Prep Baseball Report

Fox Cities Preseason I.D.: Quick Hits


By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor - Wisconsin/Illinois

On Sunday, the PBR Wisconsin team made the trek to Appleton, the site of this year’s Fox Cities Preseason I.D. Over 100 prospects joined us over the weekend to participate in the East Central Wisconsin showcase, many of whom impressed our staff.

Below, we’ve provided some of the highlights coming out of the Fox Cities event. We’ve diligently compiled rapid analysis of over 20 attending prospects. We’ll continue our coverage tomorrow by laying out the top statistical performers from the showcase. And, in the next couple weeks, we’ll publish reports on each of the prospects who battled a blizzard to make it to the Appleton event.

FUTURE GAME NAMES

It’s never too early to wonder who’s going to be joining us this summer at PBR Future Games, representing Team Wisconsin. In the Fox Cities, there were several names who put their names squarely on the list of potential invitees for the prestigious early August event.

+ Kaden Kosobucki (West De Pere, 2021) is compact athletically, built at 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, and handles the bat extremely well. Kosobucki made the last rankings update in the 2021 class and looks to be trending in the right direction. The sophomore backstop showed arguably the best defensive actions of the event while also displaying compact bat speed from the right side.

+ RHP Logan Schulfer (Stevens Point, 2021) has been on our radar for some time now. We last saw Schulfer as an eighth grader topping at 75 mph, while his older brother Austin (Stevens Point, 2014) was racking up the strikeouts on Friday nights for Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Logan is now ready to embark on his sophomore campaign and the fastball velocity has skyrocketed. Schulfer uses a strong lower half to work down the mound sitting 86-89 mph. Both secondary offerings are firm and aggressive with an 81-83 mph slider and 77-81 mph changeup. Schulfer is currently ranked No. 31 in Wisconsin, but look for that number to jump as well.

+ Joshua Blount (West De Pere, 2021) led the charge of high-end 2021s in attendance. Blount swings a premium left-handed bat, the ball jumps off his barrel with ease and shows ability to backspin the baseball from a compact stroke with extension. Blount posted one of the top exit velocities of the day at 94 mph, while also running an event-best 60-yard-dash mark (6.84).

+ Wilson Zuck (Appleton North, 2021) is strong bodied right-handed hitting outfielder. Zuck has shown upside in the past on the mound, this time he showed that trademark arm strength from the outfield at 89 mph.

WEST DE PERE STANDOUTS

With spring baseball right around the corner, we’re in the early stages of ranking the state’s best programs ahead of opening day. One team with a stock on the rise is West De Pere, who was well represented in Appleton over the weekend. They had two of the best sophomores in attendance, in Kosobucki and Blount, and have a couple of other names to watch, too.

+ Joshua Brud adds to the list of West De Pere standouts. This 2021 made huge steps in the right direction since his last PBR event. Brud has athletic outfield action that played well through the baseball with above-average arm strength. Brud is a 7.21 runner who threw it 86 mph from the outfield and posted an 88 mph exit velocity from the tee.

+ 2020 INF Ethan Habetler is another West De Pere product who will find himself playing at the next level. Habetler best tool may be his bat, which will add to an already deep Phantoms roster.

+ Brayden Skenandore (West De Pere, 2021) showed well both at the plate and on the mound. Sitting 80-81 mph with his fastball and a strong gap to gap approach at the plate. 

EYE-CATCHING FRESHMEN

As talented as the sophomores were in Appleton, there was no shortage of freshmen on hand who showed next-level abilities. We’ve wrangled up some quick notes on the three who stood out most.

+ Anthony Lausten (Hartford) stood out as one of the top 2022s of the event. Lausten is a wiry and projectable 5-foot-6, 120 pounds who swings a left-handed bat and showed advanced actions on the infield. He has quick, loose hands that work well both in the box and on the infield, spraying line drives during BP. His arm played plus for his age at 84 across the infield, making himself a likely candidate for our 2022 rankings upon its release.

+ Jake Petasek (Green Bay Preble) joined Lausten as one of the better 2022 infielders on the day. Petasek is a projectable left-handed hitting infielder with actions on the infield that should keep him up the middle. His loose bat speed found barrels consistently in BP.

+ Left-handed hitting 1B Wendell Waukau Jr. (Menominee Indian, 2022) opened eyes wielding a big left-handed bat. He takes an aggressive hack that launches baseball to his pull side.

RISING JUNIORS

There was a collection of 2020s who either looked better than we had seen them previously, or completely introduced themselves to our staff in a big way. We covered those names below.

+ LHP Donovan Schultz (Kimberly 2020) has been a high projection guy for us since first seeing him as a sophomore last spring. At that time Schultz was just barely touching 80 mph, less that a year later the southpaw is now touching 85-86 mph with a loose arm and still room to go. His breaking ball is already above average at 71-74 mph flashing sharp bite.

+ Fletcher Haus (Fond Du Lac, 2020) was one of the bigger surprises of the day. Haus made his PBR debut with a big round of BP from the left side. He’s a gap-to-gap hitter who showed a knack for finding the barrel with above average bat speed. Look for Haus to supply significant middle-of-the-lineup help for the Cardinals this season.

+ Sean Menzel (Cedarburg, 2020) is a big bodied 6-foot-2, 195-pound corner infielder. Menzel has above average actions on the infield that play loose and with body control. He’s likely a natural third baseman who can provide above average right handed pop in the lineup.

+ Kaukauna’s Kolbe Pike (2020) has started to fill out over the last year, gaining 20 pounds since last years, Fox Cities Preseason I.D. Pike still has room to go at 6-foot-1, 160-pounds but the already added strength has seen benefits in his arm strength and bat speed. Pike showed a well above average arm across the diamond and handled the bat gap to gap with line drives and feel for the barrel.

+ 2020 RHP Ben Graff (Green Bay Preble) displayed a heavier 81-83 mph fastball with a hard slider at 74-75 mph.

+ Christopher VandenHeuvel (Xavier, 2020) is coming into his own as a left/left outfielder who shows potential to range centerfield. He ran a 6.89 and showed easy strong bat speed that gets to his front side to jump the baseball. His 96 mph exit velocity was an event best and threw it 86 mph from the outfield.

+ LHP Reed Hafeman (Hortonville, 2020) posted improved fastball velocity since seeing him this summer. Hafeman ran it up to 84-85 mph with a hard slider at 76-80 mph.

+ 2020 infielder Andrew Schroeder (Wausaukee) had a strong day running a 7.19 in the 60, while showing a strong arm across the infield 81 mph and plenty of bat strength in the box. Schroeder showed abilities to potentially play any spot on the infield and bring a valuable bat to the lineup.

+ Nick Aide (Franklin, 2020) is a wiry 5-foot-11, 155-pound who shows plenty of upside. Aide has a big arm across the infield at 84 mph and an above average runner at 7.15. His bat is loose and short to the baseball and will likely continue to improve with added strength.

MORE SOPHOMORE FOLLOWS

Again, this Fox Cities showcase unveiled to the PBR Wisconsin staff a whole new group of 2021s to continue tracking in a part of the state that isn’t as closely followed as regions further south – though, their demanding more and more of our attention. Here are even more sophomores to take note of, headed into the spring season.

+ Another left-handed bat that showed well was 2021 Will Mattheis (Laconia). Mattheis has a short swing that looks to attack the baseball and showed a strong arm across the diamond that could play from third base.

+ 2021 Alex Windey (Wrightstown) was back for his second event of the preseason, this time as a first baseman. Windey has natural feel around the first base bag and has serious right-handed juice. His work at the plate, combined with his upside on the mound when we last saw him in Kenosha, has him firmly entrenched on our follow lists moving forward.

+ RHP Aaron Rice (Brillion) is another 2021 one to follow. Rice is a 6-foot-2, 165-pound projectable arm who has arm strength in the family. Aaron’s older brother Evan (Brillion, 2018) is currently pitching at Upper Iowa. The younger Rice brother has a loose arm that worked 81-82 mph and feel for three pitches.

+ Gavin Rusch (Bay Port) is another 2021 RHP in a similar boat as Rice. Rusch stands at a long 6-foot-4, 180 pounds and showed tilt on an 80-82 mph fastball that topped at 83 mph.

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