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Underclass Trials: Quick Hits

June 21, 2018
By Steve Nielsen
Wisconsin and Illinois Scouting Supervisor

Wisconsin’s summer showcase season is officially underway with the completion of Wednesday’s Underclass Trials at The Rock Sports Complex in Franklin. There’s plenty to dissect here, and we’ll be doing so in the coming weeks in more detail, but here’s an overall look at the day’s event and all the talent that came from it.

NOTABLE STRENGTH

  • Kyle Murphy (James Madison Memorial, 2020) is a strong-bodied catcher at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, who’s built rock solid. He showed above-average bat speed and occasional gap-to-gap pop out of a short quick stroke to the baseball. Murphy is a clear follow with the bat and showed serviceable receiving skills and a willingness to block.

  • Jack Leverenz (Lake Country Lutheran, 2020), is a physically advanced 6-foot, 195-pound, L/L two-way player. His bat sticks out for its present strength and he showed pull-side pop. Also, on the mound, Leverenz was up to 80 mph from the left side.

  • Josh Caron (Sun Prairie, 2021) stood out for his strong build and aggressive bat strength. Caron made hard pull-side contact and showed well behind the dish. He’s athletic and moves well with technically sound blocking skills. Caron also ran it up to 80 mph on the mound, even though he looks best suited behind the plate.

  • Anthony Vivian (Dodgeville) was one of the more physically impressive 2021s in attendance. Vivian has wide shoulders that carry plenty of strength with room for more. His body type should hold up well behind the plate. At the plate, Vivian has a short, strong bat path that works mostly to his pull side.

  • From the crop of 2022s, Whitefish Bay’s Michael Lippe stood out standing 6-foot, 170-pounds with strong shoulders and a lean waist. Clearly one of the better athletes in attendance, Lippe ran the best 60-yard dash of the day at 7.23. In the batter’s box, Lippe hits with loose hands on and features a gap-to-gap approach; and he also posted a 91 mph exit velocity from the tee. Lippe projects best in the outfield and draws similar comparisons to Steve Jamroziak (Muskego, 2019).

UPSTART ARMS

  • SS Adam Diedrich (Hilbert, 2020) is a 6-foot-2, 150-pound projectable frame who showed a quick clean arm on the mound. His breaking ball is still a project but he touched 80 mph with finish and run to his arm side, a follow in the 2020 class.

  • Milwaukee Lutheran’s Danny Perdzock is a projectable 2020 who stands at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. He’s a two-way player who showed best on the mound with an 80-82 mph fastball that topped at 83 mph.

  • Younger brother to 2018 grad Elijah Campbell, Charlie Campbell (South Milwaukee, 2020) is a virtual carbon copy to his older brother, the Bradley commit. Charlie is 6-foot-5, 175 pounds with a similar long and thin build to his older brother. Charlie has a long and loose arm action that works clean and gets out front. As he too adds strength, his fastball will likely climb from the current 78-82 mph we saw.

  • Andrew Brockwell (Brodhead, 2021) was one of a pair of 2021s who threw multiple fastball above the 80 mph mark. Brockwell reached 82 mph and has a live arm out of a 6-foot-1, 155-pound frame. Brockwell also featured a cutter and changeup that both flashed potential.

  • Isaac Engelbrecht (Oak Creek, 2021) stands an impressive 6-foot-3, 185 pounds with an intimidating fastball for his age. The top fastball velocity in attendance, Engelbrecht sat mostly 82-83 mph, dipping to 78 mph out of the stretch.

EYE-CATCHING ATHLETES

  • Left-handed hitting catcher Christian Brenner (Burlington) was one of the top 2020 prospects in attendance. He’s a confident and commanding receiver, with all the actions to continue to develop well at the next level (2.12 pop time). His left-handed bat is loose and flat at contact.

  • Spencer Brochtrup (Mukwonago, 2020) is a compact 5-foot-10, 210-pound infielder. His dense frame worked well in the box, showing a short path that worked aggressively to make hard gap-to-gap contact.

  • Austin Bestul (Elkhorn) was one of the more intriguing 2021 athletes. Bestul ran a 7.33 and was equipped with an 81 mph arm across the infield and touched 80 mph on the mound as well. He’s clearly a strong-armed athlete, but his bat played well with a middle-of-the-field approach that he repeated with a short swing well.

  • Brady Katterhagen (Union Grove, 2021) has a typical two-hole hitter approach. His left-handed bat repeats to produce consistent line drive contact with an emphasis on the middle of the field.

  • George Henkel RHP (Appleton West, 2021) showed one of the higher ceilings in attendance. At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Henkel has a loose, clean arm that played easily at 77-79 mph out of a high ¾ slot, that flirted with ¾. His delivery is athletic and easy with repeatable actions that should project well. He showed loose hands at the plate as well and one of the top 2021 right-handed bats. He’s a line drive, gap-to-gap hitter with above-average bat speed generated with those loose hands and actions.

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