Prep Baseball Report

Preseason All-State: Upperclass Blast Motion Board


Kevin Cronin
Tech Analyst, Area Scout

On Feb. 26, the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Preseason All-State: Upperclass 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 state’s junior class, featuring a number of the top uncommitted players inside the state’s Class of 2023. 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 Niedzwiedz IL West Aurora 2023 SS 27.3 mph
2 Jaden Correa IL De La Salle 2023 SS 26.9 mph
3 Gavin Parkerson IL Armstrong 2023 RHP 26.7 mph
4 Omar Alday Jr IL St. Rita 2023 SS 26.5 mph
5 Clay Schrader IL Naperville Central 2023 OF 26.4 mph
6 Joe Chiarelli IL Downers Grove North 2023 SS 26.1 mph
^ EZRA MOORE IL Oak Park-River Forest 2023 SS 26.1 mph
7 Carter Storti IL Lemont 2023 SS 26.0 mph
8 Rocco Tenuta IL St. Francis 2023 SS 25.5 mph
^ Henry Wolfe IL New Trier 2023 C 25.5 mph
^ Sheppard Graf IL Lake Forest 2023 3B 25.5 mph
9 Dalton Miller IL Quincy Notre Dame 2023 3B 25.2 mph
^ Christian Graves IL Jacobs 2023 3B 25.2 mph
10 Cristian Ruiz IL Oak Lawn 2023 SS 25.1 mph
^ Donald Tober IL Timothy Christian 2023 RHP 25.1 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Ryan Niedzwiedz IL West Aurora 2023 SS 26.2 mph
2 Clay Schrader IL Naperville Central 2023 OF 25.5 mph
3 Gavin Parkerson IL Armstrong 2023 RHP 25.4 mph
4 Carter Storti IL Lemont 2023 SS 25.1 mph
5 Jaden Correa IL De La Salle 2023 SS 25.0 mph
6 Omar Alday Jr IL St. Rita 2023 SS 24.7 mph
7 Henry Wolfe IL New Trier 2023 C 24.6 mph
8 Dalton Miller IL Quincy Notre Dame 2023 3B 24.5 mph
9 Joe Chiarelli IL Downers Grove North 2023 SS 24.1 mph
10 Luke Stulga IL St. Laurence 2023 OF 24.1 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 Luke Stulga IL St. Laurence 2023 OF 78.8 mph
2 Christian Graves IL Jacobs 2023 3B 76.6 mph
3 Ryan Niedzwiedz IL West Aurora 2023 SS 76.3 mph
4 Dalton Miller IL Quincy Notre Dame 2023 3B 76.1 mph
5 Ryan Quinlan IL Huntley 2023 2B 75.5 mph
6 Mikey Murphy IL Minooka 2023 OF 74.7 mph
7 Eduardo Letamendi IL Von Steuben 2023 SS 74.6 mph
8 Gavin Parkerson IL Armstrong 2023 RHP 74.5 mph
9 William Ho IL Hinsdale Central 2023 RHP 74.4 mph
10 Bryer Arview IL Civic Memorial 2023 SS 74.0 mph
11 Sheppard Graf IL Lake Forest 2023 3B 73.9 mph
12 AJ Malzone IL St. Rita 2023 C 73.8 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 Cristian Ruiz IL Oak Lawn 2023 SS 39.5 g
2 Clay Schrader IL Naperville Central 2023 OF 32.9 g
3 Ryan Niedzwiedz IL West Aurora 2023 SS 31.7 g
4 Jacob Blunck IL Maroa-Forsyth 2023 31.0 g
5 Luke Perry IL Mattoon 2023 SS 28.3 g
6 Luke Stulga IL St. Laurence 2023 OF 27.9 g
7 Josh Polubinski IL Oswego East 2023 3B 27.1 g
8 Joe Chiarelli IL Downers Grove North 2023 SS 27.0 g
9 Mike Polubinski IL Oswego East 2023 OF 26.7 g
10 Isaiah White IL Homewood Flossmoor 2023 OF 25.6 g

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Ryan Niedzwiedz IL West Aurora 2023 SS 29.9 g
2 Clay Schrader IL Naperville Central 2023 OF 26.0 g
3 Jacob Blunck IL Maroa-Forsyth 2023 25.9 g
4 Mike Polubinski IL Oswego East 2023 OF 23.8 g
5 Josh Polubinski IL Oswego East 2023 3B 22.7 g
6 Bryer Arview IL Civic Memorial 2023 SS 22.4 g
7 Joe Chiarelli IL Downers Grove North 2023 SS 21.8 g
8 Isaiah White IL Homewood Flossmoor 2023 OF 21.5 g
9 Luke Perry IL Mattoon 2023 SS 21.4 g
10 Carter Storti IL Lemont 2023 SS 21.1 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.

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