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Top Tier Scout Day: Central Takeaways

August 22, 2024
By: Illinois Scouting Staff

On June 4th, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Top Tier Scout Day at Triton College in River Grove, Ill. Nearly 100 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball Illinois staff.

Continue reading below to learn more about a few name-to-know prospects from this year’s Top Tier Central team:

TOP TIER CENTRAL

+ MIF Kyle Beaty (Normal Community, 2025) is a dual-sport athlete that showed some prowess with the bat on the day. Easy right-handed swing, stayed on the barrel throughout his round with some pop to his pull-side. Clean, athletic actions on the infield, comfortable on the move with some feel for the position.

+ INF/C Lucas Beaty (Normal Community, 2027) was an incoming sophomore that showed extremely well on the day. The right-handed hitter generated power to his pull-side, staying on the barrel with a max distance of 304’. Clean actions on the infield with sure-handed actions. Steady defender behind the plate, quick out of the chute with a 1.95 pop-time and max velocity of 74 mph.

+ 1B/LHP Nico Ojeda (Galesburg, 2026) stands in a strong and sturdy 5-foot-11, 200-pound frame. He showed well during his round of batting practice, displaying a simple load with some bat speed through the zone, utilizing the pull-side throughout. He showed some quality footwork defensively with a clean and quick arm across the diamond. Ojeda moves well on the mound, too, showing an upper-70s fastball, and a high-spin curveball that averaged 2589 rpm with an average of 16.7 inches of horizontal movement. He rounded out his arsenal with a low-70s change-up with slight fade to the arm-side.

+ INF Evan Reed (Bloomington, 2025) showed some intrigue at this event, standing in a strong and athletic 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame. Defensively he showed quality footwork with the ability to range to both sides, paired with a long and loose arm that was up to 81 mph across the diamond. A right-handed hitter, Reed stays simple at the plate, and he produced a max exit velocity of 94.5 mph and a max batted distance of 336 feet.

+ INF Quinten Hale (Glenwood, 2027) has an intriguing frame with plenty of room for added strength, standing at 5-foot-9, 145-pounds. He’s a right-handed hitter at the plate with a simple load and direct bat path with a slightly uphill path. Hale also showed clean actions on the defensive end with some range to both sides.

+ C Will Haley (St. Joseph-Ogden, 2026) stands in a wiry 5-foot-8, 159-pound frame with some athleticism throughout. A 7.02 runner at this event, Haley’s run speed ticked up, running a 6.90 60 time at the Illinois State Games at the beginning of the month. During his round of batting practice, Hayley record a max exit velocity of 91.4 mph. He showed well behind the dish, showing flexible hips, soft receiving actions and a clean transfer on throws down to second.

+ RHP Asher Pruemer (St. Joseph-Ogden, 2026) is an uncommitted arm-to-follow in Central Illinois. He stands in a high-waisted frame with plenty of room for growth at 5-foot-11, 135-pounds. He’s an athletic mover on the mound with a long and loose arm path with quickness out front. His fastball sat 79-83 mph, while topping out at 84.4 mph. He also mixed in a curveball with quality spin (avg. 2487 rpm) and a change-up with heavy fade, averaging 20.3 inches of horizontal movement.

+ RHP Jonah Roper (Normal Community, 2025; Rock Valley CC) showed some polish in his ‘pen. Currently ranked No. 130 in the state, and presenting a well-proportioned frame at 6-foot-3, 203-pounds. Roper showed an easy and athletic delivery with a ¾ arm slot. His fastball sat 85-86 mph with carry (avg. 15.4” IVB) and arm-side run (15.9” HM) to it. His curveball showed depth through the zone with an 11/5 shape at 71-74 mph. Roper would round out his arsenal with a 74-75 mph arm-side fading changeup to make for an above average three-pitch mix.

+ SS/RHP Davis Weeks (Dunlap, 2025; Michigan State) looked to be one of the top prospects in attendance on the day. 6-foot-1, 179-pounds, high waist with athleticism and room to add strength. Controlled right-handed swing, wider base with a simple setup and load, loose hands with a flat path, balanced finish, upside swing, 95.7 mph max EV, 354’ max distance. On the mound, Weeks is a loose mover with a simple and repeatable delivery. His fastball worked up to 91 mph (T2344 rpm) while sitting around 88-90 mph. To pair off the fastball he went to a sharp slider at 75-77 mph and diving changeup at 79-80 mph.

+ RHP Tyler Dowling (Bloomington, 2025) is an upside arm to follow in the state’s incoming-senior class. Currently ranked No. 178 in the state, Dowling impressed with his ability to spin the breaking ball at the event. His curveball averaged over 2500 rpm (T2701) while sitting 70-72 mph with depth through the zone. His fastball sat 81-82 mph with occasional arm-side action. He completed his arsenal with a 75-78 mph changeup that played with arm-side fade (avg. 14.4” HM).

+ RHP Parker Fitch (St. Joseph-Ogden, 2026) threw the ball well in his ‘pen. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect featured a 2-seam type fastball that sat 82-85 mph with an average of 16.4” of arm-side run. He showed feel to spin the curveball and land it for strikes with an average spin rate of 2200+ rpm while playing with shorter action. His changeup was one of the event leaders in horizontal movement, averaging 20.3” to the arm-side while playing in the 72-75 mph range.

+ RHP Traxton Roberts (Armstrong, 2027) is an arm to know from Central Illinois. The projectable 6-foot-1, 175-pound righty worked his fastball up to 86 mph, which was good for the top fastball velocity from any 2027 arm in attendance. Roberts also featured a 68-71 mph splitter that killed spin and played with sink.

+ LHP Owen Shissler (Dunlap, 2025) showed feel for all three of his offerings in his ‘pen. He showed to be a clean mover at 5-foot-11, 185-pounds with each pitch coming out of the hand cleanly. He worked his fastball up to 83 mph, while mixing in a short curveball at 67-69 mph, and rounding things out with a 74-77 mph changeup that had arm-side fade and sink.

+ SS/RHP Layten Gerdes (Fieldcrest, 2026) showed some prowess on both sides of the ball. 6-foot-1, 185-pounds with room to add on strength. Strong right-handed swing, creates extension through impact with easy bat-speed, whippy barrel through the zone that created a max EV of 92.9 mph, 312’ max distance. Gerdes then hopped on the bump and showed upside throughout his ‘pen. His fastball sat 83-84 mph with occasional arm-side run. He was able to toss both his curveball and his slider in for strikes, while completing his arsenal with a 77-78 mph changeup that displayed heavy arm-side fade (avg. 20.9” HM).

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