PBR Illinois Player of the Week: C Matt McCormick

The No. 2-ranked team on our Power 25, St. Laurence, was busy last week. The Vikings had six games on the schedule and their star backstop and reigning PBR Illinois Player of the Year, Matt McCormick, was a central figure in all five wins. As expected, the senior has hit the ground running in 2019 and caps a tremendous week at the plate with a staggering statline that features five home runs and 12 RBIs.

The West Virginia commit has earned a reputation as one of the Midwest’s – and arguably the country’s – best pure bats. He is the No. 5-ranked prospect in the state’s 2019 class and was invited to February’s prestigious PBR Super 60 showcase where he demonstrated those trademark loose, strong hands from the batter’s box and also posted PBR personal bests in the 60-yard dash (7.07), catcher velocity (82 mph), and exit velocity (102 mph).

Getting back to last week’s action, McCormick lifted St. Laurence to two wins at the Louisville Super Prep Series, hosted by PBR Kentucky in conjunction with Ballard High School. In Kentucky, he launched a home run against Zionsville and also tallied an RBI double against Highland, but it was his return to the Chicagoland area where McCormick really began to light it up.

In his four games against Chicago Catholic League opponents, McCormick combined to go 7-for-11 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. He drove in four against DePaul College Prep, slugged two homers against Montini, and clobbered a two-run shot off the top pitching prospect in the state’s 2020 class in the team’s 5-4 win over De La Salle.

In case you were wondering if both the Vikings and McCormick are still as hot as they were to close out last week, they began this week with back-to-back wins over ranked No. 17 Mount Carmel and St. Laurence’s catcher was one of three Vikings to go deep in Monday’s wild 17-10 win.

Check out one of McCormick’s latest scouting reports below, taken from in-game action last May. For his efforts, he’s been named the PBR Player of the Week for the week of April 1 to 7.