Prep Baseball Report

Trackman Hitting Leaders: Preseason All State South


Matt Payne
Director of Scouting, PBR of NC

On Sunday January 22nd PBR of North Carolina hosted its first of four Preseason All State Events at The Athletic Barn in Waxhaw, NC. The Preseason All State Events have become the premier winter event in North Carolina featuring some of the best talent from across the state. The events feature players from the 2023-2026 grad classes. 

Catchers got the day started going through a defensive evaluation. Pitchers followed by throwing a controlled bullpen of 15-20 pitches. After the pitchers the infielders went through their defensive evaluation. The day concluded with hitters taking BP in the open box cage with Trackman collecting ball flight data. 

Below we begin our breakdown of the players in attendance looking at the top performers in different categories.  Look for more statistics and information to follow in the coming days. 

Click Here for Full Roster and Stats

Trackman Hitting Leaders

PEAK EXIT VELOCITY

TrackMan is able to track every ball hit into fair territory, throughout the BP sessions.  Below are the exit velocities produced by individual players.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 95.6 mph
2 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 93.7 mph
3 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 93.7 mph
4 Meridian Leffew NC Gaston Christian 2026 SS 93.5 mph
5 Beckett Gurian NC Union Academy 2025 1B 92.7 mph
6 Tyler Asbury NC Metrolina Christian 2024 C 92.3 mph
7 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 92.1 mph
8 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 91.8 mph
9 Kylan Odean NC Weddington 2024 OF 91.5 mph
10 Prince Mairena NC Porter Ridge 2024 OF 90.7 mph

AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY

The average exit velocity measures a players ability to consistently produce hard contact.  The average was taken based on every ball tracked by TrackMan throughout the player's BP session.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 88.5 mph
2 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 87.8 mph
3 Tyler Asbury NC Metrolina Christian 2024 C 85.4 mph
4 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 85.3 mph
5 Matthew Sermeno NC Chatlotte Catholic 2024 SS 83.2 mph
6 Kylan Odean NC Weddington 2024 OF 83.2 mph
7 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 83.1 mph
8 Prince Mairena NC Porter Ridge 2024 OF 82.2 mph
9 Xavier Mccoury NC Providence 2025 SS 81.7 mph
10 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 80.7 mph

PEAK DISTANCE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 328 ft
2 Matthew Sermeno NC Chatlotte Catholic 2024 SS 319 ft
3 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 313 ft
4 JT Cook NC Watauga 2025 RHP 306 ft
5 Jake Parham NC TC Roberson 2025 SS 305 ft
6 Trey Handy NC East Wilkes 2024 LHP 298 ft
7 Nolan Winnek NC Camden Military School 2025 C 291 ft
8 Preston Smith NC John T Hoggard 2026 SS 291 ft
9 Xavier Mccoury NC Providence 2025 SS 289 ft
10 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 289 ft

AVERAGE DISTANCE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (avg)
1 Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 195 ft
2 Prince Mairena NC Porter Ridge 2024 OF 194 ft
3 Trey Handy NC East Wilkes 2024 LHP 185 ft
4 Nolan Winnek NC Camden Military School 2025 C 181 ft
5 Preston Smith NC John T Hoggard 2026 SS 179 ft
6 Nathan Wilson NC Cuthbertson 2026 OF 174 ft
7 Matthew Sermeno NC Chatlotte Catholic 2024 SS 168 ft
8 Joe Walker NC Marvin Ridge High 2025 OF 166 ft
9 Jake Parham NC TC Roberson 2025 SS 165 ft
10 Owen Green NC Ardrey Kell 2026 OF 164 ft

HARD HIT PERCENTAGE

TrackMan is able to track and follow exit velocities of each hitter.  Based on the individual's top exit velocity, TrackMan is able to give us a percentage of hard hit balls.  This percentage is based off of each individual hitter's top exit velocity.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hard Hit %
1 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 50 %
2 Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 46 %
3 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 28 %
4 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 23 %
5 Beckett Gurian NC Union Academy 2025 1B 21 %
6 Tyler Asbury NC Metrolina Christian 2024 C 20 %
7 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 18 %
8 Meridian Leffew NC Gaston Christian 2026 SS 14 %
9 Prince Mairena NC Porter Ridge 2024 OF 9 %
10 Kylan Odean NC Weddington 2024 OF 8 %

LAUNCH ANGLE PERCENTAGE

Based on the ball flight, TrackMan is able to identify each hit as a ground ball, line drive, or fly ball.  While there are many factors as to why a hitter may approach each pitch in a certain way, the overall groupings of BP can give some insight to each hitter's approach.

Line Drive %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Line Drive %
1 Prince Mairena NC Porter Ridge 2024 OF 72 %
2 Matthew Sermeno NC Chatlotte Catholic 2024 SS 61 %
3 Nathan Wilson NC Cuthbertson 2026 OF 58 %
4 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 53 %
5 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 50 %
^ Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 50 %
^ Meridian Leffew NC Gaston Christian 2026 SS 50 %
6 Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 46 %
7 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 45 %
8 Austin Winkler NC Marvin Ridge 2025 3B 41 %
9 Tyler Asbury NC Metrolina Christian 2024 C 40 %
^ Jake Parham NC TC Roberson 2025 SS 40 %
^ Jahdier Rodriguez NC Charlotte Catholic 2025 C 40 %
10 Joe Walker NC Marvin Ridge High 2025 OF 30 %
^ Preston Smith NC John T Hoggard 2026 SS 30 %

Ground Ball %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Ground Ball %
1 Morgan Jones NC Weddington 2026 OF 63 %
2 Tyler Asbury NC Metrolina Christian 2024 C 60 %
3 Michael Craft NC Ardrey Kell 2024 SS 58 %
^ Brayden Bartholomew NC South Mecklenburg 2026 SS 58 %
^ Kylan Odean NC Weddington 2024 OF 58 %
4 Xavier Mccoury NC Providence 2025 SS 50 %
^ Beckett Gurian NC Union Academy 2025 1B 50 %
^ Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 50 %
^ Garrett Haston NC Myers Park 2025 C 50 %
5 Bennett Baldassarre NC Providence 2025 1B 38 %
^ Joe Walker NC Marvin Ridge High 2025 OF 38 %
^ JT Cook NC Watauga 2025 RHP 38 %
^ Ryan Hawkins NC East Mecklenburg 2023 2B 38 %
6 Caden Davidson NC TC Roberson 2025 1B 35 %
7 Matthew Sermeno NC Chatlotte Catholic 2024 SS 30 %
8 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 30 %
^ Jake Parham NC TC Roberson 2025 SS 30 %
^ Jahdier Rodriguez NC Charlotte Catholic 2025 C 30 %
9 Meridian Leffew NC Gaston Christian 2026 SS 28 %
10 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 27 %

Fly Ball %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Fly Ball %
1 Trey Handy NC East Wilkes 2024 LHP 50.0 %
2 Owen Green NC Ardrey Kell 2026 OF 46.7 %
3 JT Cook NC Watauga 2025 RHP 38.5 %
^ Preston Smith NC John T Hoggard 2026 SS 38.5 %
4 Nolan Winnek NC Camden Military School 2025 C 33.3 %
5 Joe Walker NC Marvin Ridge High 2025 OF 30.8 %
6 Brett Cassell NC Cox Mill 2024 SS 30.0 %
^ Jahdier Rodriguez NC Charlotte Catholic 2025 C 30.0 %
^ Jake Parham NC TC Roberson 2025 SS 30.0 %
7 Xavier Mccoury NC Providence 2025 SS 28.6 %
8 Jake Klawonn NC Weddington 2023 OF 27.3 %
9 Beckett Gurian NC Union Academy 2025 1B 21.4 %
^ Meridian Leffew NC Gaston Christian 2026 SS 21.4 %
^ Garrett Haston NC Myers Park 2025 C 21.4 %
10 Brian OConnell III NC Eastern Guilford 2023 C 20.0 %