On Jan. 31, the PBR Illinois team hosted its first showcase of the new year: the McHenry Preseason I.D. For the past five years, this event has provided our staff with an opportunity to evaluate high school-aged prospects from Northern Illinois, primarily. The McHenry event has historically revealed to us some of the area’s top talent, and this year was no different.

If you missed us in McHenry, check out our showcase page to see when we’re in the neighborhood next.

On Monday, our staff collaborated to highlight the biggest takeaways from Sunday’s showcase, and we published them within this Quick Hits piece. Throughout the rest of this week, we’ll be taking diving deeper into all of the data we collected, too, with the help of our Blast Motion and TrackMan devices.

Today, we’re looking at our traditional leaderboards, from home-to-first measurements to pop times, and everything in between.

TOP HOME-TO-FIRST TIME

OF Jake Metze (Johnsburg, 2023) ran the fastest home-to-first time of the event at 3.90 seconds. He's a quick-twitch athlete who showed his athleticism in multiple facets on Sunday. Clocking in at a few ticks behind him was OF/INF Dylan Harer (St. Viator, 2023), who’s a lanky and projectable 6-foot, 168-pound left-handed hitter with upside levers. LHP/OF Brandon Schultz (Stevenson, 2024) emerged as a high-follow prospect in the state’s 2024 class after an all-around impressive showcase performance, including his 4.01 second home-to-first time.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY

We saw a plethora of high-octane arms show out at Sunday’s event and arguably one of the Midwest’s top uncommitted juniors led the way: RHP Tyler Deleskiewicz (Badger, WI, 2022). The lanky 6-foot-5, 210-pound right-hander showed well in several different looks last summer, including at the PBR Future Games, and he continues to trend upward as a prospect. Deleskiewicz exclusively sat 89-90 mph with his fastball and his lone 91 mph bullet was the hardest we saw of the day.

The day's other 90 mph max was delivered by another 2022 right-hander: Jameson Sheehan (Cary-Grove). Built at a strong, barrel-chested 6-foot-4, 190-pounds, Sheehan came away as one of the event’s biggest winners. He sat at low-effort 87-89 mph and reared back to touch 90 on his last pitch of the day. Sheehan can really spin his fastball too, nearing a max spin rate of 2,600 rpm, averaging over 2,400-plus.

RHP Jacob Filip (Lakes Community) was a true breakout performer on the day, in his PBR event debut. The arm strength that the 6-foot, 180-pound Filip possesses both on the mound and in the field is impressive. He’s still fully harnessing control for his impressive fastball, but he touched 89 mph on his second pitch and sat at 86-88 throughout.

Three arms from the competitive Fox Valley Conference each tied for third on this particular leaderboard. Ranked inside the top-100 prospects in Illinois’ 2022 class, RHP/INF Kyle Kaempf (McHenry) is a wiry, upside athlete who filled up the zone with a mid- to upper-80s fastball that topped 89 mph. A duo of Huntley arms also reached an 89 mph: RHP Adam Guazzo (2022) and RHP Andrew Ressler (2023). Guazzo has made quite the jump into the high-80s mph range from last July when we saw him sitting 82-83 mph at our Class of 2022 Showcase. As for Ressler, he continues to show why he’s one of the state’s top sophomore arms. On Sunday, he was operating in the upper-80s on cruise control, and he reached back for an 89 mph high. Both are capable of becoming key members of a Red Raiders rotation that’s, once again, projecting to be very deep.

MAX EXIT VELOCITY

C Ryan Bakes (Huntley, 2023; South Carolina commit) is a high-end, nationally ranked prospect in this sophomore class, and you’ll find his name at the top of several statistical leaderboards from this event, including this category. Bakes recorded the day's hardest-hit ball, at 97 mph, and we'll spend some time later in the week evaluating his massive strength and offensive profile in our TrackMan and Blast breakdowns.

Two more physical right-handed hitters from the 2022 class each registered max exit speed a mere tick below Bakes' best: OF Dylan Bass (Glenbrook North) and 1B Jacob Buysse (Mundelein). They both took loud rounds of batting practice, respectively, and their TrackMan numbers support impressive bat strength harnessed within their right-handed strokes. A noteworthy power prospect in the state’s 2024 class, C/3B Zachary Pyles (Warren Township), also landed near the top of this chart. A former Junior Future Games participant, Pyles' 95 mph high translated inside of his round of batting practice too, helping him become a follow freshman moving forward.

MAX OUTFIELD VELOCITY

One 2023 prospect who impressed in multiple facets on Sunday: LHP/OF Jake Swanson (Grant Community). After a quality round of batting practice, Swanson transitioned into his defensive workout and showed off a loose, lively arm that topped out at 90 mph on his top throw to home. That wiry arm strength translated to the mound later on in his workout, where he reached an 84 mph high, sitting at an easy 82-84 mph with his fastball. LHP/OF Ian Boal (Johnsburg) is another impressive two-way 2023 in the state, and he also recorded a noteworthy 89 mph high to home, tied with McHenry junior Rick Powell (2022). Powell himself is a follow, well-rounded athlete with quick-twitch actions throughout.

OF Beau McBride (New Trier) has strength attached to his game, producing power potential from the left-handed batter's box, while also recording the day's firmest throws amongst the freshmen in attendance.

MAX INFIELD VELOCITY

Tied for the max infield velocity lead are two rising prospects within their respective classes: RHP/INF Kyle Kaempf (McHenry, 2022) and 3B/RHP Logan Voelz (Antioch, 2024). Kaempf is a high-waisted, upside 6-foot-1, 160-pound athlete with loose, wiry arm strength attached to his frame. His arm works in multiple ways on the diamond, touching 87 mph across the infield and running his fastball up to 89 mph in his bullpen later on. Voelz appears to have added significant strength since we saw him last March, and that increased physicality led to an 11 mph jump in infield velocity in less than a year. The aforementioned Deleskiewicz and Ressler showed that their arm strength from the mound can play on the field too, coming in third and fourth, respectively, on this leaderboard.

Physical 3B Jake Zitella (St. Charles East, 2023) was also 85 mph across, and his improved lateral quickness will help him continue to project at the hot corner long-term.

And J.R. Nelson (Stevenson, 2023) is reiterating his status as one of the state's top sophomore defenders. His feet and hands are a cut above, and his arm strength only further enhances his up-the-middle defensive profile.

MAX CATCHER VELOCITY

Ryan Bakes led this deep group of talented backstops by recording multiple throws from the chute at 80-plus mph, and his best reached an elite 84 mph mark – with accuracy to the bag.

Previously mentioned for his work on the mound, Filip’s arm plays up from behind the plate too, topping out at 81 mph through the infield. A prospect who emerged as a follow name in the state’s 2022 class: C/RHP Ryan Kelly (Huntley). Kelly took one of the event’s most physical BP rounds, routinely working on the barrel for multiple batted balls measured at 90-plus mph. That physicality works from behind the dish as well, as he reached a 79 mph high to second base, and he later ran his fastball up to 87 mph from the mound.

TOP POP times

Outside of their advanced arm strength, both Bakes and Filip possess quick catch-and-throw skills that led to consistent sub-2.00 pop times. Lemont’s Alexander Tagler (2022) is another intriguing prospect to follow from Sunday’s deep crop of backstops. His nimble feet and quick trigger release allow for smooth, accurate throws down to the bag. Kelly's arm strength helped him record some of the day's lowest pops as well. And sophomore Austin Leonard (Hampshire, 2023) took an above-average round of catcher defense for us, popping in the low 2.00s, and he also swings a barrel feel right-handed bat that uses the whole field efficiently.

For a complete look at each of the statistics measured at Sunday's showcase, CLICK HERE.

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