Team Illinois matched up with Minnesota/Iowa on Thursday afternoon, the first day of game play, at the PBR Future Games at LakePoint. Despite losing 8-5 Team Illinois had a number of impressive performances on the mound and at the plate. 

Seven arms took the ball for Team Illinois, all throwing one inning apiece. RHP Brennyn Cutts (Toledo-Cumberland, 2021) was the first arm out of the gate and showed the best velocity of anyone on Team Illinois. Cutts has a clean, live arm, ran his fastball up to 92 mph and touched 90 a number of times. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound, right-hander also mixed in a mid-70’s breaking ball that flashed swing-and-miss action. 

2022 RHP Owen Murphy (Riverside-Brookfield) followed up with one of the more dominant innings, striking out two in his frame. The 6-foot, 175-pound, athletically-built Murphy has an athletic, loose arm and worked the bottom of the strike zone with a fastball that sat 85-87 mph and a hard-biting curveball. Murphy emerged as a 2022 high-follow arm in Illinois. 

2022 Owen Murphy (Riverside-Brookfield HS) with an impressive inning. 85-87 with darting armside life, paired with sharp, late 73 CB. Athletic delivery, strikes.@ShooterHunt@PBRIllinois @prepbaseball #PBRFutureGames2019 pic.twitter.com/n0ZLTosqwr

— Sean Duncan (@SeanDuncan729) August 1, 2019

Another 2022 who made a name for himself was Alex Alberico (Providence Catholic). Alberico has a strong, 6-foot, 188-pound frame and one of the strongest arms in the class. Despite having a live fastball (up to 87 mph today), Alberico impressed with his ability to throw his breaking ball in any count and for strikes. Alberico struck out two in his inning of work.

#PBRFutureGames | #TeamIllinois

Back side view before 2022 Alex Alberico (@CelticProvy) works a clean 1-2-3 6th inning for team IL - one K looking. 87 mph FB & 73 mph CB here?@alexalberico1 | #BeSeen pic.twitter.com/5WzogUX8BG

— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 2, 2019

All seven arms will be back on the mound for Team Illinois against Team Indiana on Saturday, the third, and final game of the event. 

Arguably the biggest winner of Wednesday’s workout day was catcher Ty Batusich (Joliet West, 2021) and the trend continued in game play. Batusich, a left-handed hitter, made the loudest contact of the day, a no-doubt two-run home run to deep right-center field. Batusich also showed a strong arm and above-average receiving abilities in his four innings behind the plate. 

?Dinger Alert?

C Ty Batusich (@jtwestbaseball, 2021) juices a 2-run HR over the right/centerfield fence - takes the lead for #TeamIllinois❗️#PBRFutureGames | @ty_batusich pic.twitter.com/p1ncnB8k6u

— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) August 1, 2019

INF Gallien Coupet (Homewood-Flossmoor, 2021) was another position player who stood out with his bat and play on day one of gameplay. Coupet, one of the more athletic prospects on the squad, finished the day 1-for-3, which included a deep triple into the left-center field gap. He also lined out sharply to right-field in his final at-bat. Coupet was 4.36 on the turn in each of his final two at-bats. 

A pair of 2021 left-handed hitters from Sacred Heart-Griffin HS, INF Sam Antonacci and OF/LHP Isaiah Thompson, each collected two hits on the day. Antonacci finished 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Antonacci has a simple, barrel-controlled swing and he strung together three quality at-bats. Thompson, got things started in the top of the second inning with a line-drive, RBI double, to right field. He followed up in the third with another line-drive single to right field. The left/left outfielder was also up to 90 mph from the outfield in Wednesday’s showcase and will get a chance to show off his ability on the mound in Friday’s contest (12:15 pm) against Team Wisconsin.

Stay tuned over the following day’s for more updates from Team Illinois game play. 

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