Battle for the Arch: Data Dive
October 3, 2023
On Tuesday, September 26th, the PBR Illinois and PBR Missouri staffs converged on the campus of Saint Louis University to host the annual Battle for The Arch showcase. This invite-only event featured 2024 and 2025 graduates from Missouri and the Metro East area as a whole, pitting participants in a pro-style workout, followed by a simulated eight-inning game.
For a list of all of those that attended, click HERE.
Shortly after the event, we rolled out stat leaders from the day, which you can find HERE.
We also rolled out takeaways from the event for Illinois and Missouri, highlighting the day as a whole with scout notes and video on several standouts.
We're diving deeper into the data, using our partners at TrackMan and Blast Motion, to look further into a few names that put together strong showings at this event.
MAX EXIT VELOCITY
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Exit Velocity (max) |
| 1 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 98.8 mph |
| 2 | Noah Petersen | IL | Civic Memorial | 2024 | C | 97.1 mph |
| 3 | Slater Hooke | MO | St. John Vianney | 2024 | OF | 96.0 mph |
| 4 | Matthew States | MO | Father Tolton Catholic High School | 2025 | 1B | 95.0 mph |
| 5 | James Dolley | MO | Lafayette | 2025 | C | 94.4 mph |
| 6 | Camden Cox | IL | O Fallon | 2025 | OF | 93.7 mph |
| 7 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 93.1 mph |
| 8 | Nathan Higgins | MO | Seckman | 2024 | 1B | 92.6 mph |
| 9 | Alex Kiefer | IL | Mount Vernon | 2025 | C | 92.4 mph |
| 10 | Greyson Rathgeb | IL | Edwardsville | 2025 | OF | 92.3 mph |
AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Exit Velocity (avg) |
| 1 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 91.8 mph |
| 2 | Matthew States | MO | Father Tolton Catholic High School | 2025 | 1B | 90.0 mph |
| 3 | Nathan Higgins | MO | Seckman | 2024 | 1B | 89.8 mph |
| 4 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 89.2 mph |
| 5 | Camden Cox | IL | O Fallon | 2025 | OF | 88.0 mph |
PEAK BATTED DISTANCE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Distance (max) |
| 1 | Slater Hooke | MO | St. John Vianney | 2024 | OF | 366 ft |
| 2 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 360 ft |
| 3 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 359 ft |
| 4 | Greyson Rathgeb | IL | Edwardsville | 2025 | OF | 348 ft |
| 5 | Camden Cox | IL | O Fallon | 2025 | OF | 343 ft |
| 6 | Bo Gomric | IL | Althoff | 2025 | SS | 340 ft |
| 7 | Matthew States | MO | Father Tolton Catholic High School | 2025 | 1B | 338 ft |
| 8 | Noah Petersen | IL | Civic Memorial | 2024 | C | 337 ft |
| 9 | Brennon Wibbenmeyer | MO | Francis Howell | 2024 | OF | 329 ft |
| 10 | James Dolley | MO | Lafayette | 2025 | C | 329 ft |
AVERAGE BATTED DISTANCE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Distance (avg) |
| 1 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 319 ft |
| 2 | Slater Hooke | MO | St. John Vianney | 2024 | OF | 280 ft |
| 3 | Brennon Wibbenmeyer | MO | Francis Howell | 2024 | OF | 273 ft |
| 4 | James Dolley | MO | Lafayette | 2025 | C | 267 ft |
| 5 | Nathan Higgins | MO | Seckman | 2024 | 1B | 266 ft |
PEAK BAT SPEED
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Bat Speed (max) |
| 1 | Brody Kleffner | MO | Fatima High School | 2025 | RHP | 83.0 mph |
| 2 | Nathan Higgins | MO | Seckman | 2024 | 1B | 82.4 mph |
| 3 | Wil Harris | IL | Mater Dei | 2024 | 3B | 81.3 mph |
| 4 | Bryce Lemp | IL | Collinsville | 2024 | OF | 79.8 mph |
| 5 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 79.5 mph |
| 6 | Noah Petersen | IL | Civic Memorial | 2024 | C | 78.5 mph |
| 7 | James Dolley | MO | Lafayette | 2025 | C | 78.4 mph |
| 8 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 77.5 mph |
| 9 | Slater Hooke | MO | St. John Vianney | 2024 | OF | 76.4 mph |
| 10 | Matthew States | MO | Father Tolton Catholic High School | 2025 | 1B | 75.6 mph |
AVERAGE BAT SPEED
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Bat Speed (avg) |
| 1 | Brody Kleffner | MO | Fatima High School | 2025 | RHP | 77.2 mph |
| 2 | Nathan Higgins | MO | Seckman | 2024 | 1B | 76.7 mph |
| 3 | James Dolley | MO | Lafayette | 2025 | C | 73.8 mph |
| 4 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 73.6 mph |
| 5 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 73.3 mph |
PEAK HAND SPEED
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Hand Speed (max) |
| 1 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 25.9 mph |
| 2 | Nicholas Livingston | MO | Chaminade College Prep | 2024 | C | 24.9 mph |
| 3 | Brennon Wibbenmeyer | MO | Francis Howell | 2024 | OF | 24.8 mph |
| ^ | Matthew States | MO | Father Tolton Catholic High School | 2025 | 1B | 24.8 mph |
| 4 | Bryce Lemp | IL | Collinsville | 2024 | OF | 24.2 mph |
| 5 | Camden Cox | IL | O Fallon | 2025 | OF | 24.0 mph |
| 6 | Cash Bailey | IL | Columbia High School | 2025 | 3B | 23.7 mph |
| ^ | Alex Kiefer | IL | Mount Vernon | 2025 | C | 23.7 mph |
| 7 | Noah Petersen | IL | Civic Memorial | 2024 | C | 23.5 mph |
| ^ | Greyson Rathgeb | IL | Edwardsville | 2025 | OF | 23.5 mph |
| 8 | Brody Kleffner | MO | Fatima High School | 2025 | RHP | 23.4 mph |
| 9 | Slater Hooke | MO | St. John Vianney | 2024 | OF | 22.9 mph |
| 10 | Bo Gomric | IL | Althoff | 2025 | SS | 22.8 mph |
AVERAGE HAND SPEED
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Hand Speed (avg) |
| 1 | Nicholas Livingston | MO | Chaminade College Prep | 2024 | C | 23.8 mph |
| 2 | Jake Stedman | IL | Belleville West | 2024 | SS | 23.7 mph |
| 3 | Greyson Rathgeb | IL | Edwardsville | 2025 | OF | 23.0 mph |
| 4 | Camden Cox | IL | O Fallon | 2025 | OF | 22.8 mph |
| 5 | Bryce Lemp | IL | Collinsville | 2024 | OF | 22.7 mph |
MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
| 1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 90.0 mph |
| 2 | Cameron Appenzeller | IL | Glenwood | 2025 | LHP | 87.7 mph |
| 3 | Nathan Matoush | IL | Hillsboro | 2025 | LHP | 86.8 mph |
| 4 | Brody Kleffner | MO | Fatima High School | 2025 | RHP | 85.3 mph |
| 5 | Brady Backes | IL | Lasalle-Peru | 2025 | RHP | 85.2 mph |
PEAK FASTBALL SPIN RATE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (max) |
| 1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2407 rpm |
| 2 | Cameron Appenzeller | IL | Glenwood | 2025 | LHP | 2323 rpm |
AVG FASTBALL SPIN RATE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
| 1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2313 rpm |
| 2 | Cameron Appenzeller | IL | Glenwood | 2025 | LHP | 2135 rpm |
PEAK CURVEBALL SPIN RATE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (max) |
| 1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2553 rpm |
| 2 | Gavin Caldwell | MO | Sacred Heart | 2024 | RHP | 2362 rpm |
| 3 | Bryce Lemp | IL | Collinsville | 2024 | OF | 2344 rpm |
| 4 | Cameron Appenzeller | IL | Glenwood | 2025 | LHP | 2313 rpm |
AVG CURVEBALL SPIN RATE
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
| 1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2382 rpm |
| 2 | Bryce Lemp | IL | Collinsville | 2024 | OF | 2344 rpm |
For all of the statistics from this event, click HERE.
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