Prep Baseball Report

NC/SC Border Battle: Blast Leaders


Sammy Esposito
PBR SC Director of Scouting

June begins the summer circuit for recruiting and player evaluation.  One event that has become a "must" for players, coaches, and scouts in the Carolinas is the NC/SC Border Battle.  This year's event took returned to UNC Charlotte's Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium for two days of action, featuring 130 of the best players in NC and SC.  They did not disappoint. 

On Tuesday June 11th, the position players went through their offensive and defensive evaluations.  North Carolina worked out first taking multiple rounds of BP, followed by their defensive evaluations and athletic testing.  As North Carolina finished, South Carolina started with their athletic testing, defensive evals, and finally their offensive evaluation.  Coaches and scouts were able to see multiple rounds of BP from each player plus see them move around at their primary defensive position, getting a feel for their athleticism and feel for the game.

Wednesday June 12th was game day.  Each player was scheduled to play in one 9 inning game with pitchers throwing live to hitters.  In total, NC and SC squared off in 4 exciting games and the roster of the top players in the two states put on a show.

Below we begin the process of unpacking everything we saw at the high level event.  From stats to player notes, to a deep dive into some analytics, we will work to uncover everything these players did and all the numbers they put up at the two day event.  To see the full roster and full statistical package, CLICK HERE.

By the Numbers:

          • 5 Players ran under 6.74 on the laser timing system
          • 22 Players ran 7.00 or under
          • 39 Players tested their vertical jump at 30in or above
          • 20 Players saw at least one of their splits come in at 20mph or higher
          • 17 Infielders saw their arm strength at 85mph or higher across the diamond
          • 6 Outfielders tested with arm strength at 90mph or higher
          • 13 Catchers posted a pop timed of 2.00 or under in the workout
          • 5 hitters saw an exit velocity of 100mph or higher
          • 78 hitters peaked their exit velocity at 90mph or better
          • 6 hitters carried an average exit velocity of better than 90mph over two rounds of 8 swings
          • 14 hitters posted a BLAST bat speed of 70mph or higher
          • 189.7psi was the top grip strength posted at the event
          • 89.3mph was the top fastball velocity
          • 10 arms were above 87mph on the day
          • 3 arms saw their fastball spin rate above 2400rpm
          • 2975rpm was the top breaking ball spin rate captured on the day
          • 1 committed player took part in the event

BLAST LEADERS - NC/SC Border Battle

MAX HAND SPEED

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (max)
1 Joey McGovern SC Seneca High 2025 OF 25.9 mph
2 Gavin Jackson NC Cleveland High 2026 1B 25.3 mph
3 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 25.1 mph
4 Connor Tregoning NC Ronald W Reagan High School 2026 1B 24.9 mph
5 Tariq Stone NC East Wake High 2026 OF 24.6 mph
6 Anderson Hayes SC Fountain Inn High 2026 LHP 24.5 mph
^ Jackson Gordon SC Legion Collegiate Academy 2025 OF 24.5 mph
7 Ethan Offing SC Dutch Fork High 2026 SS 24.4 mph
8 Justin Sheffield SC Atlantic Collegiate 2025 OF 24.1 mph
^ Brayden Brogdon SC Rock Hill High 2027 OF 24.1 mph
9 John Collins SC Blythewood High 2026 SS 24.0 mph
^ Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 24.0 mph
10 Hayden Fones NC Apex Friendship High 2025 SS 23.9 mph

AVERAGE HAND SPEED

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Joey McGovern SC Seneca High 2025 OF 24.8 mph
2 Gavin Jackson NC Cleveland High 2026 1B 24.2 mph
3 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 24.0 mph
4 Tariq Stone NC East Wake High 2026 OF 23.5 mph
5 Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 23.2 mph
6 Brayden Brogdon SC Rock Hill High 2027 OF 23.2 mph
7 Connor Tregoning NC Ronald W Reagan High School 2026 1B 23.2 mph
8 Ethan Offing SC Dutch Fork High 2026 SS 22.9 mph
9 Jonathan Waldrop SC Lexington High 2026 OF 22.8 mph
10 Anderson Hayes SC Fountain Inn High 2026 LHP 22.8 mph

PEAK BAT SPEED

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (max)
1 Reid Johnson NC South Iredell High 2026 C 89.7 mph
2 Garrett Byrd NC North Lenoir High 2025 C 83.9 mph
3 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 81.2 mph
4 Ethan Simmons NC JH Rose 2025 3B 80.9 mph
5 Zeb Swangim NC TC ROBERSON 2025 3B 80.2 mph
6 Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 80.1 mph
7 Ethan Offing SC Dutch Fork High 2026 SS 79.6 mph
8 Caden Davidson NC Roberson 2025 1B 79.5 mph
9 Hayden Fones NC Apex Friendship High 2025 SS 79.3 mph
10 Garrett Blankenship SC Gray Collegiate Academy 2026 SS 78.7 mph

AVERAGE BAT SPEED

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 76.1 mph
2 Garrett Byrd NC North Lenoir High 2025 C 76.0 mph
3 Hayden Fones NC Apex Friendship High 2025 SS 74.0 mph
4 Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 73.6 mph
5 Ethan Offing SC Dutch Fork High 2026 SS 73.5 mph
6 Caden Davidson NC Roberson 2025 1B 72.4 mph
7 Michael Gurganus NC Bear Grass Charter School 2025 RHP 71.8 mph
8 Crawford Elrod NC WESTCHESTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 2026 3B 71.2 mph
9 Jackson Gordon SC Legion Collegiate Academy 2025 OF 71.1 mph
10 Ethan Simmons NC JH Rose 2025 3B 70.7 mph

MAX ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (max)
1 Anthony Marano SC Clover High 2026 OF 35.5 g
2 Joey McGovern SC Seneca High 2025 OF 33.9 g
3 Tariq Stone NC East Wake High 2026 OF 32.1 g
4 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 30.6 g
5 Connor Tregoning NC Ronald W Reagan High School 2026 1B 29.0 g
6 Roper Wentzky SC A. C. Flora High 2026 2B 28.0 g
7 Justin Sheffield SC Atlantic Collegiate 2025 OF 27.8 g
8 Andrew Caracio NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2027 LHP 27.0 g
9 Julian Baldwin SC DW Daniel 2025 OF 25.6 g
10 Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 25.1 g

AVERAGE ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Anthony Marano SC Clover High 2026 OF 30.7 g
2 Joey McGovern SC Seneca High 2025 OF 30.3 g
3 Tariq Stone NC East Wake High 2026 OF 27.7 g
4 Justin Sheffield SC Atlantic Collegiate 2025 OF 24.9 g
5 Connor Tregoning NC Ronald W Reagan High School 2026 1B 24.4 g
6 Roper Wentzky SC A. C. Flora High 2026 2B 23.7 g
7 Andrew Caracio NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2027 LHP 22.5 g
8 Julian Baldwin SC DW Daniel 2025 OF 21.5 g
9 Davis Phillips NC BURLINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2025 C 20.4 g
10 Robert Sasser III NC Pro5 Baseball Academy 2025 OF 20.2 g

AVERAGE ON PLANE EFFICIENCY

Rank Name State School Class Pos On Plane Eff (avg)
1 Anderson Hayes SC Fountain Inn High 2026 LHP 93 %
2 Jeremy Powell SC White Knoll High 2026 LHP 86 %
3 Jacob Mackara SC Bishop England 2025 OF 84 %
4 Luke Talley NC Green Level High 2027 1B 84 %
5 Gavin Jackson NC Cleveland High 2026 1B 84 %
6 Tyler Bolemon SC SOUTHSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 2025 C 84 %
7 Braden Richardson SC Fort Mill High 2027 2B 83 %
8 Cooper Phillips NC Pro5 Academy 2025 SS 82 %
9 Evan Matile NC East Lincoln High 2025 OF 82 %
10 Connor Tregoning NC Ronald W Reagan High School 2026 1B 82 %