Prep Baseball Report

PBR at The Rock 16U: Quick Hits Day 2


By Wisconsin Staff

The 16U PBR at the Rock Championships continued on Friday in another loaded day of action. This four-day long tournament features 35 of the best travel teams in the entire Midwest. Throughout this week, our scout team will be compiling end-of-day notes in a Quick Hit format, to provide you with the most impressive takeaways from that day’s action. 

You can find our Day One notes here. Day Two’s notes are listed below.

QUICK HITS

+ Top Tier Americans closed out a 7-1 win over Indiana Nitro Gold with a pair of follow 2021 breaking balls. LHP Isaiah Thompson (Sacred Heart-Griffin, IL) showed a tight 1/7 biter at 70-73 mph paired with an 80-81 mph fastball. While RHP Rance Bryant (Schlarman Academy, IL) showcased an even harder curveball at 73-76 with sharp 12/6 swing and miss action. The pair struck out seven combined over the final five innings.

+ One of the top performers of the tournament thus far is Central Illinois Outlaws' left-handed-hitting Bryce Bishop (Metamora, 2021). After crushing a ball over the right-field fence for a home run on Day One, Bishop continued his hot streak with a 3-for-4 performance against STARTERS 16U on Friday morning. The ball jumps off his bat as he consistently finds the barrel and he also showed the ability to spray the ball to all fields, as each of his hits went to a different part of the outfield. Bishop is making a name for himself as the tournament rolls on. 

+ Another Outlaw, Holt Geltmaker (Illinois Valley Central, 2021), stood out on Day Two. The right-handed-hitting center fielder went 2-for-3 with a walk and drilled a double to straight away center field in his second at-bat of the ballgame. Geltmaker has a sweet and simple swing with little to no moving parts, and a knack for sound contact. He’s also one of the fastest runners in Illinois' 2021 class and uses that to his advantage both on the bases and in the field. He’s certainly a player to follow in his class.

+ One of the top bats in the Wisconsin 2021 class had a strong showing at the plate on Day Two. Q Phillips (Brookfield East, 2021) led an impressive offensive attack by STiKS Black in their 11-7 victory over Illinois Indians. The freshly committed Michigan recruit went 1-for-2 at the plate with three RBIs, two of which came on a deep homer to center. That mammoth home run to straightaway center field came with a wooden bat, too. Phillips is one of the top-ranked players in the state's 2021 class and is a high-follow as he prepares to enter his junior season at Brookfield East.

+ Kylar Arias (Antioch, IL, 2021) strung together arguably one of the day’s most impressive offensive performances in the nightcap against Illinois Dynasty. The big, physical right-handed hitting Arias went 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs. He mashed an RBI double to the wall in his third at-bat of the day, showcasing the clear power that he has in his swing. Arias impressed us at the Badger State Battle a few weeks ago and is continuing to build off that performance as his stock steadily rises.

+ Carter Stebane (Brillion, 2021) was barreling baseballs at the Badger State Battle a couple of weeks ago and it’s been more of the same so far at The Rock. He laced a clutch two-run double for CBT in a win over SHB Kards. He actually scored in the very next at-bat when Sawyer Hau (Laconia, 2021) launched his first of two home runs on Friday. Stebane and Hau, as well as Will Mattheis (Laconia, 2021), each helped CBT win two games on Friday, too. Stebane finished the day with three hits, including two extra-base hits. Hau homered twice and drove in a total of six runs. As for Mattheis, in the team’s second game of the day against Team Heat, he tallied three hits and collected four RBIs.

+ The late-night contest between STiKS Academy Black and the Morris Chiefs featured a real pitcher’s duel between two of the best arms we’ve seen this week, thus far. STiKS Black’s RHP Tyler Hug (Waukesha West, 2021) battled through some brief command issues in his first inning and went on to dominate a quality Chiefs lineup. Through the first couple of frames, Hug sat 83-86 mph, topping 87 mph a couple of times, with his trademark heavy fastball. His breaking ball featured above-average action at 64-67 mph, with some late bite, and his ability to locate it helped him rack up 10 Ks in his complete-game-winning effort. On the other side, for the Chiefs, RHP Carter Doorn (Illiana Christian, IN, 2021; Purdue) came out firing, sitting 84-87 mph through the first couple of innings. His curveball was also a separator and was one of the sharpest and best we’ve seen in the tournament so far. STiKS’s Alex Hayes (Muskego, 2021) fought off one of those curves in order to push across his team’s first run in the fourth. Hug stranded the go-ahead runner at second base, striking out the last batter of the game to seal the win.

+ PTA’s Isaac Engelbrecht (Oak Creek, 2021) is a big 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-hander who put together a fantastic outing in his team’s win Friday evening over Naperville Renegades. He went the distance, allowing just one run on five hits, two walks, and he K’d 11. He sat 82-84 mph in his outing, touching 85 mph multiple times.

+ RHP Aiden Green (Neuqua Valley, IL) tossed a gem for the Naperville Renegade in a losing effort going five strong innings. He only allowed one big inning in which back to back doubles plated four total runs. Green has a high-waisted, athletic frame with long limbs using his body to create angle on his offerings. The fastball sat 82-85 mph, topping 86 mph with finish at the bottom of the zone, while spotting to both sides of the plate. His slider shows as a plus offering working in the mid 70’s with 10/4 action and tight spin sweeping across the plate. He finished with six punch outs all coming on the fastball. 

+ RHP Adam Stanton (Eagan, MN, 2021) did it all on the mound for MASH Cardinal earning the complete game victory Friday afternoon. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound imposing framed righty struck out nine in his seven innings of work allowing five hits, all singles, with three walks. Stanton attacked the zone sporting a short, high 3/4 arm slot , more of an arm strength type. His fastball/slider combo was he needed as the fastball finished heavy through the zone with run and occasional sink at 79-81 mph (81 mph in the 7th inning). The slider had swing-and-miss action as it buckled multiple hitters. It worked at 71-73 mph with hard 10/4 biting break with present depth in the strike zone - went to it often. Follow 2021.

+ Jarod Cook (Chanhassen, MN, 2021) hit two of the hardest balls of the day for the Minnesota MASH. A physical corner-man at 5-foot-10, 202-pounds, his bat path works short and quick as he looks to damage the baseball to his pull side, which he did. Cook lined out deep to left field in his first at-bat and followed that up with a two run double that rolled into the left field corner. Upside bat, follow 2021. 

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