Prep Baseball Report

Central Illinois Open: Statistical Analysis


By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

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.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY

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

TOP 60-YARD DASH

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

TOP EXIT VELOCITY

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

TOP INFIELD VELOCITY

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

TOP OUTFIELD VELOCITY

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

TOP CATCHER VELOCITY

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

TOP POP TIMES

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

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