Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

Harper JC Scout Day: Quick Hits

September 5, 2025
Illinois Scouting Staff

On Friday, August 29th, the Prep Baseball Illinois Staff traveled to Palatine for the Harper College Scout Day. There are plenty of new faces for the Hawks, as well as a handful of quality returning players, and we will be highlighting the standouts from the day, below.

Today, we are taking a look at some of the day’s top performers, broken down by each program, with scouting reports and videos, below.

POSITION PLAYERS

+ FR. UTIL Lewis Barbour (Fremd) a 5-foot-10, 170-pound, took defensive reps both in the infield and outfield. From the infield, has quick feet playing through the baseball with an easy glove to hand transfer. Defensively in the outfield, allows his athleticism to take over, with easy movements to the ball. At both positions the arm action comes from and over the top slot, (T82 mph - INF, T86 mph - OF). Barbour recorded the hardest hit ball of the event, coming off at 102.1 mph. An athletic and balanced stance, shifts his weight into the back leg to create power in the swing with a whole field approach. Ran a 6.79 60-yard time.

+ SO. OF Brayden Clancy (Lake Park) listed a 5-foot-8, 180-pounds had a strong freshman campaign and looks to continue that into his sophomore season hitting .363 in 159 plate appearances. Offensively, has a line-drive pull-side gap approach, starts with his weight slightly on the back leg with a short leg stride, had a max exit velocity of 96.4 with an average hand speed at 74.4 mph. When in the outfield, the routes are clean to the ball with proper footwork, using a big crow-hop to gain momentum towards the plate with a 3/4 arm slot (T86 mph).

+ SO. INF Nick Drtina (Nazareth) listed at 6-foot-3, 192-pounds is coming off a strong season where he batted .407 in 37 games and 144 plate appearances. Drtina's workout started at the plate where he had the top round of the day, displaying pull-side gap power in an effortless swing. Stands upright with a smooth transition into a short stride, had a max exit velocity of 100.0 mph, max distance at 376 feet and a 72.7 average hand speed. Defensively over at first base, a sure handed golf with easy footwork around the bag.

+ R-FR. OF Mitchell Hall (Leo Catholic) listed a 6-foot-3, 220-pounds displayed showed some true tools and athleticism, starting his day off by running a 6.47 60-yard time. A right-handed hitter has a quiet presence in the box, using his strength to record a 99.8 mph exit velo with an average bat speed of 24.1 mph. Simple actions in the outfield with clean footwork, throws from a high 3/4 slot (T79 mph).

+ SO. OF Connor Kave (Hersey) the 5-foot-8, 175-pound left-handed hitting outfielder set the tone for his workout by running a 6.34 60-yard time. From the left side of the plate, a simple and balanced stance with a short leg stride. A compact swing threw the zone on a gap-to-pull side approach, a max exit velocity of 93.3 and an average hand speed of 22.8 mph. In the outfield, takes short and quick strides to take the correct route to getting himself in position to field the ball, has a long arm action with an over the top slot (T82 mph).

+ FR. INF Cooper Nelson (Fremd) a 6-foot, 163-pound right handed hitter had an impressive day and will be an intriguing player to watch for the Hawks. Ran the second best time of the day with a 6.36 60 time. At the plate, Nelson stands in with an upright narrow stance and uses his back leg to generate power with a gap-to-gap approach, 95.1 mph max exit velocity with a team leading average hand speed at 77.7 mph. From the infield, is a sure handed and confident defender with easy, athletic footwork working to get around the ball. The arm plays quick and easy from a high 3/4 slot (T85 mph).

+ FR. C Collin Roach (Nazareth) a right-handed hitting catcher had a strong workout. Listed at 6-foot-2, 193-pounds ran a 6.75 60-yard time. In the box setups up in a strong hitting position, sitting into his legs with a wide stance, has very little pre-pitch movement and uses a short left lift to start the swing. Recorded a 97.6 max exit velocity with a max distance of 352 feet and an average hand speed of 23.5 mph. From behind the plate, quick and controlled actions towards second with steady hand receiving. The arm plays short and quick, throws played around the bag (1.88 pop, T82 mph).

+ SO. UTIL Alex Tabbert (Prospect) a 5-foot- 8, 160-pounds right-handed hitting utility player had a .351 average last season in 168 plate appearances and had an impressive workout. A simple and balanced stance in the box, short stride, swing is leveled through the zone for a gap-to-gap approach, 70.5 average hand speed and a 95.2 mph max exit velocity. Took defensive only in the infield, smooth actions working through the ball, creates the hop he wants with a soft glove work, throws from a high 3/4 slot (T87 mph).

TWO WAYS

+ FR. 1B/LHP Griffin Kelly (Buffalo Grove) stands 5-foot-11, 209-pounds and impressed on both sides at the Scout Day. Kelly flashed a smooth and easy swing in BP working the gaps throughout the round. Kelly reached 97.3 EV while averaging 89 mph and reaching 369’ max distance. On the mound, Kelly worked a four pitch mix, with the fastball at 83-84 mph with an avg. of 19 in. of IVB, threw the curveball at 68-69 mph, slider at 71-73 mph, and a changeup at 77-78 with an avg. of 18.5 in. of total movement. Kelly should be an impact freshman for the Hawks.

+ FR. OF/RHP Gavin O’Neil (Lake Park) 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame. Started the event running a 6.65 60-yard time, took a quality BP round, was on the barrel, spraying all around the field, peaked at 98 mph EV with an avg. of 90 mph. On the mound, O’Neil ran his fastball up to 89 mph, sat 87-88 mph with 2110+ avg. rpm. Flashed a slider for strikes at 74-76 mph, and a changeup with ASR and sink at 77-78 mph and 15.5 in of avg. HM.

PITCHERS

+ FR. LHP Riley Blackwell (Hersey) comes in standing 6-foot-1, 195 pounds high spin left-hander. Blackwell works from a lower ¾ slot with the ability to throw all pitches for strikes. The fastball worked at 83-84 mph with an avg. of -16 in. of HM and a cutter at 77 mph with 2270+ avg. rpm. The southpaw mixed in two off-speeds, a curveball at 70-72 mph with 2380+ avg. rpm, and a changeup at 74-76 mph with -21 in. of avg. HM.

+ SO. RHP David Essien (Fremd) stands 6-foot-3, 220-pounds and made immense strides this off-season. At last year’s Scout Day, Essien topped at 90 mph with the fastball, at last week’s Scout Day, the right-hander’s fastball sat 93-95 T96 mph with 2480+ avg rpm. The right-hander threw a slider 76-80 mph with an avg. spin rate of 2150+, and a splitter at 80-84 mph with an avg. of 12 in. of IVB and a avg. spin rate of 1200, a true strikeout pitch. Essien threw 28 innings last season for the Hawks, striking out 24 and walking 12.

+ SO. RHP Zach LaBrec (Cary-Grove) stood out in his bullpen last week. The right-hander stands 6-foot, 175-pounds and worked a four pitch mix. LaBrec threw his fastball at 85-87 mph with an avg. of 11 in. of HM. The curveball worked at 73-74 mph with an avg. spin rate of 2890+ for strikes, the changeup played at 79-81 mph with low spin (1366 avg.), and tossed a splitter at 81-82 mph with an avg. of 12 in. of HM.

+ FR RHP Jonah Elvidge (Lincolnwood) threw an intriguing bullpen last week. Elvidge has a 6-foot, 155-pound frame. The right-hander worked a four pitch mix starting with the fastball that sat 80-82 with an avg. spin rate of 2320 rpm, a curveball at 68-70 mph with -13 in. of IVB, the slider works at 70-71 mph with 2260+ rpm, and the changeup is 71-72 mph with 11 in. of HM.

RELATED CONTENT