Prep Baseball Report

Wisconsin 2017 Rankings Updated



By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor – Wisconsin/Illinois

With the Future Games in the rear view mirror it’s time to update Wisconsin’s 2017 Rankings. The last update was done in April and since then we’ve seen a ton of players in the 2017 class with several updates to the top 75.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Commitment
1 Austin Mihlbauer WI Mukwonago 2017 LHP Texas Christian
2 Jacob Lindemann WI Burlington 2017 RHP
3 Nathan Burns WI West Bend West 2017 RHP
4 Ben Dragani WI Catholic Memorial 2017 LHP
5 Anthony Schlass WI West Bend West 2017 SS Oklahoma
6 Troy Hickey WI Wilmot Union 2017 LHP
7 Jack Blomgren WI Janesville Craig 2017 SS
8 Jamie DeWitt WI Waukesha South 2017 C
9 Zach Clayton WI Oconomowoc 2017 SS Oregon State
10 Griffin Doersching WI Greendale 2017 1B

CLICK HERE for complete Wisconsin 2017 Rankings.

LHP Augie Mihlbauer (Mukwonago) remains atop the rankings, he’s continued to show the 86-88 mph fastball we saw in March and since then has made his commitment to TCU.

After the top spot there were several shake ups inside the top ten. RHP Jacob Lindemann (Burlington) climbed to No. 2, we’ve seen him several times now work in the upper 80’s including touching the 90 mph mark at the PBR Future Games.

RHP Nathan Burns (West Bend West) probably helped himself the most of any Wisconsin prospect at the Future Games. Burns was always highly regarded since first seeing him as a freshman, his loose easy arm action and three pitch feel made him highly attractive to our staff. Put him on the big stage of the Future Games and Burns opened the eyes of several suitors showing one of the easier 86-88 mph fastballs at the event with the same three pitch feel and advanced secondary stuff.

LHP Ben Dragani (Catholic Memorial) continued to show more of the same projection. At 6-foot-4, 190-pounds his arm works easy at 80-84 mph with a hard slider at 75-77 mph, which screams for more velocity down the road. Dragani holds steady in the top five and wouldn’t surprise anyone if he saw his name on top before he finishes his senior year.

Next to Burns, LHP Troy Hickey (Wilmot Union) raised a ton of eyebrows at the Future Games. We’ve seen Hickey several times this summer, increasingly looking better. Hickey showed one of the more deceptive 83-85 mph fastballs at the Future Games. Facing some of the top offensive threats across the country, Hickey’s fastball got on hitters quicker than most upper 80 fastball’s we saw over the weekend.

New to the rankings this update, and the highest new rank, is SS Jack Blomgren (Janesville Craig). Blomgren started at short all year for the state champion Cougars. Jack, the younger brother of Nick (Craig’s 2015 starting catcher and High Point commit) looks to be following in similar footsteps as a D1 prospect. Blomgren is a high level defender at short who’s bat is starting to come along, but it’s his glove that will be most attractive to college programs.

Zach Clayton (Oconomowoc) rounds out the top 10. Clayton is a physical two-way player who recently committed to Oregon State after the Future Games.

Several new addition made the ranking this update including left-handed hitting OF Ben Hauser (Sun Prairie) and LHP Trevor Olson (Chippewa Falls). Both inside the top 15, Hauser is a physical bat who projects to have power from the left side. Trevor Olson burst onto the scene this summer at the Western Wisconsin Open. There he featured an 82-83 mph fastball touching 84 mph out of a 6-foot-6 frame with a loose arm action. Olson then got an invite to fill a late pitching spot on Team Minnesota at the Future Games and touched 86 mph sitting 82-85 mph and one of the bigger risers at the event.

More newcomers to the rankings include: Quinn Pierner (Bay Port), Evan Sankey (Appleton North), Justin Reinkall (Superior), Logan Grunenwald (Wausau West), Jack Anderson (Pulaski), Matthew McNabb (West De Pere), Hunter Weddel (Tremper), Tanner Bykowski (Westosha Central) and Isaac Lawler (Bradford). Look for more on these new additions later in the week.

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