The Metro East Open returned to the St. Louis area once again on Tuesday, June 25th. The showcase, which took place at GCS Ballpark, the home of the Gateway Grizzlies, was an open event that featured 50 players from all high school classes. 

Today we take an early look at some of the standout performers from the event. 

QUICK HITS

BREESE CENTRAL HS

+ INF/RHP Easton Rakers and RHP/OF Landon Geragosian, who hail from Breese Central HS,  were two of the better 2022 prospects in attendance. Rakers is a wiry, two-way prospect with upside. At the plate, the right-handed hitter, has a simple swing with loose levers, stays flat through the zone and consistently squared up baseballs. On the infield he has clean actions and a loose, easy arm. Geragosian has a lean 5-foot-11, 155-pound frame, loose, easy arm and ran his fastball up to 79 mph. 

NOKOMIS HS

+ Nokomis has plenty to be excited about on the mound next spring with 2020 Carter Sabol and 2021 Evan Herpstreith. Sabol, a physical specimen at 6-foot-8, 240-pounds, emerged as a follow right-handed arm in the 2020 class. The imposing Sabol sat 83-85 mph, touching 87 with extreme tilt to the fastball and mixed in feel for a low-70’s breaking ball. Herpstreith, a right-handed pitcher has a 5-foot-11, 155-pound, live-body and quick arm. The gonna be junior right-hander worked from a ¾ slot, ran his fastball up to 85 mph multiple times and showed feel for a three-pitch mix. The follow 2021 has plenty more velocity in the tank.

INFIELDERS

+ 2021’s Javier Beal (Harrisburg) and Cameron Hailstone (Gillespie) took two of the better rounds of BP on the day and both have the ability to stick on the infield moving forward. Beal, a left-handed hitter, is calm and confident in the box, controls the barrel, stays short to the ball with easy effort throughout. Hailstone, a right-handed hitter, has a fast bat, swings with intent and made a lot of hard gap-to-gap contact. 

OTHERS

+ One of the more eye-opening offensive performances came from INF/RHP Zachary Kempfer (Nashville, 2021). Kempfer is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound, right-handed hitter with loose, quick hands and advanced bat speed for his age. Kempfer also got on the mound and sat 81-83 mph with a sharp breaking ball. 

+ Carson Dubach (Edwardsville, 2021) is a fundamentally sound, left-handed hitting catcher to follow in the 2021 class. Still undersized at 5-foot-7, 140-pound, Dubach has a loose, level swing and is clean and athletic out of the crouch with an accurate arm.

+ RHP Joseph Crum (Springfield, 2021) is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound, athletic, right-handed pitcher with a young look and upside. Crum has a short, clean arm and his fastball played up, topping at 80 mph. He paired it with a sharp 12/6 curveball. 

Stay tuned over the coming days for a look at the statistical analysis from the event.

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