On Tuesday, July 19, the PBR Illinois staff traveled to DuPage Medical Group Field in Joliet, Illinois, to host the Southwest Suburban Open. This event featured more than 40 prospects from around the state and provided our staff an ample look at every player in attendance.

For a look at all the prospects that attended this event, click HERE. To see all of the statistics from this event, click HERE. 

Now, at the event’s conclusion, we’ll start to pump out content from the day, starting with these quick hits. Below you’ll find players from the day that popped to our staff from the event. 

Pitchers 

+ RHP/INF Madden Johnson (Mattoon, 2025) came away a winner on the mound from Tuesday’s event. The 6-foot, 141-pound right-hander has room in his frame to add on strength as he continues to mature and already shows the ability to repeat his athletic delivery down the mound. With a loose/quick arm from a ¾ release, Johnson worked his fastball up to 82 mph, cruising in the 80-81 mph range with life through the zone and arm-side running action at times. He went to a sharp slider for his breaking ball, playing with slurvy shape and depth at 68-70 mph. His final offering was a changeup that he kept mostly down in the zone, fading to his arm-side from a slightly lower slot than his fastball at times, 69-71 mph. Johnson also impressed as a position player showing an upside left-handed swing that stays flat and long through the zone. The ball comes off his bat better than his frame would indicate and he ran a 7.48 60-yard dash. 

+ Another two-way prospect to show well was RHP/INF Colin McCormick (New Trier, 2023). Built with a projectable 6-foot, 175-pound frame, McCormick has room to add onto his already athletic build. His fastball sat right at 82-83 mph throughout his showing and played with heavy sinking action (T2231 RPM). His changeup paired nicely off his FB, fading late to his arm-side from a similar release height, 75-77 mph. He also showed a quality third offering with a sharp 11/5 curveball with tight shape, 68-72 mph (T2397 RPM). Offensively, he showed athletic loose hands from the right-side of the box and swung with controlled intent, uphill path and pull-side tendencies. Defensively, McCormick plays naturally through the baseball, showed an above-average glove-to-hand release and a strong arm that played with carry at 85 mph across the diamond. 

+ An uncommitted rising senior to know is RHP Jason Sullivan (Sandburg, 2023). Built athletically at 5-foot-10, 150-pounds, Sullivan has plenty of room to add on strength in the coming years. The right-hander boasted the highest fastball velocity in the entire event, working in the 84-86 mph range throughout his ‘pen and playing with running action to his arm-side. Sullivan showed an aptitude for spinning the breaking ball, displaying both a sharp 11/5 curveball at 69 mph and a slider with late 10/4 shape, 70-72 mph. His changeup also looks to be a promising change of pace offering, playing with heavy fade at times and thrown with arm-speed, 72-75 mph. 

+ Another uncommitted rising senior that showed well on Tuesday was RHP Heath Hornke (Normal West, 2023). The 6-foot-1, 160-pound right-hander put up easily the best spin metrics on the day throughout his entire repertoire. His fastball cruised at 79-81 mph, averaging 2,245 RPM and reaching a top IVB of 18.8. His spin really starts to stand out on his breaking balls; spinning his curveball at an average of 2,423 RPM (T2505 RPM), 68-70 mph - and his slider at an average of 2,652 RPM (T2704 RPM), 73-74 mph. 

+ A 2026 that popped from the event on Tuesday was LHP Rocco Szambelan (Joliet Catholic). The incoming freshman southpaw worked his fastball in the 75-77 mph range, playing mostly straight with an average IVB of 14.8. He showed the ability to spin two different breaking balls; the first being a curveball with 1/7 shape at 62-65 mph, and the second being a 2/8 slider at 64-67 mph. His final offering was a straight changeup at 63-66 mph, thrown with intent and from a similar fastball release point. 

+ A rising junior that showed some impressive spin metrics was RHP Kyle Demay (Plainfield North, 2024). The 5-foot-11, 165-pound right-hander averaged 2,371 RPM on his curveball throughout his ‘pen, reaching up to 2,451 RPM; playing off a 10/4 plane with slurve-type action at times, 66-67 mph. His fastball was nothing to ignore either, topping out at 79 mph with life through the zone. To compliment his first two offerings, he went to a changeup at 69-70 mph, fading to the bottom of the zone consistently. 

POSITION PLAYERS

+ One of the biggest winners on the day, when it comes to position players, was OF Parker Reinke (St. Charles North, 2024). Reinke has an advanced frame at 6-foot-3, 185-pounds and plenty of intrigue to his entire game. Offensively, the right-handed hitter has a long swing, creating leverage to the pull-side with natural lift through the zone and jump off the barrel to the pull-side of the diamond. Reinke averaged 89.3 mph off the bat during his round of BP with his furthest batted ball traveling 329 feet. Reinke also is a natural outfield defender moving with fluidity while showing off loose, clean outfield actions. Reinke’s arm plays easy with carry at 84 mph. Upside outfielder in the 2024 class. 

+ One of the top bats on the day was uncommitted MIF George Haracz (Loyola Academy, 2023). His left-handed swing looks to be his current calling card. Listed at 5-foot-11, 170-pounds, Haracz hits with fluid rhythm while staying quiet, on balance and highly-repeatable. Haracz was all over the barrel in his round of BP while flashing above-average jump off the barrel; his furthest batted ball traveled 341 feet. Polished, impressive round of BP for the incoming senior.

+ Another bat that stood out on the day was Mason McCue (Bishop McNamara, 2024). The 5-foot-9, 160-pound left-handed hitter has loose, athletic hands, controlled the barrel and drove hard contact to all fields during BP. McCue carried over his strong BP round to defense where he showed smooth actions on the infield, playing with body control on the move and sure-hands. McCue topped at 78 mph across the infield and ran a 7.32 60.

+ OF Christian Seminaro (Mundelein, 2023) continues to get better every time we get our eyes on him. Seminaro, who recently shifted to the outfield, has trimmed his 60 time down significantly, running a 6.69 at the event, down from a 7.23 in July of 2021. His frame continues to tick up as well, now listed at an athletic, 6-foot-1, 175-pounds. Seminaro showed a quick right-handed swing that stays on plane and tailored for consistent hard, lifted contact to the pull-side of the diamond. Defensively, he plays with pace and quick feet covering ground with ease in the outfield. His arm plays quick and strong, topping at 86 mph. 2023 outfielder on the rise.

+ In our second look this summer, catcher Joey Raineri (Lisle, 2023) continues to show a potent right-handed swing with above-average bat strength. The physical 6-foot-2, 220-pound, stands in the box with a purpose to do damage. Raineri swings with controlled aggression, strong hands and natural loft throughout. Raineri flashes loud contact and works gap-to-gap with authority.  

+ Julian Silva (Plainfield Central, 2023) is another incoming senior who stood out at the event. Silva is a smooth, natural defender on the infield with clean, efficient actions and soft confident hands. Silva plays low to the ground, is comfortable ranging to both sides and showed an accurate arm that topped at 80 mph. Offensively, Silva has a repeatable right-handed swing that stays simple, direct and flat to the baseball with above-average feel for the barrel and a line-drive approach. Tools to stick on the dirt moving forward and a right-handed swing tailored for minimal swing and miss. 

+ A couple of 2025 bats to keep an eye on moving forward were Wrigley Matthys (Bettendorf, IA) and Ryan Yurisich (Joliet Catholic). Matthys is a 5-foot-9, 152-pound, left/left outfielder, led the event with a 6.67 60-yard dash, extremely impressive given the fact he is a 2025. On top of that he showed off a quick bat that stays on plane and repeated hard contact with minimal perceived effort and sneaky jump off the barrel. Yurisich is built at a sturdy, strong, 6-foot-2, 230-pounds and he carried that strength into the left-handed batters box. Yurisich stays quiet and simple, while still creating advanced bat strength and easy bat speed. Stays short and direct to the ball with a pull-side approach and overall polished hit tool for his age. 

+ Mick Graham (Salisbury (CT), 2024) and Aaron Stuart (St. Ignatius, 2023) stood out when taking a quick look through the metrics from the event. Graham led the event in max batted ball distance at 360’, as well as average exit velocity at 90 mph. Graham also was third when it came to average bat speed at 70.3 mph. Stuart registered a max batted ball of 353’ which was good for third at the event. Stuart was on top of the list when looking at average hand speed (25.1 mph) and was second on the day with an average bat speed of 71.9 mph. Stuart, who sports an athletic, upside 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame also was one of the top infielders on the day. Stuart gets around the baseball, with clean footwork, smooth hands and efficient actions while topping at 81 mph across the diamond. 

There were plenty of other prospects, worth noting, that we will touch on in the coming days.

CLICK HERE for the event page. 

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