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Eastern Wisconsin Open: Quick Hits

August 26, 2022
By Wisconsin Staff

On Aug. 22, the PBR Wisconsin scouting staff traveled to Wildwood Park in Sheboygan, Wis., to host the annual Eastern Wisconsin Open event. This open showcase helped introduce us to some need-to-know players in the state that we’d not yet seen before, as well as provided us with updated looks at players who’ve earned our attention in the past.

Today, we’ll highlight several standouts and performances from Monday’s showcase in Sheboygan. You’ll see more content roll out throughout the week, such as our traditional stats story as well as leaderboards taken from TrackMan, Blast Motion, and Swift data, as our partners’ state-of-the-art technologies helped our staff identify even more players to know headed into the fall and beyond.

For now, let’s take a look at the standouts from Monday’s event at Wildwood Park; each of the players listed below are currently uncommitted.

CLASS OF 2023

+ 1B/RHP Tucker Gegenfurtner (Holmen, 2023) is listed at 6-foot 210 pounds displaying strength throughout frame. Tucker impressed during batting practice with the ability to drive the ball to gaps with proper use of his lower half delivery barrel with fast hands. Metrically, he was a huge winner, according to Blast, scoring high-end marks in hand speed (23.6 mph avg.), bat speed (73.4 mph avg.), rotational acceleration (26.6g avg.); he also averaged the event’s highest average exit speed (88.9 mph), and his personal high was measured at 95.7. He also showed well on the mound touching 80 mph with a late running two-seam fastball and a sinker with late depth. 

+ One of the biggest winners on both sides of the ball was INF Nolan Tomsyck (Muskego, 2023). The rising senior stands 5-foot-10, 180-pounds with strength throughout his frame. At the plate, the right-handed hitter moves with a flat path through the zone, using the ground well through his back heel and driving the ball to all fields, reaching up to 92.5 mph for his top exit velocity. Defensively, Tomsyck moves with athletic actions, gliding with long/athletic strides around the infield and showing range to his glove-side.

+ C Hunter Loser (Kewaskum, 2023) is listed at a physical 5-foot-10, 200-pounds made for a good look in his PBR showcase debut. While in the right handed batters box, Loser sets up with athleticism and takes a short, quick path to the ball to consistently drive the ball hard to the entire field, averaging some of the best exit velocity (87.3 mph) of the entire event. He then moved over to the catcher defense portion of the event where his strong arm, one that topped at 75 mph, helped record lows of 2.06 on his quickest throws to second.

+ OF Jack Gerbasi (Grayslake Central, IL, 2023) made the trip up to Sheboygan and made it worthwhile, coming away a winner from the event. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound outfielder has all sorts of projection in his lean and lanky frame. At the plate, the right-handed hitter works slightly uphill through the zone, driving the ball to all fields with whippy bat-speed out front – reaching up to 90.2 mph for his max exit velocity with a max distance of 342 feet. Defensively, Gerbasi keeps his feet moving pre-pitch before playing aggressively through the ball with athletic actions.

+ INF River Lindsey (New Berlin Eisenhower, 2023) impressed early and often on Monday, starting his day out by running an event-best 6.82 60-yard dash. His round of BP looked to pair well with the speed he possesses, working with a short/direct path to the ball and spraying line-drives to the gaps. His athleticism transfers easily to the other side of the ball, moving around the diamond with athletic actions, fielding low to the ground with steady hands. 

+ OF Dylan Dobratz (Wausau West, 2023) stands 6-foot-2, 215-pounds with strength throughout his frame. The right-handed hitter took a quality round of BP, moving with a short/quick path to the ball with bat-speed, driving the ball on a line to all fields. The ball jumps off his bat with authority, reaching up to 93.4 mph for his top exit velocity and a max distance of 348 feet, the second furthest on the day. 

+ INF Peyton Schumann (Sun Prairie, 2023) is athletically built with some projection in his frame, standing 6-foot, 197-pounds. The right-handed hitter works with a short/handsy swing, remaining direct to the ball with quickness and bat-speed. He also showed the ability to turn on balls to the pull-side gap as well as stay on pitches and drive them to the opposite field, reaching up to 95.1 mph for his top exit velocity. On the infield, Schumann showed steady and reliable actions to pair with his strong arm, playing with quickness to release and carry across the diamond, T82 mph.

+ St. Mary Catholic incoming senior RHP/3B Owen Ripley (2023) impressed our staff at this event, and particularly on the mound. Listed at long-levered 6-foot, 175 pounds, Ripley has a low-80s fastball (T82.5 mph) that spins at an above-average rate and he generates prominent horizontal action on the pitch and located it effectively on the edges of the zone. His spin feel translates to his secondaries, a curveball and cutter, which both flashed the ability to miss bats at the next level. The curve, 70-71 mph, has two-plane sweep and his cutter, which is maybe more slider-like, has short break that he throws more aggressively in the mid-70s and it is spun more tightly, reaching over 2,400 rpm at times.

+ LHP/OF Mason Schmal (Sheboygan Falls, 2023) has an easy, clean arm action that projects should he add strength to his 6-foot, 155-pound stature. He was up to 80 mph from the left side on a fastball that flashed some late arm-side run. While the breaking ball is somewhat soft right now, he demonstrated the feel to spin it and it has large depth to it that can be evolved into a viable out-pitch, and his straight change works effectively off his fastball as well, earning some deception.

+ OF/LHP Preston Steiner (Potosi, 2023) looked to be one of the better defenders in attendance on Monday, cruising the outfield with athletic actions and a quick first step – also playing aggressively through the ball with soft hands. His arm plays from a ¾ slot with accuracy and carry through his target, reaching up to 82 mph from a crow-hop. At the plate, the right-handed hitter moves with a short and direct path to the ball, remaining flat through the zone with quick hands. In his ‘pen, while erratic, Steiner has some raw skill that isn’t easy to come by. His straight four-seam, low-80s fastball spins at high rates, measured as high as 2,575 rpm, and generally that spin feel can be morphed into a swing-and-miss offering on a breaking ball, and he’s working on both a curveball and slider at this time.

CLASS OF 2024

+ One of the biggest winners on the mound over the course of the event was LHP Riker Blahnik (Appleton West, 2024). Standing at 6-foot-1, 180-pounds, the southpaw has room to add strength to his lean and projectable frame. On the mound, Blahnik moves with a high leg-kick into a drop/drive lower-half, remaining in-line with the plate throughout his stride. His arm plays with a long/loose arm swing out of the glove into a high ¾ slot. The left-hander’s fastball cruised in the 80-82 mph range, topping out at 83 mph (T2255 rpm). He went to two different breaking balls to pair off his fastball; the first being a sharp 1/7 curveball with late break at 68-69 mph (T2426 rpm) and the second being a sharp 2/8 slider (T2428 rpm).

+ C Gavin Obremski (Mosinee, 2024) is listed at a physical 6-foot-2, 205-pounds and strung together a solid showing during our time in Sheboygan. During his round of BP, the switch-hitting backstop showed more consistency from the left-side in which he showed some pull-side pop and topped at 91 mph. From the right-side, Obremski is raw but he did flash some line drive contact to finish out his round. One of the more impressive things from his day was Obremski’s improvements he has made defensively. Obremski showed some bounce from behind the plate and led all catchers with pop times between 2.01-2.15, with his hardest throw being 73 mph.

+ RHP Garrett Shupe (Mosinee, 2024) came away a winner on Monday after his strong showing on the mound. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound right-hander ran his fastball in the 81-83 mph range with life through the zone. He showed the ability to spin both his 11/5 curveball and short 10/4 cutter at an above-average rate, reaching over 2,300 rpm on both offerings. To round off his arsenal, Shupe went to a changeup at 73-75 mph, fading slightly to his arm-side and thrown with arm-speed. 

+ INF Tanner Hraby (Medford Area, 2024) stands 5-foot-11, 160-pounds and has room to add on to his wiry/projectable frame. At the plate, the right-handed hitter is short/direct to the ball with a flat path, using the ground well throughout his swing to create power and driving the ball to both gaps. His defensive round looked to be above-average as well, moving with steady hands and athletic actions to pair with a clean transfer on double play turns. 

+ C/OF Chase McQuade (River Falls, 2024) is built at a compact 5-foot-9, 182-pounds. At the plate, he works with a short/quick path to the ball, staying above the ball and gearing up for line-drives with gap-to-gap power. McQuade took reps both in the outfield and behind the plate for defense and showed well in both positions. In the outfield, he moves with athletic actions, playing through the ball with soft hands. Behind the plate, he showed similar athleticism with quickness to his feet and blocks – also reaching up to 70 mph from the chute with a top pop-time of 2.25.

+ INF/RHP Rory Dutton (Tremper, 2024) is a name that has popped up on radar multiple times and made for an interesting look on Monday. Built at a lean 5-foot-10, 150-pounds, Dutton has plenty of room to add on weight as his body continues to develop. Offensively, Dutton works from a narrow base and takes direct, handsy swings toward the ball to spray line drives to all fields. Dutton then moved over to infield defense where he impressed his ability to move well to the glove side and clean transfer, pairing it with accurate throws to the bag. To round out his day, Dutton then hopped on the bump where his projection remains apparent. While on the mound, Dutton is an athletic mover and reached highs of 77.9 mph with his fastball, pairing it with a two-seam that flashed hard sink. As for his offspeeds, he spun in a tight 11/5 type breaking ball for strikes and maintained arm speed on a straight changeup.

+ RHP/INF Arthur Curtis (Waukesha North, 2024) is worth monitoring as a prospect, and he brings an interesting arsenal onto the mound. He’s a lean 5-foot-11, 175 pounds with a quick and clean arm, and he his low-80s fastball spins at noteworthy rates (2,135 rpm on average) and it really hops through the zone and features some late arm-side movement at times, leaving a steep release height that helps it jump. His two breaking pitches, a curve and slider, and works in progress but you can imagine him honing one or both into a go-to offering.

+ C Cameron Ziebell (Mosinee, 2024) took one of the strongest rounds of defense in the entire event. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound backstop moves quickly out of the crouch with a clean transfer and accurate throws on the bag (2.14 Pop-time), also dropping down quickly into blocks and deadening the ball out front. At the plate, the right-handed hitter is rotational in his upper-half, working with a slightly uphill path to the ball and putting the ball on a line to all fields. 

CLASS OF 2025

+ RHP Loren Georger (Appleton West, 2025) is a projectable 6-foot-1, 170-pounds who hopped on the bump to finish off Monday’s event and it did not disappoint as he arguably put together the day's top ‘pen. While on the mound, Georger stays inline with home plate and couples it with some easy/clean mechanics. As for his repertoire, Georger sat 83-84 mph (T84.8 mph) on a fastball that had some considerable ride and spin (2,425 rpm avg.) through the zone. Georger paired this with a sharp, late-breaking curveball that averaged 2,470 rpm, and it played well off of his fastball with downer 12/6 bite. He rounded out his three-pitch mix with a firm changeup that had some hard running action to his arm side. Georger is one of the top Class of 2025 arms we’ve seen in the state to date, and he’s earned success this summer at tournaments elsewhere in the region, like at the Creekside complex near Kansas City.

+ INF/C PJ Hamel (Arrowhead, 2025) is listed at an uber-projectable 6-foot-3, 170-pounds with plenty of room to add on strength in the coming years. At the plate, the right-handed hitter stays above the ball with a short/direct path, extending through contact with a high finish. On the infield, Hamel works with a two-hand gather out front and reliable hands. He then went on to take reps behind the plate, moving athletically down to block and out of the crouch to defend the bunt. Hamel also proved he can control the run game, reaching up to 73 mph from the chute with a short transfer and recording a top pop-time of 2.22 seconds. 

+ C Connor Curtis (Waukesha North, 2025) was yet another catcher that had a strong showing on Monday. The 5-foot-10, 215 pound backstop recorded a top pop-time of 2.19 seconds, also moving quickly into blocks to deaden the ball out front. At the plate, the right-handed hitter showed some easy juice from his short swing; working rotationally through his upper-half and using quick hands to spray line-drives to the whole field. 

+ OF Gabriel Ciralsky (University School of Milwaukee, 2025) looked to be one of the better outfielders in attendance in Sheboygan. The 5-foot-10, 150-pound rising sophomore plays aggressively through the ball with soft hands and long strides, moving into an athletic crow-hop (T76 mph) and routinely putting accurate throws on the bag with carry. At the plate, Ciralsky uses a handsy swing that works uphill through the zone.

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