Prep Baseball Report

Citius Illinois Baseball Scout Day: Data Dive


Kevin Cronin
Tech Analyst, Area Scout

On Wednesday, June 21st, the PBR Illinois staff traveled to Judson University to host the Citius Illinois Baseball, where 25+ players from the Citius’ program participated in a pro-style workout in front of our staff. 

To see a full list of players that attended, click HERE. For all the statistics collected at this event, click HERE

Today, we're going to break down the takeaways from the event by diving deeper into all of the data we collected at Hounds Scout Day.

POSITIONAL TOOLS

TOP 60-TIMES

Rank Name State School Class Pos 60-yd
1 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 6.91 s
2 Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 7.00 s
3 Alten Bergbreiter IL Marengo 2025 1B 7.01 s
4 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 7.09 s
5 Quinn Lechner IL Marengo 2025 SS 7.25 s

MAX INF VELOCITY

Rank Name State School Class Pos INF Velo
1 Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 78
^ Will Baumgartner IL Sycamore 2023 SS 78
2 Quinn Lechner IL Marengo 2025 SS 76
3 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 75
^ Jacob McConnell IL McHenry 2025 2B 75
4 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 74
^ Ian Sherman IL Palatine 2025 1B 74
5 Cayden Haugh IL Huntley 2025 73

MAX OF VELOCITY

Rank Name State School Class Pos OF Velo
1 Caleb Boldog IL Harvest Christian 2025 CF 80
^ Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 80
2 Jack Nelson IL Johnsburg 2025 OF 79
3 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP 78
4 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 77
5 Gaetano Bucciferro IL Rockford Christian 2025 LF 74

MAX C VELOCITY

Rank Name State School Class Pos C Velo
1 Matt Keaty IL Huntley 2026 C 74
2 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 72

TOP POP-TIMES

Rank Name State School Class Pos Pop Time
1 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 2.13-2.25
2 Matt Keaty IL Huntley 2026 C 2.28-2.45

TRACKMAN

We'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch data.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & AVERAGE SPIN RATE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 83.6 mph
2 Ian Bury IL Dundee Crown 2025 RHP 82.0 mph
3 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP 79.5 mph
4 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 78.9 mph
5 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 78.3 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 2169 rpm
2 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 2047 rpm
3 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP 2032 rpm
4 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 2005 rpm
5 Jacob McConnell IL McHenry 2025 2B 1968 rpm

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

Spin Rate: This metric calculates the rate of spin on the baseball as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Historical data shows that high-spin fastballs lessen the impact of gravity, allowing for more ‘rise’ (or less fall, in other words) as it carries through the zone. Low-spin fastballs typically indicate the pitch has greater horizontal action, often making it tougher to square up, but generally easier to make contact with, leading to more ground balls, while high-spin fastballs show a correlation with swings and misses.

AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Hunter Blake IL McHenry 2025 RHP 12.4
2 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP -11.9
3 Jacob McConnell IL McHenry 2025 2B 11.8

Horizontal Break: Outlined on TrackMan’s own website: “... horizontal movement is measured in inches between where the pitch actually crosses the front of home plate side-wise, and where it would have crossed home plate side-wise if had it traveled in a perfectly straight line from release. A positive number means the break was to the right from the pitcher’s perspective, while a negative number means the break was to the left from the pitcher’s perspective.”

AVERAGE CURVEBALL & SLIDER SPIN RATE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 2128 rpm
2 Jacob McConnell IL McHenry 2025 2B 2095 rpm
3 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP 2061 rpm
4 Eric Rodriguez IL Dundee Crown 2025 OF 2057 rpm
5 Ian Bury IL Dundee Crown 2025 RHP 1933 rpm

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Jacob McConnell IL McHenry 2025 2B 2129
2 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 1983
3 Connor Solger IL Huntley 2024 RHP 1920

AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Rylan Sands IL Huntley 2024 LHP -14.7
2 Luke Kolozsy IL Huntley 2025 OF 14.0
3 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 13.5

MAX EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 95.8 mph
2 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 95.4 mph
3 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 93.1 mph
4 Ian Sherman IL Palatine 2025 1B 92.3 mph
5 Daniel Elswick IL Woodstock 2024 C 91.7 mph

MAX DISTANCE (HITTING)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 337 ft
2 Cayden Haugh IL Huntley 2025 335 ft
3 Daniel Elswick IL Woodstock 2024 C 324 ft
4 Ike Moran IL Huntley 2026 RHP 319 ft
5 Ian Sherman IL Palatine 2025 1B 315 ft

BLAST MOTION

With the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured at this open showcase.

HAND SPEED (PEAK & AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (max)
1 Jack Nelson IL Johnsburg 2025 OF 23.2 mph
^ Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 23.2 mph
2 TJ Cutrona IL Marian Central Catholic 2026 SS 22.0 mph
3 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 21.9 mph
4 Cayden Haugh IL Huntley 2025 21.7 mph
5 Ian Bury IL Dundee Crown 2025 RHP 21.3 mph
^ Caleb Boldog IL Harvest Christian 2025 CF 21.3 mph
^ Gavin Rettberg IL Huntley 2026 OF 21.3 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 22.4 mph
2 Jack Nelson IL Johnsburg 2025 OF 21.3 mph
3 Cayden Haugh IL Huntley 2025 21.2 mph
4 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 21.1 mph
5 TJ Cutrona IL Marian Central Catholic 2026 SS 20.9 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)

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Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 72.3 mph
2 Soran Leahy IL Barrington 2025 RHP 70.5 mph
3 Francis Panko IL Cary-Grove 2025 C 69.9 mph
4 Cayden Haugh IL Huntley 2025 69.0 mph
5 Brady Forkin IL Jacobs 2024 OF 68.7 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 TJ Cutrona IL Marian Central Catholic 2026 SS 24.2 g
2 Luke Kolozsy IL Huntley 2025 OF 23.5 g
3 Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 23.1 g
4 Jack Nelson IL Johnsburg 2025 OF 21.7 g
5 Justin Ceisel IL Jacobs 2024 RHP 21.0 g

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Luke Kolozsy IL Huntley 2025 OF 18.8 g
2 Ethan Anderson IL Woodstock North 2024 OF 17.9 g
3 Jack Nelson IL Johnsburg 2025 OF 17.6 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.

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.

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