Top Prospect Games: Underclass – Event Rewind

The Top Prospect Games: Underclass returned to McCrary Park in Asheboro, NC, on Saturday, October 18, 2025, showcasing many of the state’s top 2028 and 2029 graduates. This invite-only event brought together some of North Carolina’s most promising young talents for a full day of evaluation and competition in front of Prep Baseball’s scouting staff.

Players participated in a pro-style workout, featuring both offensive and defensive evaluations. Athletic testing, powered by VALD Performance, provided verified data on laser-timed 60-yard dashes, jump analytics, and other key athletic measures. During multiple rounds of batting practice, TrackMan tracked detailed ball flight data, offering insight into each hitter’s power and consistency.

Following the workout, players competed in a controlled scrimmage, giving pitchers and position players the opportunity to perform in live-game situations.

The Top Prospect Games serve as a key identifier for Prep Baseball’s regional and national events, including the NC/SC Border Battle and the Tobacco Road Games, both of which feature top talent from across the region.

As we look back at the event, we’ll break down the top performers, statistical leaders, and emerging prospects who could make a big impact as the recruiting calendar shifts toward their graduating classes.

CLICK HERE to see more on the event, including the roster and all statistical outputs.

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TRACKMAN PITCHING DATA - Top Prospect Games Underclass

FASTBALL

MAX VELOCITY

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

HIGHEST AVG. SPIN RATE

Spin Rate: This metric calculates the rate of spin on the baseball as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Historical data shows that high-spin fastballs lessen the impact of gravity, allowing for more ‘rise’ (or less fall, in other words) as it carries through the zone. Low-spin fastballs typically indicate the pitch has greater horizontal action, often making it tougher to square up, but generally easier to make contact with, leading to more ground balls, while high-spin fastballs show a correlation with swings and misses.

HIGHEST AVG. IVB

Induced Vertical Break: Used in short form as "IVB," this metric is most important on fastballs for creating rise and on curveballs for creating depth – it can also have some use when measuring sliders and cutters as well. Sliders tend to be closer to zero inches while cutters are generally between 5 and 15 inches. Usually fastballs and curveballs with large IVB have higher spin efficiencies as well. Sliders generally have very little (closer to zero) IVB and very low spin efficiency. You could also categorize IVB into spin rate as this is part of the “useful movement” you’re looking for, and it’s also important to consider the pitch’s velocity as well as its release height when evaluating IVB measurements against each other.

HIGHEST AVG. HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Horizontal Break: Outlined on TrackMan’s own website: “... horizontal movement is measured in inches between where the pitch actually crosses the front of home plate side-wise, and where it would have crossed home plate side-wise if had it traveled in a perfectly straight line from release. A positive number means the break was to the right from the pitcher’s perspective, while a negative number means the break was to the left from the pitcher’s perspective.”

HIGHEST STRIKE ZONE RATE%

For some context, in 2023 MLB pitchers averaged an In Zone% of around 49 percent in live game settings measured across all pitch types, according to Statcast.

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CURVEBALL

HIGHEST AVG. SPIN RATE

HIGHEST AVG. IVB

HIGHEST AVG. HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

HIGHEST STRIKE ZONE RATE%

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SLIDER

HIGHEST AVG. SPIN RATE

HIGHEST AVG. IVB

HIGHEST AVG. HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

HIGHEST STRIKE ZONE RATE%

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CHANGEUP

HIGHEST AVG. IVB

HIGHEST AVG. HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

HIGHEST STRIKE ZONE RATE%

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North Carolina News

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