Prep Baseball Report

Preseason All-State: Underclass Blast Motion Board


Kevin Cronin
Tech Analyst, Area Scout

On Feb. 26, the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Preseason All-State: Underclass showcase at The MAX in McCook, Ill., featuring many of the state’s top players inside both the 2024 and 2025 classes. This event helped our staff gain a clearer picture of the on-the-rise underclassmen in Illinois, and we’ll begin to break down the excellent thoroughly today and throughout the week. Inside today’s Quick Hits post, we’re highlighting the best of the best – the talent that exited the event as with arrows pointed way up headed into the spring.

Earlier this week we published Quick Hits highlighting the top prospects of the event by class. We also rolled out a Statistical Analysis, bringing you a quick statistical analysis of those that participated in the event. We then dove deep into the data, looking at the pitch metrics and batted ball numbers from this event inside our TrackMan Files piece.

Today, with the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured on Saturday at this high-caliber showcase.

Hand Speed (Peak & Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (max)
1 Ryan Sloan IL York 2024 RHP 27.9 mph
2 Jackson Petsche IL Oswego East 2024 1B 26.2 mph
3 Andrew Kouris IL Nazareth Academy 2025 3B 26.1 mph
4 Matthew Zeman IL Montini Catholic 2024 OF 25.9 mph
5 Chase Petersen IL Glenbrook North 2025 OF 25.8 mph
6 Kenny Perez IL De La Salle 2024 SS 25.6 mph
7 Talan Hull IL Galva 2025 OF 25.5 mph
8 Vincent Ippolito IL Willowbrook 2025 C 25.3 mph
^ AJ Putty IL Huntley 2025 1B 25.3 mph
^ Cody Freitas IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2025 3B 25.3 mph
9 Bennett Summers IL Bloomington Central Catholic 2024 SS 25.2 mph
^ James Love IL Joliet West 2024 3B 25.2 mph
10 Ashton Seymore IL Latin School of Chicago 2024 C 25.0 mph
^ Tyler Bell IL Lincoln-Way East 2024 SS 25.0 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Ryan Sloan IL York 2024 RHP 26.4 mph
2 Andrew Kouris IL Nazareth Academy 2025 3B 24.4 mph
3 AJ Putty IL Huntley 2025 1B 24.2 mph
4 Chase Petersen IL Glenbrook North 2025 OF 24.2 mph
5 Matthew Zeman IL Montini Catholic 2024 OF 24.1 mph
6 Jackson Petsche IL Oswego East 2024 1B 24.0 mph

Peak Hand Speed: The observed maximum speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

Bat Speed (Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Jackson Petsche IL Oswego East 2024 1B 79.3 mph
2 Ryan Sloan IL York 2024 RHP 76.2 mph
3 Jaden Obaldo IL Crystal Lake Central 2024 2B 76.0 mph
4 Chase Petersen IL Glenbrook North 2025 OF 75.2 mph
5 Keenan Oldani IL South Elgin 2024 OF 74.5 mph
6 Tyler Bell IL Lincoln-Way East 2024 SS 73.3 mph
7 Charlie Meister IL Hersey 2025 SS 72.5 mph

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

Rotational Acceleration (Peak & Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (max)
1 Dylan Nagle IL Lockport 2024 SS 34.7 g
2 Ryan Sloan IL York 2024 RHP 34.5 g
3 Kaleb Navarro IL De La Salle 2025 C 31.5 g
4 Kyle Hartmann IL Sycamore 2024 C 28.9 g
5 Anthony Xydakis IL Morris 2024 OF 28.4 g
6 Gavin Duran IL Harvest Christian 2024 SS 28.3 g

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Ryan Sloan IL York 2024 RHP 30.8 g
2 Dylan Nagle IL Lockport 2024 SS 28.6 g
3 Anthony Xydakis IL Morris 2024 OF 26.1 g
4 Brandon Stinson IL Kenwood Academy High School 2025 C 23.8 g
5 Gavin Duran IL Harvest Christian 2024 SS 23.7 g
6 Kyle Hartmann IL Sycamore 2024 C 23.2 g
7 Talan Hull IL Galva 2025 OF 22.7 g

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

For a complete look at each of the statistics measured at this showcase, CLICK HERE.

RELATED CONTENT