PBR at The Rock 15U: All-Tournament First Team

June 25, 2020
By Andy Sroka & Diego Solares
Wisconsin Staff

From June 18 to 21, the PBR Wisconsin staff hosted the PBR at The Rock 15U Championships at The Rock Complex in Franklin, Wis.

In case you missed any of our earlier coverage on this event, click on one of the following links spotlighting the highlights from each of the three days: Quick Hits, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. In addition, our staff published a Scout Blog, featuring reports on 90 of the event’s follow names to know for the future.

Today, our staff gathered and collaborated to produce both a First and Second All-Tournament Team at both the 15U level. This list was assembled from an evaluation and performance-based perspective, taking into account the player’s future in conjunction with their statistics recorded over their four games last weekend.

15U ALL-TOURNAMENT FIRST TEAM

CATCHER

Tyler Stack C / Oswego , IL / 2023

6-foot-1, 175-pound right-handed hitting catcher, long levered frame, highly projectable. Loose bat, above average bat speed, showed occasional pop and found the barrel consistently all weekend. Defensively, arm showed carry out of the crouch, long at times but played accurate. Went 9-for-12 on the weekend with two triples and a double and nine RBI.

FIRST BASE

Anthony Rieck 1B / Catholic Memorial, WI / 2023

Advanced strength into the right-handed batter’s box with his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. He showed that at the plate Saturday, crushing a fastball to deep center field in his first at-bat for a bases-clearing double and finding the barrel later on in the game for another double. Rieck’s power potential paired with his athleticism make him a sneaky follow in the state’s ‘23 class. He went 4-for-12 on the weekend with eight RBIs, two doubles, and a triple.

MIDDLE INFIELD

Josh Wenz SS / Neuqua Valley, IL / 2023

Listed at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds; long, athletic levers, projection. Left-handed hitter, slightly crouched setup, stays quiet and has a short, uphill path. Smooth, rangy actions at shortstop, plays exceptionally well on the move for age; fluid, strong throws with carry. A blossoming prospect to know within Illinois’ ‘23 class.

Brady Davidson SS / St. Joseph Catholic Academy, WI / 2023

5-foot-8, 165-pound frame with a strong lower half. Left-handed hitting infielder that hit out of the three-hole for Kenosha Braves. Balanced setup at the plate, fluid pre-pitch rhythm, smooth load, slight leg lift trigger. Loose at the plate, quick hands, raw bat strength, uphill path with a pull-side approach. Showed a knack for finding the barrel, found the barrel in nearly every at-bat. One of the top overall offensive performers of the weekend, going 9-for-13 with 11 RBIs.

THIRD BASE

Kevin Denty 3B / Marian Catholic, IL / 2023

Denty boasts a strong athletic build in the left-handed box with a confident pole-to-pole approach. He's a strong-handed hitter with above-average feel for the barrel. Denty went 3-for-3 in his first game with a double and pair of singles that he sprayed to each part of the outfield, en route to an 8-3 win. Denty kept the hot bat going in his second game, smoking a double off the centerfield wall and beating out a handcuffed ground ball to the second baseman. Denty hit out of the leadoff spot and played both left and center field on the day and looks to profile as a two-hole type left fielder.

OUTFIELD

Sam Gurgone OF / LHP / Marist, IL / 2023

6-foot, 155-pound two-way player. On the mound works with a high front side, arm plays out of an over the top slot, short arm action, comes out clean and deceptive. Fastball topped at 80 mph, sat 77-78 mph. Curveball played 1/7 shape, 65 mph. Gurgone also has a loose, athletic left-handed swing, keeps the barrel through the zone a long time and has fluid actions to his overall game.

Mikey Murphy OF / Minooka, IL / 2023

Leadoff hitter, compact body type with strength. Plus runner, covers ground well in the centerfield and goes hard down the line. Barrel control hitter with line drive gap to gap approach. Finished the weekend 5-for-10 with a double, pair of walks and two runs scored.

Alex Altmann OF / Rockford, MN / 2023

6-foot-3, 180 pounds; left/left prospect with premium present athleticism attached to all facets of his game, physical/lean build. The leadoff hitter for P2P Millers (Boxwell) all tournament, Altmann exits the event as one of the most intriguing prospects in attendance. Swings a loose, aggressive left-handed bat with fast bat speed and athletic hands. He’s quick out of the box and exceptional on the basepaths, eager to take the next base at any given opportunity. Spent all of his time on defense in center field and took some advanced routes and his advanced foot speed showed very well as he roamed both gaps.

PITCHERS

Brady Louck LHP / Plainfield East, IL / 2023

5-foot-10, 155 pounds; wiry athlete. Louck dominated in his start against MVP Elite on Saturday. He struck out eight in four innings of work with a blistering fastball that sat 81-83 mph. Louck works out of a long ¾ slot that plays to a natural 2/8 shaped breaking ball with above-average lateral action and ability to consistently drop for strikes. Controls the pace of the game with low effort; his confident demeanor and pitchability on the mound lifted his stuff to another level.

Presley Wachowiak RHP / Catholic Memorial, WI / 2023

6-foot, 200-pound right-handed pitcher; durable, solid frame with proportional strength. Evolving into one of the top pitchers in the state’s 2023 class. Uptempo delivery, works on line to home, controls the pace of the game. Loose, quick arm, some effort involved; advanced arm strength. Started the Friday night game against MVP Elite; only got into some trouble later in the outing. Came out of the gates sitting 80-83 mph, up to 84 mph a couple of times; straight four-seam type with carry through the zone. He’s begun to separate himself from his peers with his feel for the curveball; a true 12/6 shape with hard, biting downer action that he can land for strikes or under the zone. Earned some ugly chases and knee-buckling strikes looking on Friday with it. A high-follow arm with the potential to debut in the top-10 of the state’s ‘23 class rankings when they’re initially released.

Ryan Hussey RHP / Providence Catholic, IL / 2023

Hussey solidified his status as one of the top 2023 arms we have seen to date in Illinois. Hussey boasts a 6-foot, 165-pound, wide-shouldered, durable frame with athleticism throughout. He comes from a stretch-only delivery, stays closed down the mound, repeats and pitches with rhythm and ultra-easy effort. Hussey’s arm works clean and quick from a high ¾ slot. Fastball comes out of the hand clean and easy, angle at times, high-volume of strikes with late finish through the zone; sat mostly 82-83 mph throughout, touching 84 a handful of times. Hussey also showed off an above-average breaking ball, working out of the same window as his fastball, with short, late action at 71-73 mph. Easy to imagine the curveball turning into a hard slider down the road, which will only elevate the offering. Hussey was able to land it for strikes early in the count and expand with two strikes. Also, a right-handed hitter, Hussey hit the first home run of the weekend taking a pitch up in the zone and launching it deep over the left-field fence. High-follow uncommitted 2023 right-handed pitcher with current polish and high-ceiling potential.

D.J. Helwig RHP / St. Laurence , IL / 2023

Helwig has a 6-foot-4, 165-pound, high-waisted, high-ceiling arm that looks to be just scratching the surface of his potential. The arm works long, clean and quick out front, showcasing the ability to pitch to the glove-side with his fastball early in the outing. Control became more scattered as the outing went on but his fastball sat anywhere 82-84 mph throughout, touching 85 and gets late arm-side-run and sink at times. Would be really interesting to see Helwigs’ perceived velocity numbers on the TrackMan B1 unit, given how far he gets down the mound at foot strike; as well as his high front side adding deception. When he was at his best he was out front, finishing his offerings and the fastball seemed to play up from the already impressive velocity. Helwig has a chance to be a power arm in Illinois down the road.

UTILITY

Nolan Zurawski C / 3B / Minooka, IL / 2023

Stood out defensively as a catcher on Thursday, and again as a third baseman on Friday, and he showed well with his right-handed bat through the weekend. The right-handed hitter took numerous competitive at-bats, tracked pitches deep into the zone; stays on balance, creates bat speed and is consistently on the barrel. Zurawski flew out to deep center field in his first at-bat Friday and then lined a sharp single through the left side later in the game. High-follow 2023 prospect.