Mon August 12, 2019
On Aug. 7, the PBR Illinois team visited Normal, Ill., to host the annual Central Illinois Open at the Corn Crib. Today, we’re going to be dissecting all of the measured data gathered at this event and highlighting the day’s top performers from each of the categories below.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks, as we gather all of our scout notes from this event and begin to publish them, position by position. For now, please take a look at the statistical standouts from Wednesday’s showcase below.
RHP Kobe Essien (Mahomet-Seymour; uncommitted) burst onto the radar at his PBR debut event by recording the highest fastball velo at the event, by a couple ticks. He sat 85-87 mph and touched 88 mph in Normal on Wednesday. Mount Carmel’s Jason Thompson also demonstrated arm strength on the mound.
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Max FB
1
Kobe Essien
IL
Mahomet Seymour
2020
RHP
88 mph
2
Jason Thompson
IL
Mount Carmel
2020
OF
86 mph
3
Jack Bach
IL
Normal University
2022
RHP
85 mph
^
Richie Snider
IL
Springfield
2021
RHP
85 mph
4
Gavan Wernsing
IL
Stewardson Strasburg
2022
LHP
84 mph
Luke Lehnen (Glenwood) raced to the top of the 60-yard dash leaderboard with his 6.57 mark, far ahead of the next couple best times.
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
60-yard
1
Luke Lehnen
IL
Glenwood
2020
OF
6.57
2
Braden Zenor
IL
Tri-Valley
2020
OF
6.78
3
Quinn Willard
IL
Cornerstone Christian Academy
2021
OF
6.80
4
Matthew Davenport
IL
Normal University
2021
OF
6.96
5
Jacob Bosse
IN
Crown Point
2020
LHP
6.98
Mitchell Murphy (Normal Community) has some sneaky bat strength for his size, as evidenced by his 93 mph top exit velo, the hardest of the day. Jack Shields (Peoria Notre Dame) just trailed Murphy by a single digit, at 92 mph.
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Exit Velo
1
Mitchell Murphy
IL
Normal Community
2021
3B
93
2
Jack Shields
IL
Peoria Notre Dame
2020
OF
92
3
Quinn Willard
IL
Cornerstone Christian Academy
2021
OF
91
^
Douglas Burson
IL
Yorkville
2021
OF
91
4
Evan Pogioli
IL
Pekin
2020
3B
90
5
Jason Thompson
IL
Mount Carmel
2020
OF
89
^
Brett Macak
IL
Monticello
2020
C
89
Three prospects tied for the top infield velocity of the day, at 81 mph: Shields, Mason Telford (Streator), and Daniel Mosele (Normal University).
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
INF Velo
1
Jack Shields
IL
Peoria Notre Dame
2020
OF
81
^
Mason Telford
IL
Streator
2021
RHP
81
^
Daniel Mosele
IL
Normal University
2021
2B
81
2
Ethan Manaois
IL
Huntley
2021
SS
79
3
Anthony Blazekovich
IL
Lockport
2020
2B
78
^
Evan Kochel
IL
Normal University
2022
C
78
^
PJ Moser
IL
Geneseo
2021
1B
78
4
Mitchell Murphy
IL
Normal Community
2021
3B
77
From Indiana, Jacob Bosse (Crown Point) made the trip out to Normal to top the outfield velo leaderboard, at 90 mph, and he also ran a shade under 7.00 in the 60. Shields made his presence felt again, this time reaching 88 mph on his throws home from the outfield grass.
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
OF Velo
1
Jacob Bosse
IN
Crown Point
2020
LHP
90
2
Jack Shields
IL
Peoria Notre Dame
2020
OF
88
3
Will Girardi
IL
Deemack
2021
OF
86
4
Quinn Willard
IL
Cornerstone Christian Academy
2021
OF
85
Eldorado’s Bryant Byrd recorded the day’s hardest throws from out of the chute, topping 76 mph from the crouch. Henry Patterson (Rochester) and Matthew Hunzinger (Dieterich) narrowly trailed, at 75 mph each.
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
C Velo
1
Bryant Byrd
IL
Southeastern Illinois College
2021
1B
76
2
Matthew Hunzinger
IL
Dieterich
2021
C
75
^
Henry Patterson
IL
Rochester
2020
C
75
Byrd tops this leaderboard, too. He recorded both the single-lowest and averaged the lowest pop time at the event. Hunzinger just barely trailed him.
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Pop Time |
| 1 | Bryant Byrd | IL | Southeastern Illinois College | 2021 | 1B | 2.04-2.14 |
| 2 | Matthew Hunzinger | IL | Dieterich | 2021 | C | 2.08-2.17 |
| 3 | Henry Patterson | IL | Rochester | 2020 | C | 2.11-2.17 |
