On September 3rd, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the John A Logan / SIC / Rend Lake / Kaskaskia Scout Day at John A Logan in Carterville, IL. Over 90 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball Illinois staff.

Today, we will be looking at some of the top prospects on Kaskaskia that stood out to our staff within this Takeaways story.

Kaskaskia Scout Day: Takeaways

Pitchers

FR, Nathan Evans, RHP, Murphysboro (IL)

Listed at 5-foot-11, 180-pounds, Evans is a clean mover with more to come physically and he should be a name to follow this fall/spring. He worked exclusively out of the stretch from the third base side of the rubber, working with a controlled and high leg-lift into balance point before moving in-line down the mound with a tall/fall operation that gets on top of the baseball. Clean arm swing that is loose through release, over the top slot. The fastball played in the 84-86 mph range, showing slight carry traits with some angle through the zone. Curveball and slider both showed shorter shape, and the splitter killed spin with some tumble, all playing in the mid/upper-70s.

FR, Oakley Koontz, RHP, Columbus (GA)

Koontz is a physical presence on the mound as he is listed at 6-foot-9, 230-pounds. The right-hander operates from a stretch-only delivery with a small leg lift while having a tall/fall approach. Has a loose, full arm action from a ¾ arm slot. His fastball sat 86-88 mph with arm-side run. The pitch had an average spin rate of 2343 RPM and maxed out at 2540 RPM. Koontz also showed a splitter that sat 80-82 mph with an average spin rate of 1143 RPM. The freshman rounded out his pitch mix with a slider that sat 82-85.

FR, Joseph Stewart, RHP, Mattoon (IL)

Stewart looks to be an impact freshman arm for Kaskaskia as he shows a quality four-pitch mix. He is listed at a strong 6-foot-1, 202-pound frame. The right-hander operates from a stretch-only delivery with a high leg lift while having a drop/drive approach. Has a quick, short arm action from a ¾ arm slot. His fastball sat 88-90 mph while playing up in the zone. Stewart mixed in a changeup that sat 82-85 mph with sinking action. Stewart showcased two breaking balls that had depth and plenty of movement. His slider sat 78-81 mph with an average horizontal movement of -7.4 inches. The curveball sat 73-75 mph with an average horizontal movement of -15.8 inches and an average induced vertical break of -9.6 inches.

SO, Brendan Ealy, RHP, Center Grove (IN)

Ealy is a transfer arm from the D1 ranks that looks to be a key member of the Kaskaskia pitching staff. Ealy is listed with an athletic 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame. The right-hander operates with a simple, controlled delivery that has a high leg lift and a tall/fall approach. Has a quick, full arm action from a ¾ arm slot. His fastball sat 88-91 mph with a max spin rate of 2569 RPM. His changeup sat 76-79 mph with fading action. Ealy also showed a slider that sat 74-76 mph with an average horizontal movement of -16.6 inches (max of -26.8 inches). He rounded out his pitch-mix with a curveball that sat 71-73 mph with downer action. The pitch had an average horizontal movement of -10.8 inches and an average induced vertical break of -8.3 inches.

SO, Brady Phillips, LHP, Carterville (IL)

Looks to be an important left-handed arm for Kaskaskia. The sophomore is listed with an athletic 5-foot-10, 155-pound frame. Phillips starts off with a fastball that sits 86-89 mph with arm-side run. His changeup sat 79-80 mph with sinking action. Phillips also showed two quality breaking balls. His slider sat 75-78 mph with 10/4 shape. He rounded out his pitch mix with a curveball that sat 72-74 mph with late action.

Two-ways

RSO, Daniel Shuta, RHP/OF, Myers Park (NC)

Shuta had one of the louder two-way showings on the entire day. He has a durable, strong build, and gets to that strength easily in his right-handed swing, peaking at 106 mph for his EV while averaging 97 mph, creating natural lift pull-side with a peak distance of 425’. He also ran a 6.80 in the 60 with a peak velocity of 95 mph from the outfield. On the mound, he moves well into a drop/drive lower-half that stays in his legs and drives down the mound in-line, longer arm-swing from the glove into a high ¾ slot. The fastball played with life around 89-92 mph, playing with carry around the zone. He spun his slider at an above-average clip (+2700 rpm), showing sharp action with some depth and 10/4 shape that he could land in the zone. Rounded things out with a firm changeup around 83-85 mph, flashed feel with running action.

Position Players

Freshmen infielders Jayden Bazile, Christ Our Rock Lutheran (IL) and JT Augustyniak, Plainfield Central (IL) showed off their athleticism as they had two of the top all around showings of the workout. Bazile posted a max exit velocity of 97.8 mph with an average batted ball distance of 292 feet. The infielder showed off his arm strength as he posted a 91 mph infield velocity. Bazile also posted one of the top 60-yard dash times with a 6.74 time. Augustyniak posted an average exit velocity of 92.9 mph (98.5 mph max) and a max distance of 383 feet. The infielder posted a 6.86 60-yard time.

SO, Zayn Giles, OF, Maroa-Forsyth (IL)

Giles is a returning bat for Kaskaskia as he posted a .403 on base percentage through 22 games last season. Giles had a great round of BP, where had an average exit velocity of 99.2 mph (103.2 mph max) with an average distance of 222 feet (344 ft. max). He displayed some of the quickest hands of the workout as he posted an average hand speed of 24.8 mph with a max of 25.6 mph.

Freshman catchers Austin Gray, Circleville (OH) and Alex Kiefer, Mount Vernon (IL) look to be another pair of impact bats for Kaskaskia. Gray is a power right-handed bat that posted an average exit velocity of 95.1 mph (103.7 mph max) with an average distance of 265 feet (391 ft. max). Kiefer posted an average exit velocity of 90.8 mph (102 mph max) and an average distance of 247 feet (353 ft. max). Defensively, Kiefer posted a pop time of 1.84-2.07 and catcher velocity of 79 mph.

FR, Brady Hatton, OF, St. Anthony (IL)

Hatton is a power bat that had a strong showing during the workout. Hatton is listed with a physical 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame. The right-handed bat posted an average exit velocity of 96.7 mph (101.9 mph max) with an impressive average distance of 299 feet (382 ft. max). The outfielder also posted an outfield velocity of 83 mph.

RSO, Wade Pauley, INF, Morgan (OH)

Pauley had a .358/.433/.606 slash line last season with 16 XBH as he looks to be a big impact returner. The left-handed bat was consistently all over the barrel as he posted an average exit velocity of 97.6 mph (103.8 mph max) and an average distance of 312 feet (389 ft. max). The infielder also posted an infield velocity of 84 mph.

FR, Colton Webb, C, Effingham (IL)

Webb was the biggest winner of the event as he posted ridiculously high numbers from the left-handed batter’s box. Webb posted an average exit velocity of 102.6 mph (107.1 mph max) and an average distance of 377 feet (433 ft. max). Webb showed some serious bat speed of 76.3 mph. 

A pair of freshman outfielders round out the showing for Kaskaskia, Alexander Melo, St. Francis DeSales (OH) had an average exit velocity of 91.6 mph (99.4 mph max) and an average distance of 213 feet (360 ft. max). He posted an outfield velocity of 83 mph. Gavin Kanters, Fort Atkinson (WI) had an average exit velocity of 96.1 mph (102.8 mph max) with a max distance of 386 feet.

RELATED CONTENT