By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Director

As we enter into the summer baseball season with high level showcases and travel tournaments all over the Midwest, it’s time to update the Class of 2014 rankings. The list needed plenty of updates and additions with Gatorade Player of the Year Scott Schreiber (Kimberly) and Austin Schulfer (Stevens Point) who looked dominant down the stretch in the WIAA State Tournament.

Jeren Kendall (Holmen) still holds down the top spot as the Vanderbilt recruit has been making his way around the national circuit this summer (Click here for updates on Kendall at the National Tournament of Stars in Cary, NC). Kendall has been showing improved arm strength being clocked as high as 93 mph. Most notably has been his blazing speed out of the box. We have had Kendall running between a 3.88-4.04 down the line with reports of 60 times in the 6.4-6.5 range. Kendall clearly remains the top prospect in the 2014 class.

We have seen Scott Schreiber a number of times this spring and look forward to seeing more of the 6-foot-3, 210-pound two-way player more this summer. The No.2 prospect has been showing advanced feel on the mound of late, especially with his change up. We’ve had Schreiber’s fastball up to 89 mph this spring sitting in the 86-88 mph range on most occasions. The strapping right hander also flashes a biting breaking ball with swing and miss capabilities. Schreiber’s ability to get swing and misses when staying in the strike zone is better than anyone else in his class.

At No. 3 Austin Schulfer has looked impressive down the stretch in this year’s WIAA playoffs. The 6-foot-1, 150-pound right handed pitcher made easy work of highly rated Bay Port in the state semifinals. Schulfer featured a tight curveball at 74-77 that he threw with a high level of conviction and confidence. The slightly built Schulfer generates a ton of arm speed out of his 150-pound frame which makes you wonder where this kid’s velocity ceiling is. We’ve seen Schulfer touching 89 mph on several occasions in the state tournament and pitching comfortably at 85-87 at most outings with good stamina.

Luke Van Lanen (Pulaksi) burst onto the scene and into the No. 4 spot recently at the Wisconsin High School Showcase in Franklin, WI where he was pumping 89 mph fastballs out of a quick clean arm action. His secondary stuff is less than desirable at this point but his arm speed and physical frame are unteachable assets that don’t go unnoticed. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder certainly turned some head last week with his arm strength and should garner plenty of interest going forward.

With the 2014 Rankings now at 50 we’ve added 25 new additions to our list of top prospects in Wisconsin. Here’s a look at the top ten.

Click Here for complete list of top 50 rankings.

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Jeren Kendall	WI	Holmen	2014	OF	Vanderbilt
2	Scott Schreiber	WI	Kimberly	2014	RHP
3	Zack Henderson	WI	Greendale	2014	RHP
4	Austin Schulfer	WI	Stevens Point	2014	RHP
5	Connor Rolain	WI	Appleton North	2014	OF	Illinois-Chicago
6	Luke Van Lanen	WI	Pulaski	2014	RHP
7	Derek Heffel	WI	Racine St. Catherines	2014	RHP
8	Dalton Roach	WI	Memorial	2014	RHP
9	Ryan Wesely	WI	Holmen	2014	RHP
10	Parker Sniatynski	WI	Marquette University	2014	OF

 

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