On Wednesday, September 23rd, the Prep Baseball Illinois & Missouri staff traveled to Arsenal BG Ballpark in Sauget, IL to host the annual St. Louis Fall ID and the first ever St. Louis Freshmen Free Showcase. These events were open for 2027-2030 class members, and featured 31 players from the two state area.

All of our events offer players the opportunity to update their recruiting resume and showcase their talents in front of our staff. We also use these events as identifiers for future invite-only events, like the Preseason All-State, our summer Top Prospect Games and State Games, and the prestigious Prep Baseball Future Games that takes place at the tail end of the summer. To see what our events offer, click HERE.

Shortly after the event, our staff compiled several of the day’s stat leaders inside our traditional ‘Statistical Leaderboards’, which you can find HERE for the Fall ID and HERE for the Freshmen Free Showcase. 

Today, after combing through our notes from the day, we’ve compiled some of the event’s standouts below within these ‘Quick Hits’.

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FALL ID FOLLOWS

INF Trey Breitenstein (Waterloo (Ill.), 2028) was one of the biggest standouts of the day. He’s a right-handed hitter with a clean, balanced swing that is simple and on-plane, using a line-drive approach to the whole field throughout his round. He’s a steady defender on the infield with crisp glovework and clean transfers, pairing with a clean release and an arm that can play from multiple angles (T81 mph).

A standout performance at Wednesday’s showcase came from OF William Cassidy (Westminster Christian (Mo.), 2027). Standing in at 6-foot, 168 pounds, the right-handed hitter displayed explosive quickness and bat speed throughout his round of BP, generating a 23.0 mph max hand speed alongside a 75.5 mph max bat speed. Cassidy’s quick, intentful swing translates into real impact, square-up authority, backspinning his firmest hit ball at a 96.2 mph peak exit velocity and launching a peak distance of 354 feet. That athleticism carries over seamlessly to the rest of his game, where he posted a 6.92 60-yard dash and reached an 82 mph high from the outfield, both among the leaders of the day.

RHP Connor Cline (North County (Mo.), 2028) put together a strong showing on the mound at Arsenal BG Ballpark. Built at a lean 5-foot-9, 159 pounds, the junior right-hander demonstrated high-end spin characteristics across his pitch mix. Cline touched 81.4 mph with his fastball, which stood out as one of the event's top spin-rate offerings while generating a notable 18.5 inches of average induced vertical break. He complemented his fastball by showing real feel to spin two 2,300 RPM breaking balls, creating up to -20.3 inches of horizontal break on his slider.

RHP/OF Wilson Coryell (Belvidere (Ill.), 2027) had a strong all-around showing on the day and looks to be an intriguing uncommitted prospect from the area. On the mound, he showed an in-line delivery with a deceptive release, pairing with a fastball in the 81-83 mph range, topping at 83.7 mph with true carry traits (20.4” avg IVB). He showed an innate ability to spin the breaking ball over 2,400 rpm, playing with sharp 11/5 action at 67-69 mph. He also flashed a fading changeup at 74-76 mph to complete his arsenal.

Grayden Hampton (2028) and Brennan Hampton (2028) are a pair of twin brothers from Edwardsville, Ill. that both showed well on the day.

Grayden showed a loose and controlled swing from the left side throughout his round, spraying hard and lifted contact to the whole field (T91 mph EV). On the mound, he showed a clean, athletic delivery with a fastball up to 82, cruising in the low-80s. He also showed feel to spin a couple sharp breaking balls and flashed a fading changeup to round out his arsenal. 

Brennan was equally impressive with a simple left-handed swing that stays on-plane and balanced, using the big part of the field consistently. He too showed well on the mound with a clean, athletic delivery that he syncs up well, topping at 83 mph on his fastball. He was able to spin a couple different breaking balls for strikes in his ‘pen, and completed his repertoire with a changeup in the low-70s that he kept around the zone.

OF Jack Kester (Festus (Mo.), 2027) is an intriguing left/left prospect who showed off serious power metrics in Sauget. At 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, Kester repeatedly took physical, intentful hacks, generating a 75.7 mph max bat speed and a 21.7 mph peak hand speed. His heavy left-handed barrel produced constant hard contact, posting a 90.8 mph average exit velocity and peaking at 95.8 mph on his firmest hit ball. Kester's ability to leverage the baseball out front resulted in the furthest-driven ball of the entire event, launching a peak distance of 375 feet.

FRESHMEN FREE FOLLOWS

C Colin Dean (Lafayette (Mo.), 2030) carries an upside presence behind the dish with a physical 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame. A high-level athlete for his class, Dean ran an impressive 6.94 60-yard dash and followed it up with an impressive defensive performance, showcasing a 78 mph arm from the chute that produced event-leading 1.93–1.99 pop times. He carried that athleticism over to the batter's box, repeatedly finding the barrel for a loud 96.6 mph peak exit velocity. With premium tools across the board, Dean projects as a middle-of-the-order backstop to follow in Missouri's 2030 class.  

LHP Trae Herring (Normal University (Ill.), 2030) is an upside arm to follow in the coming years. He’s an athletic, up-tempo mover on the mound with a compact leg-lift and in-line delivery, pairing with a clean, quick arm and ¾ slot. The fastball peaked at 79 mph, sitting 77-78 mph with carry traits. Both his curveball and slider showed sweeping action, with the curveball having slightly more depth, both playing mid-60s with the slider getting up to 70 mph. His final offering was a changeup with natural fade arm-side, playing with over -17” of horizontal break at 70-71 mph.

LHP/OF Haydyn Johnson (Mount Vernon (Ill.), 2030) was one of the top two-way standouts from the day. On the mound, he showed a ride/run fastball up to 80 mph from a low release height (4.5” avg.), peaking around 19” for his IVB and nearly -20” for his horizontal break. The slider showed true sweeping shape at 64-66 mph, flashing feel to land it in the zone. His final offering was a changeup at 68-69 mph with natural fade arm-side, keeping it around the zone. On the other side of the ball, the left-handed hitter showed a clean, simple swing with feel to use the opposite field.

INF/C Hudson Koda (Columbia (Ill.), 2030) will be a name to follow in the coming years. There’s some present athleticism in his 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame, pairing with a controlled and intentful swing from the left side that is on-plane with natural lift (T92 mph EV). He’s an above average defender behind the plate with soft hands and natural glove-to-hand actions, reaching as low as 1.94 for his pop-time in the workout. He also showed steady, athletic actions on the infield to help add to his defensive profile. 

Physicality on both sides of the ball was the calling card for INF/RHP Brody Laveroni (Logan-Rogersville (Mo.), 2030), who stands at a broad-shouldered 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. Laveroni generated heavy barrel speed in BP, spraying line drives to the tune of a 97.2 mph maximum exit velocity. His arm strength on the dirt played with easy carry at 84 mph across the diamond, and later translated to the mound, running his fastball up to an event-leading 85.6 mph while sitting 82-85 mph alongside a full four-pitch mix featuring a 69-73 mph splitter, an 80-81 mph sinker, and a 66-70 mph slider.

INF/RHP Miles Lockridge (MICDS (Mo.), 2030) put together a dynamic two-way showing, bringing an athletic 5-foot-10, 160-pound build to Wednesday's look. The right-handed hitter put on a show in batting practice by consistently driving balls off the barrel, topping out at a loud 97.1 mph exit velocity while launching his deepest shot an event-best 355 feet into the gap. That raw power translated seamlessly over to the dirt, where he matched it with clean, fluid footwork up the middle and an 84 mph throw across the infield. Lockridge rounded out his day with an impressive stint on the mound, running his fastball up to 84.6 mph (sitting 83-84 mph) while mixing in a 76-77 mph cutter, a 72-74 mph changeup, and a 68-69 mph curveball.

Loose actions and projectability stand out for INF Channing Piper (Raymore-Peculiar (Mo.), 2030), who features an athletic 6-foot, 173-pound frame. At the plate, his leveraged right-handed stroke consistently met the ball out front to register a 93.1 mph peak exit velocity, making him a high-upside profile to keep an eye on as he continues to mature.

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