Madison Preseason I.D.: Preview

March 12, 2020
By Wisconsin Staff

ITINERARY

*UPDATE 3/13/20*

To ensure the safety of the players planning to attend Sunday’s Madison Preseason I.D. event, the PBR Wisconsin staff is taking extra precautionary measures to limit the number of people inside the GRB Academy facilities at one time. We will be hosting the showcase in groups, separated by registered position(s), detailed below.

Further, and to reiterate, if you are feeling ill, in any way, it is imperative that you do not attend Sunday’s event; you will be refunded in full or credited to attend a future showcase. If you do not feel comfortable attending Sunday’s event in any way, we implore you to reach out to the PBR Wisconsin staff and your credit will be kept on file for a future PBR event.

For a more detailed look at the updated schedule and itinerary of Sunday’s showcase, continue reading on.

+ Outfielder Check-in: 10 to 10:20 a.m.

+ Infielder Check-in: noon to 12:30 p.m.

+ Catcher Check-in: 3 to 3:15 p.m.

+ Pitcher Check-in: 4:45 to 5 p.m.

Each position group will be put through its own individual workout – all players will still run the 60-yard dash, participate in hitting evaluations and batting practice, and take reps on defense from their registered position. Two-way players will check in with their positional groups and will eventually take the mound for their pitching analysis some time after 5 p.m. Two-way athletes are free to leave in between their positional workout and their pitching session, provided they’ve returned by 5 p.m., when pitching evaluations begin.

EVENT PREVIEW

This Sunday, March 15, the most heavily attended showcase on PBR Wisconsin’s calendar is headed to GRB Academy in Windsor: the Madison Preseason I.D. event. Currently, some of the top prospects in the state of Wisconsin are registered for the massive showcase – representing the 2021, 2022, and 2023 classes.

There are over 230 players attending on Sunday – with room remaining. For registration information and itinerary, click here. For a look at the most up-to-date version of Sunday’s roster, click here.

Every year, this event helps us identify some of the top prospects in the state, predominantly from the greater Madison area. Just last year, this showcase spotlighted several of the state’s best 2020s: from RHP Tyler Chadwick (Marshall; West Virginia commit), RHP George Klassen (Port Washington; Minnesota), and RHP/SS Joe Hauser (Waunakee; Arizona State). This event also helps us fill our annual PBR Future Games roster, the summer’s preeminent recruiting destination. From the showcase last year, we had the likes of juniors INF/RHP Owen Washburn (Webster; South Carolina), OF Tanner Marsh (Mondovi; uncommitted), INF Carson Shepard (Sun Prairie; uncommitted), and 3B Liam Moreno (Sun Prairie; Missouri State) join us, among others.

There are several more juniors we’re looking forward to seeing this coming Sunday, including RHP Keagon Kauffmann (DeForest; Wisconsin-Milwaukee), who will be making his PBR event debut. He was up to 88 mph late in 2019 with advanced offspeed, and we’re interested to see how the offseason treated him.

Keagon Kaufmann (9/14/19)

RHP Bryce Leedle (Markesan; uncommitted) is another increasingly interesting prospect to know. We’ve had him up to 85 mph in the past, but it’s clear there’s much more in the tank for the athletic right-hander, and he’s still uncommitted. Another uncommitted righty to know ahead of time: Aaron Rice (Brillion). A lean 6-foot-2 athlete with high projection that sat 82-84 mph at an event in August.

Former Team Wisconsin juniors Marsh and Shepard will be there on Sunday, too. Marsh is an athletic outfielder with an easy, strong left-handed bat. Shepard is an instinctual defender who fits in neatly at second base, while swinging a top-of-the-order type of right-handed bat.

Waukesha South’s Nick Nowak (2021; uncommitted) has proved to be a versatile prospect who can offer solid defensive work from behind the plate as well as a corner infield spot. He also swings a level line-drive bat with some feel for the barrel.

Turning our attention to the attending 2022 class, we’re also looking forward to the PBR event debut of Torin Byrnes (Tremper; uncommitted), a lanky righty we saw early in the spring who also starred as a freshman for the Trojans. Pewaukee’s RHP Logan Dobberstein (uncommitted) is a 6-foot-6 slender righty who’s been a follow in this class since we first saw him around this time in 2018. He’s been up to 82 mph for us in the past and we’re looking forward to seeing how he’s progressed since our latest look, which came way back in June.

Catholic Memorial two-way sophomore Rory Fox (uncommitted) is one of the top-ranked sophomores in the state. He’s an excellent athlete and with above-average all-around actions up the middle of the infield with some upside in his left-handed bat. He’s also looked especially interesting from the mound, where he was up to 85 mph in late July. We haven’t seen him since, and we’re looking forward to updating our notes with our latest findings.

Luke Ross is another two-way follow for his adept left-handed bat and feel for the first base bag, but he’s also an easy-going lefty on the mound with tremendous offspeed feel. He’s been into the low-80s with repeatability, able to pound the zone with his fastball and two different kinds of breaking balls, both of which have flashed above-average action, especially the curveball.

Luke Ross (7/23/19)

Uncommitted sophomores Nick West (Verona), Theo Zeidler (Bay Port), and Cuyler Zukowski (Madison LaFollette) are each follows for their 6-foot or greater size which helps them all generate an excellent batted-ball profile. West is a switch-hitter and a natural from both sides, with loose barrels that create hard contact. Zeidler swings a fluid bat from the right side that helps him barrel baseballs into both gaps. And Zukowski is a twitchy right-handed hitter with the best power potential of this trio. He’s earned some of the top exit velo scores at previous PBR events, so we’re curious where he’ll be on Sunday.

There’s a ton more 2022s to know coming our way on Sunday, but a couple more to mention here quick are Addison Ostrenga (Sun Prairie; uncommitted) and Kolton Schaller (Mount Horeb; uncommitted). Ostrenga is a big 6-foot-4 athlete capable who moves well in the outfield and creates bat speed and strength from the right side. Schaller is a lanky 6-foot-1 with quick hands, and feet, with twitchy actions from the batter’s box to the infield.

There will surely be more breakout sophomores to note coming out of Sunday’s showcase.

Of the freshmen headed our way, keep an eye on RHP/OF Dylan Questad (Waterford). He’s a great athlete with big arm strength. He was up to 84 mph down in Georgia as a member of Team Wisconsin’s PBR Junior Future Games roster, and we’ll see what kind of work he’s put in the time that’s passed since. Sun Prairie’s Jackson Hunley was Questad’s teammate down in Georgia, and he has a lanky frame that works well from the batter’s box; fast and strong hands. Lastly, Ethan Hindle (Arrowhead) is an athletic infielder with a loose and easy right-handed bat who can also handle the glove up the middle on defense.

Ethan Hindle (10/19/19)

This showcase perennially helps us identify the top prospects preparing to embark on their high school playing careers, so we're looking forward to seeing which other freshmen we need to add to our watchlist ahead of the 2020 spring and summer seasons.