IL/WI All-State Games: Quick Hits

The second annual All-State games took place on Tuesday, July 2 at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois. The invite-only event brought together over 80 of the top uncommitted 2021s in Illinois and Wisconsin. A number of high-follow incoming juniors emerged as high-follows at the event.

Today we take an early look at some of the standout performers from the event. 

QUICK HITS

ILLINOIS

UPSIDE LEFT-HANDED ARMS

+ Illinois featured a couple of interesting left-handed arms in Luke Trepanier (Manteno), Jackson Kent (Lake Park), Ryan Weaver (Cary-Grove) and Cory Ronan (Routt Catholic), just to name a few. Trepanier, one of the first arms out of the chute, creates arm-side-run on his fastball which touched 85 mph and he worked a clean inning. Trepanier, who also worked out as an outfielder, ran a 6.77 60. Kent has a high-waisted 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame, a loose, clean arm and low-80’s fastball. Weaver arguably had the most dominant inning of the event, not allowing a hit and striking out two-of-the-three batters he faced. Weaver sat 82-83 mph with his fastball and featured a swing-and-miss changeup with late sink at 69 mph. Ronan has a long, lean frame, easy, athletic arm and sat mostly 83-84 mph in his one inning. 

RIGHT-HANDED ARMS

+ A trio of right-handers to keep an eye out on are Jackson Lee (Effingham), Ben Plumley (Lane Tech) and Adam Brouwer (Chicago Christian). Lee and Plumley featured two of the firmer, sharper breaking balls on the day and sat in the mid-80’s. Brouwer has a clean, ultra-easy arm and sat 83-85 mph, touching 87 once. All three arms have plenty more in the tank and have a feel for pitching.

BIGGEST WINNER

+ OF Cameron Hill (Kenwood) arguably boosted his stock more than any other Illinois position player in attendance. Hill, continues to add quality strength to his highly-athletic, 6-foot-3, 198-pound frame and improves his game every time we see him. The right-handed hitter, has big upside at the plate, featuring loose, quick hands and flashed hard contact at times in BP. During game play, Hill made some of the loudest contact on the day, a line-drive double off the left-field wall. Hill, who profiles at a corner outfield spot, was up to 89 mph from the outfield.

/var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found

Cameron Hill

CATCHERS

+ Jeremiah Powell (Brother Rice) and Sebastian Cabeza (Kaneland) were two of the more talented catchers in attendance and they both bring different traits to the table. Powell is ultra-quick and athletic behind the plate with an advanced glove-to-hand transfer. Powell, a right-handed hitter, competes in the box and consistently found barrels during game play. Cabeza has a physical, durable build with occasional power in his right-handed swing and clean actions behind the plate.  

LEFT-HANDED HITTING OUTFIELDERS

+ OF’s Ryan Orput (Hinsdale Central), Cole Yearsley (Yorkville) and Chazz Clark (Marist) are all left-handed hitters who had solid all-around performances yesterday. Orput, who has a 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame, is as toolsy as it gets in the class. Orput ran a 6.66 60, was 98 mph off a tee and was 85 mph from the outfield. Yearsley has a compact, strong frame, ran a 6.87 60 and stood out during game play, taking competitive at-bats and barreling a double to deep right-field. Clark, has athleticism to his game and has a handsy swing at the plate. 

LEFT-HANDED HITTING INFIELDERS

+ Sam Antonnaci (Sacred Heart-Griffin), Kevin McCormick (St. Laurence), Christopher Schellhorn (Minooka) and Javier Beal (Harrisburg) are three left-handed hitters with a knack for the barrel and have baseball IQ. 

OTHERS

+ Two infielders from Illinois who can stick on the left-side of the diamond are Ethan Bowers (Vernon Hills) and Shane Baumgarten (Wheaton Academy). Bowers, ran the top 60 of the day at 6.61, is a sound defender with a quick release and has loose, strong hands at the plate. Baumgarten is a confident defender with easy actions and soft hands.

WISCONSIN

INFIELDERS

+ Bobby Ball (Brookfield Central, WI), Carl Cano (Bay Port, WI) Austin Bestul (Elkhorn, WI), Nicklas Williams (Union Grove, WI), Gianni Passarelli (Indian Trail, WI) and Braydon Skenandore (West De Pere, WI) are all natural infield defenders who can stick on the dirt moving forward.

+ Ball, plays fast on the infield with an ultra-quick release at times and athletic actions. 

+ Cano has a 6-foot-1, 170-pound, upside frame, strong arm (88 mph) and flat swing with quick-twitch.

+ Bestul, ran a 6.92 60, has quick feet, plays through the baseball and tied for the strongest infield arm at 88 mph.

+ Williams made a highlight reel backhand play during the showcase portion of the event, has a quick arm that is accurate across the diamond and made consistent, hard line-drive contact during BP. 

+ Passarelli is a left-handed hitter with a simple swing and sprayed line drives in BP. Defensively, he has athletic infield actions and can throw from multiple slots. 

+ Skenandore, a 6-foot, 200-pound, corner infielder takes an aggressive right-handed swing and is consistently on time. 

TWO-WAY PROSPECTS

+ RHP/INF Trace Kirchberg (Columbus, WI) and RHP/INF Grant Ross (Pewaukee, WI) are two-way prospects who offer intrigue on the mound. Kirchberg was up to 85 mph on the mound and has strength in his right-handed swing. Ross, has a strong, compact build, touched 87 mph on the mound and can stick on the infield as a position player. Ross ran a 7.03 60, the ball jumps off his bat at times and is a steady defender.

BIGGEST WINNER

+ LHP Jared Lessman (St. Croix Falls, WI) has seen his velocity tick up substantially over the last six months to a year and came away from the event as arguably the biggest winner from Wisconsin. The 6-foot, 170-pound, well-proportioned left-hander has a short, loose arm and sat 83-86 mph, touching 87 with minimal effort. Lessman struck out two in his one inning of work.

OUTFIELDERS

+ OF Boone Mathison (Tomah, WI), Eli Hoyt (Waukesha South, WI) and Anthony Gross (Catholic Memorial, WI) all ran sub-7.00 60’s and impressed in the outfield. 

+ Mathison ran a 6.81 60, was 83 mph from the outfield and 81 mph off the tee. Mathison is a natural outfielder with quick fluid footwork and attacks the baseball. 

+ Hoyt is a 6.89 runner, was 86 mph from the outfield and 87 mph off the tee. Hoyt has a short, loose arm that carries from the outfield and the ball jumps off his barrel at the plate.

+ Gross ran a 6.91 was 86 mph from the outfield and 87 mph from a tee. Gross, a right-handed hitter, creates twitch for his size, stays flat through the zone and made a lot of hard contact. 

RIGHT-HANDED ARMS

+ Both Isaiah Cerfus (Union Grove, WI) and Tyler Hug (Waukesha West) has live arms and ran their fastball’s up to 86 mph. Despite being somewhat scattered with command, Cerfus has a loose, clean arm. Hug also has a loose arm and induced a lot of ground ball contact. 

RELATED CONTENT