Wisconsin Class of 2025 Rankings: Newcomers
December 1, 2023
As the fall comes to an end and the 2025 class heads into their junior campaigns, we take a look at the newcomers in the state’s 2025 rankings.
Earlier this week, our staff officially updated our 2025 board, highlighting several of the state’s top prospects within our release. You can find that by clicking HERE. We followed that up with a piece in which we highlighted the prospects making seismic jumps up our board in our ‘Risers’ story, which can be found HERE.
We'll dive deeper into the rankings themselves today, shining light on a handful of players that earned a spot on our board after showing well to our staff. Below you'll learn more about these names that are trending upward as the offseason is set to start.
UPSIDE ARMS
+ LHP Andrew Ishag (Kettle Moraine, 2025) was one of the biggest winners following the fall circuit following his performance at October’s Southern Wisconsin Open; here is the report regarding his ‘pen there: “...is athletic with current stuff and more projection coming. Ishag utilizes his long 6-foot-3, 204-pound frame to get down the hill and leverage a fastball that topped out at an event best 86.6 mph, while sitting in 83-86 mph range throughout. He also showed feel for a two-seamer as well, as it featured over 14" of run at it's peak and sat in the low-80s range. His mid-70s curveball is a sharp, quick breaker with plenty of feel to use in the zone for early strikes and out of the zone late in counts for chase. Ishag sells his changeup by throwing it with fastball intent. The pitch has arm side fade and late depth at the plate and is a real weapon to keep hitters off balance and will help the fastball play up. Overall, it was an impressive look from Ishag and is certainly an arrow-up name inside of the state's junior class.”
(Southern Wisconsin Open; 10/14/23)
Ishag now finds himself at No. 38 in this rankings update, the highest mark amongst Newcomers.
+ RHP Isaac Crosby (Shell Lake, 2025) Here’s a report from the Northern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits: “...is a long levered 6-foot-2, 175-pound right-hander that popped at Saturday’s event. Crosby is a dynamic mover on the mound with a quick arm, running his fastball up to 86.4 mph while sitting in the mid-80s throughout his ‘pen. His fastball plays with above average spin at 2,276 RPM and carry at 17.6” of IVB and was able to locate it in the zone. Crosby would also show the ability to land his low-70s curveball in the zone with short and quick breaking action. To round off his arsenal, he threw a changeup with intent with similar shape to the fastball. Crosby established himself as a follow prospect in the Badger State after his performance at the event.”
(Northern Wisconsin Open; 10/21/23)
Crosby is another name who put together a quality showing in the fall, going from an unfamiliar name to our staff to a top-75 player in the state’s 2025 class.
+ LHP Jacob Hurtgen (Watertown, 2025) is a projectable 5-foot-11, southpaw in the state’s junior class. At the Northern Wisconsin Open this fall, Hurtgen provided an upside look on the mound, where he pounded the zone with three pitches. His two-plane breaking slider played exceptionally well off of his fastball and also played with sharpness. He also killed spin on a deceptive changeup in the low-70s that played with depth, too.
IMPACT BATS
+ INF Levi Mills (Home School, 2025) makes his rankings debut at No. 87 in this update. Built at a strong 6-foot, 185-pounds, Mills swings an aggressive right-handed bat and creates easy bat speed, roughly 72.5 mph on average. His batted ball metrics in our looks are also noteworthy as he has averaged an exit velocity of 88 mph and has reached highs of 96.1 mph before. It is a simple swing that is certainly capable of sending hard hit balls back up the middle and to his pullside.
+ 1B Trent McLain (Florence, 2025) Here’s a report from the Northern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits: “Built at a strong 6-foot, 190-pounds, McLain authored the day's loudest round of BP. From a flatter bat path and quick hands, Mclain shot the ball to all parts of the field with authority during his round. Metrically, he led all players in attendance in max exit velocity with 95.4 mph and also average exit velocity with 90.4 mph, which speaks to how on the barrel he was. He also put up some noteworthy Blast metrics, averaging a hand speed of 22.2 mph, and a bat speed of 69.6 mph, too.”
(Northern Wisconsin Open; 10/21/23)
TWO-WAY POTENTIAL
+ RHP/INF Graiden Liethen (Arrowhead, 2025) Here’s a report from the Southern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits: “...showcased an impressive repertoire on the mound with a fastball that sat 83-84 mph, using a clean and repeatable delivery. He also features a couple different breaking balls he can land for strikes and a developing feel for a change up. At the plate, Liethen hits with a controlled aggression and a controlled crash to the hitting position allowing him to get to power and would register a max exit velocity of 94.2 mph.”
(Southern Wisconsin Open; 10/14/23)
+ RHP/INF Keagan Wheeler (Bay Port, 2025) is another two-way prospect debuting on our 2025 rankings board in this update. On the mound, Wheeler is a simple and clean mover, pairing it with feel to throw three pitches for strikes. He easily is able to locate his low-80s fastball to both sides of the plate, and effectively induces weak contact. His breaking ball is equally impressive, playing well off of his fastball and spinning at an above average rate, too. A changeup rounds out his repertoire in which he kills spin on and is able to keep it low in the zone. Offensively, he features an upside right-handed swing that has shown the ability to spray line drives to all parts of the field.
+ C/RHP Luke Baginski ( West Salem, 2025) is an athletically built 6-foot, 185-pound two-way prospect that is making his first appearance inside our 2025 rankings at No. 98. Baginski uses his inherent strength to create some easy bat speed through the zone, roughly 71.6 mph on average and has the ability to spray the ball to the whole field. He also has flashed some upside on the bump, too. He features a low-80s fastball from a controlled and balanced delivery. He also has feel to spin both a sharp 11/5 breaking ball and a tight slider, both of which spin at nearly 2,400 RPM on average.
MORE NOTABLE DEBUTS
+ C/1B Elery Hardwick (Marquette University, 2025) Here’s a report from the Northern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits: “...is 6-foot, 193-pounds backstop to know from the event. Behind the plate Hardwick impressed with a quick pop time of 2.05 seconds using his quick feet and quick hands to turn the ball around quickly to second base. During the hitting portion of the event, Hardwick squared up multiple balls and recorded the fourth highest average exit velocity (86.5 mph) and seventh highest max exit velocity of the event (92.5 mph). He also showed some pop by driving the ball 330 feet which was the fifth furthest hit ball of the event.”
(Northern Wisconsin Open; 10/21/23)
+ MIF Jack Sagedal (Burlington, 2025) Here’s a report from the Southern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits: “...is an athletic 5-foot-10, 150-pounds and ran the best 60-yard dash of the event at 6.95, showing off his quick burst and fast turnover once underway. Sagedal also showed off his quick and strong hands as he registered one of the best max exit velocities of the day at 91 mph. Sagedal showed out well both in the infield and outfield defensive portions of the event highlighting his ability as a useful utility player.”
(Southern Wisconsin Open; 10/14/23)