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CWS Super Regionals: Wisconsin Standouts

June 7, 2024
By: Connor Loomans, David Go & Azad Earl
Wisconsin Staff

The 2024 College World Series is onto the Super Regionals in some of the most exciting weeks for College Baseball. Here at Prep Baseball Wisconsin, we’ve been watching and tracking some of the former Wisconsin prospects as the season has come and gone.

Below, we’ll look at some of the prospects’ prep careers and their path to where they are now.

KNOXVILLE SUPER REGIONAL: (No. 1 TENNESSEE vs No. 4 EVANSVILLE)

TENNESSEE:

RHP Nate Snead (South Milwaukee, 2022)

Snead’s rise throughout the state of Wisconsin was much like the one he’s had throughout college. The right-handed arm broke into our rankings during the spring of his junior year and quickly rose to one of the top prep arms in the state. Snead left South Milwaukee in 2022 as a two-year letterwinner and left with accolades that will remain in the Rockets’ history books. He tossed the first perfect game in South Milwaukee history and had a dominant senior year on the mound. Snead departed the prep scene as the No. 6 overall player and the No. 2 right-handed pitcher. After his decommitment from Iowa Western CC, Snead left for school in the fall and headed to Wichita State.

As a freshman, Snead struck out 53 over 42.2 innings pitched and made national headlines with his velocity out of the ‘pen. He pitched in high-leverage situations and made a name for himself in the AAC.

After some coaching changes that Wichita State undertook, Snead took his talents further east and committed to Tennessee following his breakout freshman year. Snead has only been more successful this year as he is currently 9-2 over 65 IP. The high-leverage situations have followed him in his college career as he most recently tossed four and one-thirds scoreless innings against Southern Miss during Regionals.

His cutter in the upper 80s/low 90s has been great for him, drawing a 36% swing-miss rate in 2024. His fastball/change-up combo has been great as well, inducing chases at a high level. He’s been up to 101.3 mph this spring, attacking with a 2-seam shape, getting nearly 18” of arm-side movement from a 5.4 release height. Snead has also thrown 2 breaking balls, a slider, and a curveball, with the better of the two, his curveball, drawing 32% swing-miss. Snead is best known for his fastball that has reached 101 mph, but his performance has matched his stuff, posting a 3.05 ERA with a 55:20 K:BB ratio.

EVANSVILLE:

INF Brent Widder (Sheboygan North, 2019)

This weekend could mark the end of a prolific Evansville career for Widder, who was ranked 22nd in the 2019 class coming out of Sheboygan North. The former First Team All-Conference infielder was ranked as the 20th-best draft prospect entering the 2023 season an injury-plagued season led him back to the purple and orange.

Widder’s .907 OPS ranked fourth among qualified hitters on the team, knocking 12 roundtrippers and driving in 55 runs, both third-most on the team. Widder went 7-for-14 with six RBIs across four regional games.

INF Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, 2021)

The Aces’ starting second baseman began his college career at Bradley, playing two years for the Braves before migrating east to Evansville. McGinnis hit .337 with an .872 OPS in his first year with the Aces.

McGinnis was ranked No. 23 in Wisconsin’s class of 2021, bursting onto the scene with a strong 2020 tournament circuit playing with GRB. McGinnis helped lead his Kimberly Papermakers to two conference championships during his time in high school.

The infielder drove in four runs across Evansville’s four regional contests, hitting two spots behind Widder.

LHP Jace Kressin (Menomonie, 2019)

The left-hander tossed 18.2 innings for the Aces as a fifth-year senior in 2024, striking out 21. The Menomonie native has thrown 39.2 innings in an Evansville uniform across his five seasons.

Kressin was ranked 33rd in the state in the class of 2019, earning third-team all-state and Big Rivers Conference Pitcher of the Year after he posted a 0.29 ERA his senior year.

Kressin tossed 0.2 innings in Evansville’s regional weekend, relieving fellow Wisconsinite Donovan Schultz.

LHP Donovan Schultz (Kimberly, 2020)

The fellow left-hander is set to cap off a career that has included 247 innings and 204 strikeouts. His 72 strikeouts and 89.1 innings both ranked second on the conference champion Aces squad.

The 2020 graduate earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week once in his time with the Aces and was ranked as the conference’s No. 25 MLB Draft prospect on the heels of his breakout junior season.

Schultz was the 49th-ranked prospect in the class of 2020, playing summer ball with Stiks Academy out of Waukesha. He was first-team all-conference his junior year at Kimberly, helping lead the Papermakers to a conference championship.

The Kimberly native earned the win in Evansville’s victory over VCU, tossing six innings of five-run ball, striking out five.

TALLAHASSEE SUPER REGIONAL: (No. 1 FLORIDA STATE vs No. 3 UCONN)

MIF Cal Fisher (Deerfield, 2023)

Fisher, a Deerfield product, was a 2023 Super 60 and Junior Futures Games participant. He would go on to finish his high school career ranked Prep Baseball’s 179th player in the country as well as being Wisconsin’s 2nd ranked player in the 2023 class.

As a freshman, Fisher has appeared in 29 games for Florida State. He’s contributed a .277 batting average and .384 wOBA in that time with contact quality as his carrying trait. His xwOBA on balls in play has been .380, while he’s running a 108 mph max EV and 104.2, 90th percentile EV. Fisher’s ability to loft the baseball has allowed him an average launch angle of 22.3 degree, leading him to 5 HRs in a small sample size.

RHP Thomas Ellisen (Kimberly, 2021)

As a redshirt-freshman in 2023, Ellisen threw 39.2 innings, posting a 4.76 ERA and a 3-1 record. This year, Ellisen has maintained a role out of the bullpen for the Huskies.

Ellisen works from a 5.8 release height, throwing his fastball in the low-90s, touching 95 mph. He throws a slider with an almost cutter-esque profile, getting 4” of lift and -5.5” of glove-side movement on the pitch. His third pitch is a change-up which he has thrown sparingly, with an above-average shape.

As a senior at Kimberly, Ellisen was ranked the 15th RHP in the state for the class of 2021, earning Unanimous First Team All-Conference honors.

CHARLOTTESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL: (No. 1 VIRGINIA vs No. 3 KANSAS STATE)

RHP Mason Buss (Arrowhead, 2022)

Buss, a sophomore pitcher for the Wildcats, pitched to a 3.78 ERA in 50 innings as a freshman while earning Freshman Academic All-Big 12 recognition in the classroom. In 2024 Buss continued to work out of the pen, with a 4.26 ERA thus far in 2024.

On the mound, Buss has a four-pitch mix: fastball, curveball, change-up, and slider. Buss sits 90 mph with the fastball from a low release, getting 15” of vertical break on the offering. He’s had the bulk of his success on his change-up, though, drawing a .225 xwOBA against along with an 18% whiff rate. His breaking balls are both thrown sparingly, having thrown just 25 in 2024. His curveball is a 2-plane offering with equal parts depth and sweep, while his slider has 0” of vertical break and 2” of sweep.

Hailing from Arrowhead, Buss was 9th in Wisconsin’s class of 2022. In his high school career, Buss would throw one no-hitter while being named first-team all state as a senior, in addition to earning two first-team all-conference nods.

LEXINGTON SUPER REGIONAL: (No. 1 KENTUCKY vs No. 1 OREGON STATE)

INF Ethan Hindle (Arrowhead, 2023)

During his prep career, Hindle would appear at Prep Baseball’s 2015 Junior Futures Games, as well as the 2021 Futures Games, where he would earn MVP honors. While at Arrowhead, Hindle would contribute to a two sectional championships and state quarterfinal appearance. He finished his high school career as the states 3rd ranked player in the 2023 class.

In his freshman season at Kentucky, he has appeared sparingly on what is an ultra-talented roster. While he’s made just 16 plate appearances, his batted-ball metrics have shown positive signs, with two balls in play with EVs greater than 100 mph, including a line-drive double against Eastern Kentucky.

C Evan Gustafson (Altoona, 2023)

Gustafson is an alumni of three of Prep Baseball’s premier showcase events: The Junior Futures Games, Futures Games, and Super60. At the conclusion of his career at Altoona, he was ranked 4th overall in the state, as well as being the top catching prospect in Wisconsin’s 2023 class. While at Altoona, in addition to lettering in baseball he would also letter in Hockey, earning two first-team all-conference selections.

ATHENS SUPER REGIONAL: (No. 1 GEORGIA vs No. 1 NC STATE)

INF Paul Toetz (Greendale, 2019)

Toetz comes to Athens by way of both Indiana and Purdue, Transferring to the University of Georgia as a graduate for the 2024 season. This year he’s flat-out hit. He’s rarely chased, besides posting a great exit velocity profile, averaging 90 mph with a 105.6 90th percentile EV and 111.1 max. It’s been high-quality contact, and he can lift his hard hits for XBHs.

Before his time at Purdue, where he earned Third Team All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten honors he spent two years at Indiana, the first of which was the pandemic-shortened season. At Indiana in 2021, Toetz hit .281 and earned Freshman All-American and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors as a second baseman. As a prep player, Toetz would graduate from Greendale as Prep Baseball Wisconsin’s 16th-ranked player in the 2019 class. He is also an alum of the Hitters travel baseball program.

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