On Oct. 17, the PBR Wisconsin crew traveled to STiKS Academy in Waukesha for its annual Southern Wisconsin Open event. This event was open to all high school classes and gave our staff one last chance to see these prospects in attendance prior to the off-season commencing. 

On Monday, we published a list of the event’s stand-out performers, the Quick Hits, and you can find that by clicking here. Today, we’ll dive into the analytical side of things, looking at which prospects led our statistical leaderboards with the help of our TrackMan and Blast Motion devices.

TOP 60-YARD DASH

A pair of athletic junior outfielders showed off their event leading foot speed on Saturday: Logan Libby (Waukesha North, 2022) and Dylan Mass (Franklin, 2022). Libby ran the faster time between the two, at 6.76 seconds, and he also took a solid round of batting practice from the right side. Mass had an all-around impressive day, running a 6.85 in the 60-yard dash, consistently finding his left-handed barrel in BP, and he also uncorked the firmest throws home from the outfield. Uncommitted senior MIF Ryan Kendziorski (Whitnall, 2021) is a slender 6-foot-1, 170-pound athlete with some wiry strength that aided him in multiple facets throughout the day, including a 6.89 mark in the 60. 

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY

RHP Jonah Conradt (Hortonville) continues to rapidly cement himself as one of the top prospects in the state’s 2023 class. He routinely sat at 86-87 mph in his ‘pen while averaging a spin rate of 2,182 rpm on the fastball, carrying through the zone with some life out the hand. His fastball effectively complements his breaking ball, too, a difference-maker curveball that features tight bite off a 12/6 plane, skimming 2,600 rpm. We were excited about Conradt potentially early this summer – but he’s leapt into velocity quicker than we even expected.

Fellow sophomore INF/RHP Ethan Brown (Waukesha West, 2023) produced an excellent two-way performance on Saturday, and was up to 84 mph on the mound himself. There’s some surprising overall strength in Brown’s lean 6-foot physique, and it could help him erupt in the winter following a productive offseason.

Senior RHP Dylan Immel (Lomira, 2021; uncommitted) also ran his fastball up to 84 mph and averaged 19.2 inches of induced vertical break; a characteristic that suggests it’ll play more effectively up in the zone compared to the average fastball.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound 1B/RHP Tyler Butina (Jefferson, 2023) has some two-way potential, with a some bat strength from the left side coupled with low-80s velocity. He topped 83 mph and also averaged the most carry through the zone at the event, at 19.7 inches of induced vertical break.

MAX EXIT VELOCITY

Here’s another area where Brown demonstrated some attention-grabbing strength. The Waukesha West sophomore topped the exit velocity station with a 98 mph high off the tee, and he showed that it can translate into his live swings, too, recording a 92.9 mph high during BP, per TrackMan. Again, at 6-foot, 170 pounds, it’ll be interesting what Brown’s batted-ball data looks like as he continues to add strength to his simple right-handed swing.

Here’s one uncommitted senior that made a name for himself on Saturday: left-handed-hitting 3B George Seaman (West Bend East, 2021). Seaman finished at or near the top of roughly every offensive category, including a 97 mph exit velocity off the tee and 96.9 mph laser off the barrel in batting practice, per TrackMan. He averaged the fastest exit velocity of the entire event (91.88 mph), and he led the showcase in these three Blast Motion categories: max hand speed (27.1 mph), average hand speed (25.7 mph), and average bat speed (75.8 mph). Built at a robust 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Seaman is an intriguing senior follow to add to our watchlist to monitor in early 2021.

Oak Creek sophomore Michael Merline (2023) has some noticeable raw strength in a physical 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame, and he put it use from the righty box where he took some loud hacks in BP. He reached a 95 mph high at the exit velo station, and only added to it in BP where he recorded a 97.7 high in front of TrackMan.

The aforementioned Butina has some advanced strength for a sophomore, and his left-handed swing produced the second-hardest hit ball of the day, at 97.4 mph in batting practice. He also slugged a ball 368-plus feet that left the bat at 94.7 mph – it was the farthest hit ball of the day.

Keep an eye on this other left-handed-hitting uncommitted senior: OF James Bornick (Bay Port, 2021). He averaged an exit velocity of 88 mph during his round of batting practice (with a max of 95.8), and he hit three balls over 320 feet, topping 352.5 on a ball hit over 93 mph.

MAX INFIELD VELOCITY

We highlighted Seaman extensively for his capabilities on offense above, but he translated some of that advanced strength to the infield, recording an 88 mph throw across the diamond for the event high. He’s raw defensively, but a diligent offseason could help him stick to the hot corner, as he clearly wields enough arm for the position.

The Whitnall senior Kendziorski was also highlighted earlier that used his wiry strength to record multiple 85 mph throws to first. Left-handed-hitting 2B/SS Jimmy Held (Mayville, 2022) tied Kendziorski for second place on the event leaderboard, reaching 85 mph on the first throw of his workout. RHP/3B Noah Musolf (Franklin, 2023) has above-average arm strength created from a loose, whippy arm action that topped at 83 mph on the infield. Musolf showed well across the board as a 7.07 runner, but especially on the mound where his loose arm action helped him top 81 mph with arm-side action with a complementary changeup.

MAX OUTFIELD VELOCITY

Juniors Mass and Michaelis use some twitch and athleticism to generate high velocity throws from the outfield to home plate. Mass led this bunch at 87 mph, with Michaelis one tick behind him at 86. Mass’ high school teammate, left-handed-hitting OF Charlie Marion (Franklin, 2022), topped 85 mph himself multiple times. Both Merline and uncommitted 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior OF Benjamin Vorpahl (Sheboygan North, 2021) registered multiple 84 mph throws to home.

MAX CATCHER VELOCITY

C Reece Stangel (Roncalli, 2022) was a standout for his ISA Stars travel squad at PBR Illinois’ Limited Series event at Illinois State University earlier this month. He rode that momentum through last weekend, showing out as one of the top overall prospects in attendance. After an impressive, on-the-barrel round of batting practice, Stangel topped 81 mph from the crouch down to second base in his defensive workout, which was comfortably the firmest of this group. Both C Tyler Hoffman (Germantown, 2022) and C Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, 2022) each threw 76 mph from the crouch, showing above-average catch-and-throw skills for their age. 

TOP POP TIMES

Naturally, Stangel led his positional group in lowest average pop time, ranging from 2.04 to 2.15 marks with accuracy and aforementioned arm strength. Freshman C/INF Cal Capser (Pulaski, 2024) is a diminutive 5-foot-7, 150 pounds, but he’s quick and efficient from the chute, demonstrating above-average actions for his age, getting the most out of his present arm strength to average pops in a similar range as Stangel, who’s two years older.

For a complete look at all of the gathered data measured at this event, click here. 

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