What were some of the best Prep Baseball Tournament performances in 2024?
November 8, 2024
The ‘Hotlist’ is a series that provides weekly insight into the high school baseball scene spanning the country, curated by Prep Baseball’s state directors who are situated nationwide, with vital intel on the prospects who are in their own backyards. Each week, we’ll publish our ‘Hotlist’ on varying topics that are timeliest to the national baseball calendar at that point in time.
This week’s topic: With the recent release of our 2025 tournaments schedule, we wanted to use this week's topic to reflect on the best tournament performances that occurred in front of our staff from this past summer and/or fall.
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+ Read about previously published ‘Hotlist’ topics here.
♨️ The ‘Hotlist’ (11/8):
Alabama
+ Jamarkius Smith, RHP (Reeltown HS, 2027) | Uncommitted:
“RHP/OF Jamarkius Smith (Beehive Scout, 2027) is already known as one of the top right-handed pitchers in the 2027 class in the country, and his performance on the mound this weekend did nothing but boost his stock. Standing a lean 6-foot-3, 170-pounds, Smith is an elite caliber athlete with near limitless projection on the mound. A long and loose arm, the right-hander consistently sat 91-93 mph and touched 93.4 mph in the early going with his fastball before settling 90-92 mph. It’s an advanced fastball with an extremely high whiff rate, but his slider sitting 74-78 mph is seemingly his best pitch with the innate ability to spin it and land it in the zone. He appeared to be comfortable pitching backwards in the outing and was 65-70% slider. Just an uber-athletic prospect with a substantially high ceiling.”
– Austin Sharp, Scouting Director
Canada
+ Ben Paul, OF/1B (Watson Elite HS, 2025) | Uncommitted:
“One of the more underrated players in the province, Paul did damage in the Northeast, specifically at the NY Open in Cortland. Paul went 3-for-3, falling a triple short of the cycle. That type of performance is common for the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder. A sleeper pickup for JUCOs looking for a Canadian bat.”
– George Halim, Director
Georgia
+ Cooper Underwood, LHP (Allatoona HS, 2025) | Georgia Tech:
“The 17U National Championship this summer was absolutely slap full of high-level pitching, but the performance that Underwood put together really stood out among his peers. The Georgia Tech commit proceeded to punch out the first 10 batters he saw and 11 out of 12 in a perfect four inning run-rule victory to close pool play. Underwood lived 88-91 with immense ride and feel to spin (Avg. 2500 RPM) that created a ton of swing-and-miss at the top of the zone. Slider has a chance to be a plus offering right now at 78-82 with sharp tilt and sweep while spinning it up to nearly 3000 RPMs. ”
– Ian Smith, Assistant Scouting Director
Illinois
+ Justice Hernandez , RHP (New Trier HS, 2027) | Uncommitted :
“Hernandez popped this past summer at The Rock Summer Championships and continued to show well on multiple stops throughout the summer. He has a wiry, projectable frame standing 5-foot-10, 142-pounds, and he seems to only be scratching the surface as a prospect. The right-hander was up to 86 mph in previous looks and routinely was in the 82-85 mph range, he also showed improved development of a slider each time we saw him. ”
– Pete Hamot, Assistant Director Illinois/Wisconsin
Illinois
+ Kaeden Schatsiek , RHP (Brimfield HS, 2026) | Northern Illinois :
“Initially standing out as a position player in the Winter, Schatsiek popped at the PBT Illinois Open as a must-know arm. He showed clean actions on the mound with a loose, quick arm out of a ¾ slot, running his fastball up to 89 mph and sitting 85-88 mph with slight arm-side run. He also threw a hard curveball at 77-80 mph with late, sharp bite, showing 11/5 shape and producing multiple swing-and-misses. ”
– Peter Hamot, Assistant Director Illinois/Wisconsin
Indiana
+ Joshua Flores, RHP (Lake Central HS, 2025) | Kentucky:
“Flores toed the rubber at near-midnight to begin bracket play of the Grand Park Fall Championships, and awoke anyone with tired eyes by pumping the zone with the best pure stuff I saw of the weekend. Flat-out dominating with ten punchies in a three inning stint, the Kentucky recruit showcased three future-plus pitches with an intriguing fourth and a heater that reached 94 several times. A dynamic mover w/ some effort in a twitchy, athletic delivery - Flores broke out a pro-ready curveball that induced ugly swords. His curveball spun north of 2700 at 82-84 mph, consistently grabbing -12"+ of IVB and minimal horizontal for a true 12/6 shape. His changeup has made significant strides, and he's confident with it in any count, w/ a pair of scouts in attendance throwing a present 60 grade on it. His slider wasn't great in this look, more of a bullet look in the mid-80's, but he has previously shown the ability to sweep it up to 88. ”
– Cooper Trinkle, Indiana Scouting Director
Kansas
+ Luke Nelson, 3B (Bishop Miege HS, 2026) | Uncommitted:
"It wasn't just one performance this summer for Nelson that stood out, it was his entire body of work, resulting in 8 home runs launched at Prep Baseball KC tournaments. With real power to all fields and the ability to catch up to velo, Luke was a problem for pitchers every time he stepped to the dish."
– Andy Urban, Central Region Director
Michigan
+ Jack Manzella, RHP (Fraser HS, 2026) | Uncommitted:
“Jack is a rising star the Metro Detroit area who attends Fraser HS in the MAC-White conference. Still growing into his frame, features a fastball up to 90 mph but will live more 87-88 flashing a two pitches off the FB in his changeup and breaking ball. Jack had a good showing in the PB Northern MI challenge after a strong summer on the hill for the Detroit Prospects. Look for increased strikeouts for Manzella this spring and the Ramblers. ”
– Adam Goodwin, Scouting Director
Ontario
+ Colton Lewis, RHP (Sir William Mulock Secondary School HS, 2027) | Uncommitted:
“At the New Jersey Summer Championships in early July, '27 RHP Colton Lewis jumped onto the scene pitching a complete-game working five innings with seven strikeouts. Athletic on the mound working over the top with a fastball in the 82-85 T86 range with a 69-71 CB with 12-6 action. Strike thrower that generated wiffs in the zone. Will be a name to keep tabs on heading into the spring of 2025.”
– Josh Arce, Scouting Director
Tennesee
+ Michael Holt, OF (Ravenwood HS, 2026) | Vanderbilt:
“At PBR Cup down in Lakepoint this fall, Michael Holt had himself a weekend where he would go 8/13 w/ 5 BB and 90% hard-hit contact. Uses the whole field with ease while flashing a sneaky run tool. Gamer type of player that performs his best against dudes on the mound. ”
– Hunter Martin, State Director
Wisconsin
+ Ryan Rose, SS (West Bend West HS, 2027) | Uncommitted:
“Left handed hitting athlete that can really pick it at short. Developing strength to an already lean 6-foot frame Rose has one of the highest ceilings in the state and after a strong summer he enters the winter with a chance to elevate his prospect status going further. ”
– Josh Fields, Lead Scout
Wisconsin
+ Jacob Coisman, RHP (Luxemburg-Casco HS, 2027) | Uncommitted:
“Coisman has one of the highest ceilings of any prospect in the state, wiry athlete at 6-foot-3, 165-pounds with real arm talent. Coisman operates in the mid-80s topping out at 86 mph with life out of the hand, spinning a two-plane breaking ball off of his fastball gives him two offerings that he can go to right now. ”
– Josh Fields, Lead Scout