Prep Baseball Report

Trackman Hitting Leaders: Preseason All State East


Matt Payne
Director of Scouting, PBR of NC

On Saturday January 29th PBR of North Carolina hosted it’s Preseason All State East event at Diamond Xtreme in Kernersville, NC. The Preseason All State Events are the top winter events in North Carolina. Each year these events feature some of the top talent from each area of the state. Players ranged from the 2022-2026 grad classes. 

Pitchers and catchers were up first. Catchers were able to go through a full defensive workout, throwing through to 2B at the spacious indoor facility.  Pitchers threw controlled bullpens with Trackman collecting ball flight analytics.  Following the pitchers, infielders and outfielders went through a defensive workout, followed by all of the position players taking live BP in the open atmosphere of Diamond Xtreme with Trackman gathering ball flight data. 

Below we look at what Trackman had to see about the hitters.

CLICK HERE for the full roster and stats from the event

 

Trackman Hitting Leaders

PEAK EXIT VELOCITY

TrackMan is able to track every ball hit into fair territory, throughout the BP sessions.  Below are the exit velocities produced by individual players.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 101.5 mph
2 Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 99.4 mph
3 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 99.2 mph
4 Matthew Prince NC Apex 2023 OF 98.6 mph
5 Ryan Honeycutt NC Orange 2024 C 98.5 mph
6 Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 97.0 mph
7 Tyler White NC Person 2023 C 96.7 mph
8 Sawyer Black NC Wesleyan Christian 2024 OF 95.6 mph
9 Conner Marren NC New Hanover 2023 SS 95.5 mph
10 Jake Mathis NC PRO5 Baseball Academy 2024 OF 95.5 mph

AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY

The average exit velocity measures a players ability to consistently produce hard contact.  The average was taken based on every ball tracked by TrackMan throughout the player's BP session.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 95.0 mph
2 Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 93.3 mph
3 Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 91.9 mph
4 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 91.3 mph
5 Ryan Honeycutt NC Orange 2024 C 90.3 mph
6 Matthew Prince NC Apex 2023 OF 89.9 mph
7 Conner Marren NC New Hanover 2023 SS 89.9 mph
8 Tyler White NC Person 2023 C 89.0 mph
9 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 88.8 mph
10 Finley Spicer NC Union Pines 2022 OF 88.7 mph

Peak Distance

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 379 ft
2 Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 355 ft
3 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 354 ft
4 Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 352 ft
5 Holden Cooper NC Wakefield 2024 C 346 ft
6 Jacob Trivette NC Caldwell Academy 2023 C 346 ft
7 Sawyer Black NC Wesleyan Christian 2024 OF 343 ft
8 Finley Spicer NC Union Pines 2022 OF 343 ft
9 Landen Baker NC Southern Nash 2023 1B 340 ft
10 Seth Tickel NC Rocky Mount Academy 2025 3B 332 ft

AVERAGE DISTANCE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (avg)
1 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 264 ft
2 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 260 ft
3 Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 247 ft
4 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 237 ft
5 Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 236 ft
6 Miles Newsome NC C.E. Jordan 2023 SS 235 ft
7 Seth Tickel NC Rocky Mount Academy 2025 3B 230 ft
8 Landen Baker NC Southern Nash 2023 1B 225 ft
9 Holden Cooper NC Wakefield 2024 C 222 ft
10 Joey Chitla NC North Raleigh Christian 2024 SS 211 ft

Hard Hit Percentage

TrackMan is able to track and follow exit velocities of each hitter.  Based on the individual's top exit velocity, TrackMan is able to give us a percentage of hard hit balls.  This percentage is based off of each individual hitter's top exit velocity.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hard Hit %
1 Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 90 %
2 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 80 %
3 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 78 %
4 Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 75 %
5 Ryan Honeycutt NC Orange 2024 C 63 %
6 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 61 %
7 Matthew Prince NC Apex 2023 OF 57 %
8 Angel Pichardo NC Ledford 2025 OF 53 %
9 Jake Mathis NC PRO5 Baseball Academy 2024 OF 50 %
^ Sawyer Black NC Wesleyan Christian 2024 OF 50 %
^ Seth Tickel NC Rocky Mount Academy 2025 3B 50 %
^ Joey Chitla NC North Raleigh Christian 2024 SS 50 %
^ Tyler White NC Person 2023 C 50 %
10 Conner Marren NC New Hanover 2023 SS 46 %

Launch Angle Percentage

Based on the ball flight, TrackMan is able to identify each hit as a ground ball, line drive, or fly ball.  While there are many factors as to why a hitter may approach each pitch in a certain way, the overall groupings of BP can give some insight to each hitter's approach.

Line Drive %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Line Drive %
1 Ben O'Brien NC Cardinal Gibbons 2024 OF 76 %
2 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 64 %
3 Levi Baker NC Wake County Warriors 2024 3B 58 %
4 Sawyer Black NC Wesleyan Christian 2024 OF 57 %
^ Matthew Prince NC Apex 2023 OF 57 %
5 Aaron Bryant NC Apex 2023 OF 55 %
6 Garrett Hayes TX Whitehouse 2024 OF 54 %
7 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 53 %
^ Angel Pichardo NC Ledford 2025 OF 53 %
8 Seth Tickel NC Rocky Mount Academy 2025 3B 50 %
^ Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 50 %
^ Nathan Ellison NC Thales Academy 2024 1B 50 %
^ Gage Miller NC Asheboro 2023 3B 50 %
^ Jake Pereira NC Willow Spring 2024 SS 50 %
^ Joey Chitla NC North Raleigh Christian 2024 SS 50 %
^ Miles Newsome NC C.E. Jordan 2023 SS 50 %
^ Tyler White NC Person 2023 C 50 %
9 Hueston Gorham NC East Chapel Hill 2024 3B 48 %
10 Kelvyn Paulino Jr NC Ledford 2025 3B 46 %

Ground Ball %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Ground Ball %
1 CJ Whitaker NC Corinth Holders 2025 C 88 %
2 Kyle Davis VA Appomattox County 2024 SS 76 %
3 Bryant Kimbrell NC Pinecrest 2024 3B 69 %
4 Dylan Davis NC Middle Creek 2024 OF 66 %
5 Landon Fleming NC Heritage 2023 C 63 %
6 Conner Marren NC New Hanover 2023 SS 61 %
7 Nate Hollenbeck NC Rolesville 2024 RHP 60 %
8 Carlos Diaz NC Wake Forest 2025 C 57 %
9 Jack Heron NC Holly Springs 2024 2B 54 %
10 Cameron Rickabaugh NC Topsail 2023 C 54 %

Fly Ball %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Fly Ball %
1 Carson Crider NC Wake Forest 2026 RHP 62.5 %
2 Caden Christman NC Pro5 Academy 2024 C 61.5 %
3 Stephen Williams NC Carolina Royals Baseball 2023 CF 41.7 %
^ Cody Hughes NC Charles E. Jordan 2024 RHP 41.7 %
^ Cameron Kaplinger NC Broughton 2022 2B 41.7 %
4 Jacob Trivette NC Caldwell Academy 2023 C 40.0 %
5 Landen Baker NC Southern Nash 2023 1B 38.5 %
6 Nathan Bunch NC Athens Drive Magnet 2024 1B 36.4 %
^ John Lupienski NC Middle Creek 2025 C 36.4 %
7 Hunter Huneycutt NC Pinecrest 2023 C 33.3 %
^ Jake Mathis NC PRO5 Baseball Academy 2024 OF 33.3 %
^ Holden Cooper NC Wakefield 2024 C 33.3 %
^ Cameron Richey NC Southern Lee 2024 OF 33.3 %
^ Ethan Brittain NC Wake Forest 2025 SS 33.3 %
8 Wilmer Martinez NC Ledford 2025 SS 30.8 %
^ Davis Gore NC Asheboro 2023 3B 30.8 %
^ Andrew Keller NC Fuquay Varina 2024 C 30.8 %
9 Seth Tickel NC Rocky Mount Academy 2025 3B 30.0 %
^ Blake Crawford NC North Lenoir 2024 OF 30.0 %
^ Nicholas Credle NC CE Jordan 2023 1B 30.0 %
10 Chace Chaplin NC Middle Creek 2023 3B 28.6 %