Wisconsin Class of 2021 Ranking: Just Missed

November 26, 2019
By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

Last week, we unveiled our most recent update to the state’s Class of 2021 Rankings. Inside, we covered our findings from the late summer and fall and discussed the top of the board, which remained very much the same to our August update. We touched on the top-10 prospects, discussed the latest in commitment news, and shared three of the prospects on the board who have made the biggest leaps up the charts in this update.

Then, we each of the prospects who made their debuts in this update inside our Newcomers post. There were 19 new faces on the Wisconsin junior rankings, and we dropped notes and news on each of them inside.

Today, before we break for Thanksgiving, we’ll share with you the names who Just Missed debuting on this top-100 and are lurking just outside the board and should make their marks after a solid winter and spring when we update our list next.

JUST MISSED

It’s likely that, if there were just one more spot on the top-100 board, Brillion’s SS Carter Stebane would occupy it. We saw Stebane star for his travel team, CBT Wolfpack, twice this summer – at the PBR at The Rock Championships as well as the Badger State Battle. In both tournaments, Stebane racked up hits all weekend from the middle of the order. His right-handed bat generates above-average carry and, when combined with his barrel feel and discipline, is able to pepper the gaps with line-drives. He also has solid actions at shortstop and moves well laterally and has the arm strength and accuracy for the left side of the infield.

Carter Stebane (7/19/19)

The strength in Sun Prairie’s perennially its depth and its ability restock and plug in pieces into holes left after graduation. LHP Brady Stevens is yet another reinforcement arm en route to the Cardinals’ rotation come this spring. We last saw Stevens back in February at our West Milwaukee I.D. event where he was up to 80 mph from the left side with a long and loose arm and some work-in-progress offspeed. Given his projectable 6-foot-1, lanky stature, there’s a good possibility Stevens is a must-rank with a productive offseason and strong spring in 2020.

RHP/OF Bailey Prevost (De Pere) was tough to omit from this edition of the junior rankings, but he’s certainly a must-follow headed into the offseason and beyond. His skillset should make him an important piece of an exciting De Pere program that made it to sectionals last year and is returning much of their roster in 2020. On the mound, he generates some jump and carry out of his straight four-seam, which sat 79-82 mph at a fall showcase and touched 83. Prevost also brings a loose right-handed bat to the dish, too, and should be able to help De Pere from the outfield when he isn’t on the bump.

Bailey Prevost (10/19/19)

Laconia’s Will Mattheis is another two-way name to know who made a solid impression in 2019. He swings an aggressive left-handed bat with an up-the-middle approach and performed along the same tournament circuit as Stebane, and he was nearly as productive in the same lineup. Mattheis is also a upper-70s arm that can reach the low-80s with some effort and mixes in hard slider and firm changeup, and both have some swing-and-miss upside.

Holmen had a strong spring season and OF Ryland Wall helped them earn 15 wins. This fall, Wall was called on to quarterback the Vikings after injuries brought the position into question and Wall picked up the pieces and then stepped into a linebacker role and flourished in the middle of the field, too. The versatile 6-foot-3 Wall brings a similar athleticism to the diamond. Back at an event in March, Wall swung a fast, loose right-handed bat with line-drive contact. His size and aforementioned athleticism bring about some added upside and projection which makes Wall a name to know when we circle back to the board after the spring season.

2B/SS Riley Dutton (Tremper), the younger brother of Reese (Tremper, 2019; Heartland CC), is compact 5-foot-7 who moves well with all of the necessary actions on defense. He also swings a simple, level, and loose right-handed bat that consistently repeats with low-lying contact right off the barrel. He could be due for a spot on the board if he can take his game to another level this offseason.

Riley Dutton (6/19/19)

Westosha Central’s Kyle Mitchell brings an all-around, balanced profile to the field. On the mound, his compact arm action produces easy low-80s velocity with a solid-average curveball-changeup combo. From the right-handed batter’s box, he swings off a level plane with above-average bat strength and he also brings arm strength from the outfield grass, which topped 88 mph early this year. Mitchell’s storing some surprising strength in his 5-foot-9 frame and it’ll be intriguing to see if he makes another jump in 2020.

Low-effort RHP Adam DeHart (Xavier), listed at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, sat 80-81 mph, touching 83, way back in March of this year. As he continues to define his frame and sturdy lower half, DeHart is candidate to make a jump in the coming year and is name to know headed into the new year.

Denmark has a couple of upside arms inside its rotation and RHP Brennen Miller is one of them. He attended our October showcase where he showed a slight tick up in velocity there, touching 81 mph a loose arm. The separators here are the development of his offspeed. There, he used an aggressive curveball and changeup with real sink and action that give him a three-pitch mix worth following.

Brennen Miller (10/19/19)

Milwaukee’s King High School has a couple representatives on the back-end of the 2021 board and they could have another joining the ranks after next spring. OF Keshun Nelson has real tools and athleticism in his 5-foot-9 frame and any polish he’ll add to his game should launch him into the rankings. He’s a 7.23 runner with an athletic gait and his foot speed plays up in the outfield where he moves well. Nelson also swings a fast left-handed bat on an incline worth noting, geared for line-drive contact. He’s an exciting name to know currently just off the top-100 rankings.