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Top Tier Scout Day: HQ 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 HQ team:

TOP TIER HQ

+ C Noah Brandt (Somonauk, 2025) had one of the more impressive showings on the day. Listed at 5-foot-10, 170-pounds, lean build with room to add on strength. Loose, fluid left-handed swing with some rhythm, whippy barrel stays flat through the zone with more power to come as he continues to fill out. Reached up to 97.9 mph for his ma EV while averaging 88.2 mph.

+ OF Patrick Connors (Hinsdale Central, 2026) is a toolsy athlete to know from the scout day. 5-foot-11, 180-pounds with some present strength and evenly distributed weight. Twitchy right-handed swing, quick/strong hands with some power the other way, showed the ability to stay through the baseball and drive it on the outer-half; 94.8 mph max EV. 6.90 runner in the 60, athleticism transfers to the outfield easily with a quick first step and easy range, sure-handed actions. Strong arm, reaching up to 85 mph from a crowhop with life out of the hand.

+ MIF Ryan Jackson (St. Viator, 2025) is an upside infield prospect to know from the scout day. 5-foot-10, 170-pounds, lean frame with room to add on strength. Loose, easy right-handed swing, controls his body well with athletic hands, 90.1 mph max EV, 321’ max distance. Clean, athletic defender, soft hands with fluid footwork, moves well to both sides of his glove with feel for the position.

+ C Dylan Kassab (Hinsdale Central, 2026) was all over the barrel throughout his round of BP. The 5-foot-10, 191-pound right-handed hitter produced a max EV of 100 mph to pair with an average of 94.3 mph. There’s some controlled aggression in the swing, coiling his lower-half with a toe-tap before throwing his hands through the zone with a flat path. He showed some tools on the other side of the ball as well, reaching as low as 1.94 for his pop time with a max velocity of 80 mph from the chute.

+ OF Brady Koren (Lyons Township, 2027) will be a name to follow throughout the high school ranks. 6-foot, 169-pounds, projectable frame with lean limbs. The right-handed hitter has a strong swing, working to stay inside the baseball while using the whole field, reaching up to 339’ for his max distance. Upside name to know.

+ OF Matthew Tomfohrde (Hinsdale Central, 2027) is a physical rising sophomore to know from the event, listed at 6-foot-1, 185-pounds with present strength. The right-handed hitter showed a strong operation with the ability to lift to his pull-side, reaching up to 89 mph for his max EV with a max distance of 312’. Quality defender in the outfield, attacks the baseball in-stride with confident hands. Moves well into a crowhop, reaching up to 83 mph with life out of the hand.

+ INF Nicholas Crowley (Munster, 2027) is a physical right-handed bat to know from the day. Listed at 6-foot-1, 195-pounds with present strength, Crowley worked his max EV up to 94.4 mph on the day with a max distance of 362’.

+ C/RHP Kaleb Navarro (De La Salle, 2025) had one of the better two-way showings on the day. Physical, 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame with strength throughout. The right-handed hitter has a strong operation that was on the barrel throughout, showing some intent to lift to his pull-side, reaching up to 98.9 mph for his max EV with a 353’ max distance. Strong arm behind the plate with a 1.97 pop-time. Navarro then got on the mound and tossed one of the event’s hardest bullets coming in at 88.1 mph with feel to spin (avg. 2447 rpm). His best offspeed offering was a tight slider at 72-75 mph with an average spin rate of 2456 rpm.

+ LHP Samuel Chin (St. Laurence, 2026) is an upside arm to know in the state’s 2026 class. Currently ranked No. 53 in the state while standing in at a trim and long-levered 6-foot, 148-pounds. Chin has consistently shown to be a clean and easy mover down the mound paired with a long, clean arm from a low ¾ slot. His fastball sat 80-82 mph (avg. 2312 rpm) with ride (avg. 18.2” IVB) and arm-side run (avg. -13.6” HM). He then showed above average feel for a sweeping-curve at 68-69 mph (avg. 2583 rpm), while also mixing in a 68-70 mph slider (avg. 2635 rpm) with 17” of horizontal movement on average. Chin then rounded out his mix with a 74-76 mph changeup that flashed out-pitch potential with heavy arm-side fade (avg. -16.9” HM). A name to continue to follow moving into the summer months.

+ RHP Mark Atwood (Loyola Academy, 2027) was another upside name to know from the event. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound righty worked his fastball up to 85.6 mph with occasional carry through the zone (T19.8” IVB). He had feel to spin both breaking balls; with his sweeping-curveball sitting 67-70 mph (avg. 2365 rpm), and his slider finding the zone more often at 69-71 mph while also averaging 2365 rpm.

+ RHP Blake Brown (Kalamazoo Central (MI), 2027) is another incoming-sophomore that had a strong showing at the event. Brown showed a three-pitch mix, highlighted by an 81-83 mph fastball (T84) that had an average spin rate of 2231 rpm, with occasional carry through the zone. He also had feel to spin his slider (avg. 2454 rpm) at 67-70 mph to go as a quality secondary pitch.

+ RHP Johnny Louise (Montini Catholic, 2027) is another incoming-sophomore that threw the ball well. The 6-foot, 200-pound righty featured a low 80’s fastball that topped at 83 mph. His best offspeed offering on the day was a 70-72 mph changeup that played in the zone 67% of the time with arm-side fade. He mixed in a 71-74 mph slider that had feel for the zone, and also showed a 68-70 mph curveball with out-pitch characteristics.

+ RHP Ethan Neakarse (Sandburg, 2025) is an uncommitted name to know from the showcase. An athletically built 6-foot-2, 180-pounds, he showed an above average three-pitch mix. His fastball played with carry through the zone, while sitting 85-86 mph. He threw his slider for strikes 75% of the time at 75-77 mph, while also mixing in a 75-76 mph curveball with sweeping action.

+ OF Lucas Staniszewski (Home School, 2025) displayed some of the better BLAST metrics on the day, averaging 74.1 mph for his bat-speed and 25.8 Gs for his rotational acceleration. The right-handed hitter has a strong, flat swing that worked on the barrel with some loud contact, topping out at 91.5 mph for his EV.

+ 3B Joe Kelly (Loyola Academy, 2026) took a loud round of BP from the right side. He uses some intent with a high leg-lift that coils his body into a long stride, firing through with an average bat-speed of 72.5 mph and average hand-speed of 24.9 mph. He worked his max EV up to 95 mph, averaging 86.4 mph with a max distance of 350’.

+ C Derrick Pomatto (Joliet Catholic, 2027) is a young backstop to know from the day. He looks to be a well-rounded player, pairing quality defense with a strong right-handed swing at the plate. Defensively, he showed a clean glove-to-hand operation with a pop-time as low as 1.97, topping out at 76 mph while keeping his throws around the bag. At the plate, he has a simple swing that is quick from launch, working flat through the zone with line-drives to the whole field (T92 mph EV).

+ MIF Devin Wheaton (Oswego East, 2026) looked to be one of the better defenders on the day up the middle of the field. He showed controlled actions with timing and confident hands, securing the ball quickly into his body while playing through it with fluid footwork, quick first step with confidence in his glove to all angles. Arm plays well across (T79 mph) with accuracy, coming from multiple angles and also playing on the move.

+ MIF Christian Clark (St. Rita, 2025) is an upside infield prospect from the day. Listed at 5-foot-11, 150-pounds with a wiry frame, Clark has all sorts of room to add on strength in the coming years. He has an easy right-handed swing that works to stay on top of the baseball, looking to stay middle/away with line-drives. On the infield he’s an athletic mover with sure-handed actions, showcasing timing and confidence in his hands. 6.89 runner in the 60.

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