IL/WI Underclass Games: Catcher Analysis

On Tuesday, July 20, the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Underclass Games at Triton College in River Grove. The invite-only event featured some of the top players from Illinois and Wisconsin in the Class of 2024. A number of high-level follows emerged at the event and many will be names to become familiar with as they enter their sophomore year of high school.

Our staff published several pieces shortly after the event’s conclusion and you can find those by clicking HERE. 

Today we’ll begin rolling out our position-by-position analysis from the day, starting with the catchers and working our way around the diamond throughout the week. Here is a quick nugget on each: 

+ Listed at 5-foot-8 178-pounds, Cal Casper (Bay Port; WI) has a lean and athletic build with wiry strength. The right-handed hitter showed some high level ability with his barrel to ball talent. His swing is loose, short and quick. He peppered the outfield with line drives during his round of batting practice. His top exit velocity was 90 mph per Trackman. Casper’s high level abilities showed on defense as well, starting with his above-average arm strength. His exchange and footwork are advanced behind the plate and out at shortstop. His top pop time was 2.05. Casper emerged as versatile, athletic 2024 to follow moving forward.

+ Seth Impson (Springfield) is 5-foot-10, 155-pounds of energy. Impson was active and loud the entire day no matter where he was on the field, coaching up teammates and handling himself with confidence. Impson also backed up his innate catcher profile with highly-advanced actions, playing quick and athletic out of the crouch. Impson’s pop times ranged from 2.01-2.09.  His throws have carry and were consistently on the bag. Impson is advanced beyond his years behind the plate.  

+  Ryan Dummer (Burlington; WI) is right-handed hitting catcher that flashed advanced bat speed during batting practice, utilizing a loose, short, and quick swing to produce line drive contact throughout his round of BP while reaching a peak exit velocity of 93.40 mph. 

+ Another Wisconsin native, Joshua Gilroy (Arrowhead; WI) displayed some of the day’s top raw power. Both Gilroy’s hardest hit ball (97 mph) and farthest hit ball (372 ft.) were amongst the highest numbers we saw at the event. There’s certainly a power-driven ceiling attached to the 6-foot, 180-pound Gilroy’s right-handed bat. 

CATCHING PROSPECTS (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

Cal Casper, Bay Port (WI), 2024
Positional Profile: C/SS
Body: 5-8, 170-pounds. Athletic build.
Hit: RHH. Balanced setup, hands start back with minimal movement throughout, simple load, short stride. Loose quick hands with bat speed, short and level bat path, stays on plane. Line drive approach, flashed barrel feel and above-average strength to the pull-side.
Power: 89.6 max exit velocity, averaged 84.7 mph. 280’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 74 mph. INF - 79 mph. Short and loose arm action, high 3/4 slot.
Defense: 2.05-2.13 pop times. Took reps behind the plate and on the infield. Athletic behind the plate, quick hip turn at gather, clean hand transfer to release with some accuracy around the bag. Athletic feet on the infield, attacks the baseball, fluid footwork and comfortable on the move. Soft hands, smooth funnels into a quick, accurate release.
Run: 7.34 runner in the 60. 

Ryan Dummer, Burlington (WI), 2024
Positional Profile: C/3B
Body: 6-0, 180-pounds.
Hit: RHH. Tall, open setup, leg lifts into a long stride. Repeatable swing, loose/quick hands to the ball, level path through the zone with barrel control.
Power: 93.4 max exit velocity, averaged 88.3 mph. 325’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 71 mph. Short, high 3/4 arm slot.
Defense: 2.04-2.17 pop times. Active blocker, directional footwork out of the crouch with a clean transfer.
Run: 7.49 runner in the 60.

Joshua Gilroy, Arrowhead Union (WI), 2024
Positional Profile: C/OF
Body: 6-0, 180-pounds.
Hit: RHH. Balanced setup, simple hand load with minimal shoulder movement, leg kick timing trigger into a long stride. Quick hands with a level path through the zone, consistent hard contact to the whole field with a line-drive approach, showed the ability to take pitches to the opposite field when pitched on the outer half of the plate.
Power: 97 max exit velocity, averaged 91.8 mph. 372’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 72 mph. Loose, high 3/4 arm slot, throws were around the base.
Defense: 2.13-2.19 pop times. Sure-handed with a clean transfer, active blocker with directional footwork on throws to bases.
Run: 7.44 runner in the 60. 

Seth Impson, Springfield (IL), 2024
Positional Profile: C
Body: 5-10, 155-pounds.
Hit: SH. Balanced setup with minimal pre-pitch movement, toe-taps into a short stride. Athletic/repeatable swing, loose/whippy arms through the zone, level path to the ball with a line drive approach.
Power: 90.7 max exit velocity, averaged 84.7 mph. 299' max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 75 mph. Short/quick over-the-top arm action.
Defense: 2.01-2.09 pop times. Confident receiver of the baseball, quick/clean transfer out of the glove with fluid and directional footwork from the crouch.
Run: 7.55 runner in the 60.

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