Prep Baseball Report

Trackman Hitting Leaders: Team Carolina Trials - Charlotte


Matt Payne
Director of Scouting, PBR of NC

Follow PBR of NC
@PrepBaseballNC  |  Instagram  |  Facebook

On Saturday May 28th PBR of North Carolina hosted trials for Team Carolina at Moor Park in Mooresville, NC. The Team Carolina Trials leads to identifying prospects for some of the summer’s biggest invite only events like NC/SC Border Battle, PBR Southeast Senior Games, Top Prospect Games, and the PBR Future Games. The event featured players from the 2023-2027 grad classes. 

The day began with catchers going through a full defensive workout. Pitchers then threw a controlled bullpen with Trackman gathering ball flight analytics. Following the pitchers, position players ran a laser timed 60 and also had jumping metrics recorded using Swift Technology. Position players then took batting practice on the field with Trackman collection ball flight data. The day concluded with outfielders and infielders taking part in a defensive workout. 

Below we begin our breakdown of the players in attendance looking at the top performers in different categories.  Look for more statistics and information to follow in the coming days. 

CLICK HERE for full roster and stats

 

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.

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 99.9 mph
2 Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 98.4 mph
3 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 95.5 mph
4 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 95.4 mph
5 Jake Minarik NC William A. Hough 2024 OF 95.4 mph
6 Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 95.0 mph
7 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 94.8 mph
8 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 94.8 mph
9 Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 94.7 mph
10 Tyson Merritt NC West Forsyth 2023 C 93.3 mph

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 91.2 mph
2 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 88.1 mph
3 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 87.5 mph
4 Caleb Smith NC East Gaston 2027 OF 86.9 mph
5 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 86.5 mph
6 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 78.9 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.

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 95.1 mph
2 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 90.9 mph
3 Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 89.1 mph
4 Jake Minarik NC William A. Hough 2024 OF 88.4 mph
5 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 87.2 mph
6 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 87.0 mph
7 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 86.9 mph
8 Brandon Bannerman NC Heide Trask 2023 OF 85.8 mph
9 Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 84.8 mph
10 Nick Ham NC Apex Friendship 2024 RHP 83.7 mph

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 Caleb Smith NC East Gaston 2027 OF 86.9 mph
2 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 82.5 mph
3 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 80.5 mph
4 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 77.2 mph
5 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 73.9 mph
6 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 73.7 mph

PEAK DISTANCE

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 381 ft
2 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 361 ft
3 Joshua Herbert NC East Forsyth 2023 OF 357 ft
4 Caleb Gant NC Porter Ridge 2023 OF 356 ft
5 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 354 ft
6 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 349 ft
7 Peyton Young NC Saint Stephens 2023 SS 348 ft
8 Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 347 ft
9 Tyson Merritt NC West Forsyth 2023 C 343 ft
10 Nick Ham NC Apex Friendship 2024 RHP 332 ft

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 335 ft
2 Caleb Smith NC East Gaston 2027 OF 334 ft
3 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 322 ft
4 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 309 ft
5 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 287 ft
6 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 274 ft

AVERAGE DISTANCE

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (avg)
1 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 276 ft
2 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 275 ft
3 Joshua Herbert NC East Forsyth 2023 OF 270 ft
4 Alex Walker NC Northwest Cabarrus 2024 SS 260 ft
5 Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 259 ft
6 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 259 ft
7 Tyson Merritt NC West Forsyth 2023 C 246 ft
8 Hayden Ashby NC Cox Mill 2024 1B 243 ft
9 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 243 ft
10 Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 237 ft

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (avg)
1 Caleb Smith NC East Gaston 2027 OF 334 ft
2 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 210 ft
3 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 198 ft
4 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 195 ft
5 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 168 ft
6 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 149 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.

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hard Hit %
1 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 92 %
2 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 63 %
3 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 62 %
^ Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 62 %
4 Jake Minarik NC William A. Hough 2024 OF 50 %
5 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 45 %
6 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 44 %
7 Caleb Gant NC Porter Ridge 2023 OF 33 %
8 Nick Ham NC Apex Friendship 2024 RHP 28 %
9 Brandon Bannerman NC Heide Trask 2023 OF 25 %
10 Peyton Young NC Saint Stephens 2023 SS 16 %

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hard Hit %
1 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 7 %

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 %

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Line Drive %
1 Craig Belden NC Atkins 2024 2B 66 %
2 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 63 %
3 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 62 %
^ Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 62 %
4 Nick Ham NC Apex Friendship 2024 RHP 57 %
^ Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 57 %
5 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 55 %
6 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 45 %
^ Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 45 %
7 Cole Rice NC Reagan 2024 C 45 %
8 Brandon Bannerman NC Heide Trask 2023 OF 41 %
9 Chase Brown NC Hough 2023 2B 37 %
10 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 35 %

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Line Drive %
1 Craig Belden NC Atkins 2024 2B 66 %
2 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 63 %
3 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 62 %
^ Blaize Johnson NC Northwest Guilford 2024 C 62 %
4 Nick Ham NC Apex Friendship 2024 RHP 57 %
^ Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 57 %
5 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 55 %
6 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 45 %
^ Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 45 %
7 Cole Rice NC Reagan 2024 C 45 %
8 Brandon Bannerman NC Heide Trask 2023 OF 41 %
9 Chase Brown NC Hough 2023 2B 37 %
10 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 35 %

Ground Ball %

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Ground Ball %
1 Jake Minarik NC William A. Hough 2024 OF 62 %
2 Mason Phelps NC East Rowan 2025 SS 55 %
3 Brandon Bannerman NC Heide Trask 2023 OF 41 %
4 Thomas Conrad NC Forbush 2024 RHP 37 %
5 Caleb Gant NC Porter Ridge 2023 OF 33 %
^ Peyton Young NC Saint Stephens 2023 SS 33 %
6 Cole Rice NC Reagan 2024 C 30 %
7 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 28 %
8 Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 27 %
9 Jacob Smith NC Lincoln Charter 2024 3B 22 %
10 Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 18 %

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Ground Ball %
1 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 46 %
2 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 40 %
3 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 27 %
4 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 15 %
5 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 11 %

Fly Ball %

2023-2025 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Fly Ball %
1 Alex Walker NC Northwest Cabarrus 2024 SS 100.0 %
2 Hayden Ashby NC Cox Mill 2024 1B 66.7 %
3 Joshua Herbert NC East Forsyth 2023 OF 62.5 %
^ Tyson Merritt NC West Forsyth 2023 C 62.5 %
4 Andrew Cortor NC 2024 C 50.0 %
^ Chase Brown NC Hough 2023 2B 50.0 %
5 Jake Dulski NC Christ the King 2023 OF 36.4 %
^ Connor Robertson NC Mooresville 2025 3B 36.4 %
6 John McKillop NC Charlotte Catholic 2024 1B 35.7 %
7 Peyton Young NC Saint Stephens 2023 SS 33.3 %
^ Caleb Gant NC Porter Ridge 2023 OF 33.3 %
8 Gavin Baucom NC Hickory Ridge 2023 OF 28.6 %
9 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 25.0 %
^ Thomas Conrad NC Forbush 2024 RHP 25.0 %
10 Craig Belden NC Atkins 2024 2B 22.2 %
^ Mason Phelps NC East Rowan 2025 SS 22.2 %

2026-2027 Grads

Rank Name State School Class Pos Fly Ball %
1 Caleb Smith NC East Gaston 2027 OF 100.0 %
2 Lucas Delacruz NC Marvin Ridge 2026 SS 47.4 %
3 Milo Peck NC South Iredell 2027 OF 44.4 %
4 Eli Beekley NC South Iredell 2026 C 36.4 %
5 Tucker Payton NC South Point 2026 SS 30.0 %
6 Maximus Wearing NC Palisades 2026 1B 7.7 %