-86 mph and getting an extra jump to it from the advanced extension he creates downhill. His go-to secondary pitch appeared to be a firm changeup, thrown at 77-78 mph with run to it that worked from a similar slot than his fastball. Though he’s still developing the feel to spin it for strikes, Smith’s 68-69 mph curveball flashed sharp, aggressive action off a downer plane and it can be an asset for him once he becomes more comfortable with it.

+ A top-150 rank in the Illinois’ 2021 class, OF Julian Jimenez is a high-upside freshman for MATC. Built at a lanky 6-foot-2, 170-pounds with thin levers, Jimenez offers plenty of untapped potential on both sides of the ball should he fill out his frame. He swings a loose bat from the left side that could offer gap-to-gap juice if that added strength was tacked on to his frame. Jimenez started in center field for the grey team and looked the part, uncorking an accurate throw to home that ultimately stranded a would-be runner at third base. He’s certainly a follow throughout the off-season and into the spring for the Stormers.

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