Prep Baseball Report

Badger State Battle: Quick Hits Day 2


By Wisconsin Staff

We’re celebrating Independence Day weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with nearly 50 of the Midwest’s best travel baseball programs at our enormous annual tournament: the Badger State Battle. Every year, around this time, we reconvene in the Dells to host this event, the largest tournament on our calendar. The PBR Wisconsin and Illinois staffs will both be on-site to watch, evaluate, and scout teams representing both states.

At the end of each day, we’ll be highlighting the day’s top highlights. Below are the biggest takeaways from Day 2. If you missed our Quick Hits post from Day 1, click here.

QUICK HITS

2020

+ LHP Tommy Lamb (Grafton, 2020; Oklahoma commit) has been steadily trending up late this spring and into the summer. Lamb tossed a gem in the state sectional semifinals and showed more of the same tonight in Mauston for Hitters Baseball Navy. The Sooners recruit has one of the easiest fastballs in the state and comfortably sat 85-87 mph throughout his outing, touching 87 multiple times in his last several pitches. His best pitch is arguably a plus curveball with swing and miss action on a 1/7 plane, thrown at 77-78 mph. Lamb finished with 10 Ks over five innings in an 8-1 win over GRB Rays Green.

+ Kenosha Bradford’s RHP Nick Cairo is among the more interesting uncommitted righties in the state, and he further elevated his profile on Friday. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander has a long and loose arm that helps produce a mid-80s fastball that was up to 86 mph on Friday. He has a starter’s arsenal, too. A sharp breaking ball and a sinking change. He works with feel for three, which helped him toss a complete game Friday: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K.

+ Brew State’s Daniel Kim (Brookfield Academy, 2020; uncommitted) has been red hot at the plate through the first two days of play. After a big day Thursday, he was 2-for-3 on Friday morning and both hits went for extra bases – an RBI triple and a double.

+ Jake Orthober’s (Marquette University, 2020) performance on the mound Friday afternoon helped lead GRB Yellow 17U to a victory over Team Heat. The 6-foot-1 right-handed pitcher tossed six strong innings of one-run baseball, striking out seven and earning the victory. Orthober ran his fastball up to 85 mph and primarily sat between 82-84 mph. He also showed feel for a changeup that was thrown with fastball arm speed, flashed arm side run, and played between 73-74 mph and an 11/5 curveball that he threw for strikes with gradual action. 

+ Riley Frey (Oshkosh West, 2020) turned in the best pitching performance of the tournament thus far. The University of Milwaukee commit was dominant on Friday night, tossing seven shutout innings against a tough ISA Stars Royal lineup and striking out fifteen. He ran his fastball up to 86 mph with run and was able to place it where he wanted to all game long. He featured a breaking ball that played between 68-70 mph with slurve-like action that showed the ability to drop for strikes as well as expanding the zone. Frey also displayed a changeup, which sat at 75-77 mph that flashed arm side run and was thrown with fastball arm speed. His above-average three-pitch mix makes him one of the top pitching prospects in the Wisconsin 2020 class.

+ Opposing Frey in the epic pitcher’s duel was Ben Hampton (West De Pere, 2020). The West Virginia commit was dominant like his counterpart, and struck out ten batters over 5 2/3 innings pitched. Hampton’s fastball touched 86 mph, ranged between 83-85 mph, with run and he hit his spots all game long. His best secondary offering was his curveball, which sat between 68-72 mph with a 1/7 shape, bite, and was thrown for strikes throughout his outing. Hampton also threw a changeup with fastball arm speed at 76-77 mph. He, like Frey, is also a high follow in the Wisconsin 2020 class.

2021

+ Edge Baseball put together a huge comeback in their win over Team Heat at the 16U level on Friday evening, and three key bats helped them get there: James Rae (Verona, 2021), Colby Davis (Verona, 2021), and Drew Anderson (Madison West, 2021). Each notched multi-hit days, but it was Anderson who especially was able to find the barrel with athletic, loose hands that allowed him to expertly wait back and punish hanging offspeed.

+ RHP A.J. Hamilton (Sussex-Hamilton, 2021) nearly went the distance in Brew State 16U’s 7-3 win over Rhino (WI). He allowed just two earned runs in 6.1 innings on three hits, two walks, and he punched out 10 batters. Hamilton maintained a steady fastball velocity of 76-80 mph, and even touched 82 mph later in the game. He mixed in a curveball with above-average depth and action, 65 mph.

+ Justin Hausser (DeForest, 2021) finished his day 6-for-7 with two doubles and four RBIs. He helped lift his GRB Yellow 16U squad to victories over Thundercat Baseball and CBT. Hausser was one of a few lefties in the GRB Yellow lineup to have a solid showing at the plate. Carter Wambach (Sun Prairie, 2021) and Brigs Richartz (Menomonie, 2021) also handled the bats well throughout the day.

+ Rhino WI defeated ISA Stars White on Friday afternoon with the help of Nicholas LaVigne (Appleton West, 2021) at the plate. The 6-foot, right-handed hitting catcher turned in a solid performance at the plate, drilling a triple into the left-center gap in his second at-bat and demolishing a home run over the left field fence in his final plate appearance. He looked the part defensively as well, playing athletically behind the plate and displaying a strong blocking ability. 

2022

+ Sluggers Baseball 2022 and GRB Eau Claire had a full-blown pitcher’s duel Friday morning, between Eau Claire’s Sam Brennan (Eau Claire Memorial, 2021) and Sluggers’ Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, 2022). McVay was dealt the hard-luck loss, having allowed just one run in seven complete innings of work, on four hits, four walks, and he struck out 10. Brennan consistently dodged barrels to earn a complete game shutout of Sluggers, allowing just three hits, three walks, and he sturck out three. McVay, specifically, showed some serious ability as a 2022 recruit. He frequently changed speeds with a firm changeup and above-average slider, all of which played well off his live low-80s fastball.

+ RHP Wyatt Miles (DC Everest, 2022) started the morning contest for GRB Rays Yellow 15U and showed a quick arm out of a ¾ slot that helped him sit in the 76-79 mph range for the first couple innings. The arm slot and action helped him generate solid arm-side run on his fastball, and its velocity settled into the 74-76 mph range as the game progressed. Miles was also mixing in a slider, 69-70 mph, that flashed sharp/late bite. He works quick, rocking into his motion, shoulders have a tendency to open up, and he lands open/toe-open, too.

+ RHP Austin Baker (Eau Claire Memorial) has an easy, loose arm from the right side which helped him pepper the zone with upper-70s stuff. He cruised to a five-inning complete game and also did all of the heavy lifting at the plate – a couple hits, including a two-run double.

+ Cavaiani Baseball 15U walked off against STiKS 15U Red in a back-and-forth affair and 2022 Zac Jurmu (Shawano) was a huge reason why. Jurmu sparked the rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with a lead-off double and later would come around to score the game-winning walk-off run on a single by Diego Ceballos. Jurmu, a right-handed hitter, finished the game 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple, two RBI and two runs scored.

+ Another CBT 15U stood out in the team’s second game of the day: Jalen Gellings (Campbellsport, 2022). Gellings had a solid afternoon session for CBT at Waunakee High School. The three-hole hitter reached base all three times he came to the plate in a run-ruled win. Gellings hit a two-run home run over the left-center field wall and he collected another RBI in his next at-bat with a double to center. He also showed well behind the plate throwing out a base stealer with a 2.24 pop time

+ ISA Stars Royal’s Jaicee Foster (Green Bay Southwest, 2022) had a huge night that spurred his team to turnaround a clutch comeback win over PBA 15U. Foster, from the two-hole, hit a booming home run to left field and added a hard hit single. Foster presents a strong athletic build with present strength, pull-side power potential in the near future. Also shows a good approach at the plate drawing out long at-bats in each of his plate appearances.

RELATED CONTENT