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Inside Guide: Preseason ID Exit Velocity Leaders

March 12, 2025
By Andy Sroka
Managing Editor, Scouting

This is always a critical time of year for the Prep Baseball staff. Around the country, we use our Preseason ID events to visit every corner of the states we occupy to host these open showcases where players spanning every high school grad class can participate and perform in front of Prep Baseball evaluators, flaunting their offseason gains.

From there, the top performers put themselves on high alert for the next time we update our state player rankings (right around the first pitch of each state’s high school season), as well as invite lists to key summer events like the Prep Baseball Future Games, the State Games, and more.

The majority of the country is through its preseason circuit as the weather warms – with parts of the Midwest, Northeast, and Pacific Northwest still in the midst of winter events schedule – and as the calendar flips to March, we’re taking some time to evaluate the players across the country who have (so far) enlightened our scout staff from coast to coast.

Inside this post, we’ll be highlighting the players who have statistically stood above their peers on this Preseason ID track, so far, in 2025. Recently, we covered the firmest fastballs of the preseason to this point, and we’re onto the highest EVs of 2025 in this piece today.

UPCOMING PRESEASON ID EVENTS

Upcoming Showcase State Date Location
NY Preseason ID: Last Chance, Upstate NY 3/14 Whitesboro, NY
NY Preseason ID: Last Chance, Southern Tier NY 3/15 Binghamton, NY
Madison Preseason ID WI 3/16 Windsor, WI
Milwaukee Preseason ID WI 3/22 Franklin, WI
Wausau Preseason ID WI 3/23 Weston, WI

AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY LEADERS

We’re going to take a look at two leaderboards in this column today: Average Exit Velocity and Max Exit Velocity. You’ll see some overlapping names on the two boards, but that overlap is actually telling a pretty important story. Hitters that appear near the top of both these boards took complete and full and full advantage of their rounds of batting practice at the showcase in which they performed this winter, creating elite raw power numbers on repeat – a special skill.

We’ll start at with the player who nearly placed at No. 1 overall on both boards: 1B Dominic Santarelli (St. Joseph HS, WI, 2026; Louisville). This cold-weather slugger is Wisconsin’s top-ranked prospect, currently, and his powerful left-handed swing recorded some ridiculous EVs just this past weekend at the South Milwaukee Preseason ID. The Louisville recruit leads the country in average exit speed at 2025 Preseason IDs by a hefty margin, at 102.3 mph, while his max measured came off the bat at 108.6 mph. Santarelli is built at a large, muscular 6-foot-1, 223-pound stature and he appears to reach these substantial EVs with relative ease. Notably, the middle-of-the-order threat also ran a 6.74 in the 60 last Saturday, shaved down from a 7.32 at this same showcase in 2024.

We’ll see if anyone can come close to topping Santarelli’s performance throughout the remainder of the winter’s Preseason ID circuit.

Another cold-weather bat came close, as the lone hitter to average a triple-digit EV at a Preseason ID in 2025 thus far: INF Brody Strahm (Horace HS, ND, 2026). Strahm, who is uncommitted, averaged an exit speed of 100.4 mph with a 102.6 max, illustrating the consistency of landing squared contact on the barrel in more of a line-drive batted-ball profile, as opposed to Santareilli’s more naturally lofted swing path.

And then there’s yet another Midwesterner near the top of this leaderboard who is also native to Wisconsin, RHP/1B Carter Gordon (Germantown HS, WI, 2027), who leads all sophomores in this category. Gordon has earned a reputation as one of the strongest two-way players in the region, gifted with effortless arm strength that was actually parked at 88-90 mph at last month’s West Milwaukee Preseason ID. Meanwhile, he swings a real right-handed bat that’s looking to do damage with each swing, and he’s an intimidating presence at 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, whether you’re facing him from the mound or the batter’s box. He averaged an exit speed of 98.8 mph last month, with a max of 103.1, and his best ball traveled 383 feet, according to TrackMan.

Next up on this board is OF Breck Hemphill (Pine Richland HS, PA, 2028), who is already a top-5 freshman in Pennsylvania. Hemphill became the Preseason ID’s average EV leader among freshmen at the Southwest Pennsylvania ID about a month ago, where he led the event in all kinds of other offensive categories. He created an average exit speed of 98.0 mph and his best struck ball was measured at 102.8. This is a mechanically sound left-handed swing in a physical 6-foot-1, 216-pound stature, so it’s easy to see why Hemphill has earned some national attention already.

At the O’Hare Preseason ID in the Chicagoland area at the start of February, 1B Alek Ramey (Willowbrook HS, IL, 2026) made his Prep Baseball event debut and completely capitalized on the opportunity. Ramey, an uncommitted junior, makes full use of his 6-foot-3, 214-pound size and strength from the right-handed batter’s box, registering an average exit speed of 96.8 mph last month with a 101.3 max. The bat-to-ball skills are evident too, considering in that same round of BP, each one of Ramey’s batted balls was measured at 95-plus mph which equates to a 100 percent hard-hit rate.

3B/RHP Beau Peterson (Mill Valley HS, KS, 2026; Texas) is the one prospect included in both this story and our fastball leaders piece from a couple weeks back, and it’s not really all that surprising. Peterson is a top-10-ranked junior in the nation for a reason and he was also at the 2024 Prep Baseball All-American Game as the Class of 2026 third baseman. Well, this winter Peterson has increased his metrics across the board. The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Texas commit averaged an exit speed of 95.5 mph at the Kansas City Preseason ID, and his best ball was struck at 107.8, which was among the highest of the max leaders on the board below.

And there’s another Pennsylvania freshman on this list: 1B/LHP Grayson Fontaine (North Penn HS, PA, 2028). A right-handed hitter and a lefty arm, Fontaine is a real two-way prospect, but his swing has some special components to it. Obviously, a 95.5 mph average EV is massive for a freshman (101.2 max), but Fontaine also naturally lifts the baseball well that complements the raw power and he brings big bat speed to the box too.

It’s easy to highlight the increasingly famous names on these leaderboards, but the general objective of the Preseason ID event is to provide previously unseen players an open event to attend and thrive at, which is exactly what OF/RHP Kai Benfield (Madison HS, ID, 2027) has been doing out in Idaho the past few years. Benfield is a top-of-the-line athlete, measuring elite marks on our tests like the 60-yard dash (6.76) and the standing vertical jump (28.9 inches), but the explosiveness shows itself in the batter’s box too. At last month’s Idaho Falls ID, Benfield averaged an exit velocity of 95.2 mph (100.0 max) with favorable Blast swing metrics too, making him all-around data darling among sophomores from this winter.

MAX EXIT VELOCITY LEADERS

While, yeah, there’s some overlapping players here on this max EV board, there’s plenty of new and noteworthy names here as well. Starting right at the top with OF Mason Cornell (Bullitt East HS, KY, 2027), who walked into last weekend’s Southern Indiana Preseason ID and crushed a ball 109.0 mph at 419 feet (which, coincidentally, is also a Preseason ID best). Cornell has huge bat speed (81.4 mph) attached to a strong 6-foot-1, 205-pound build, which makes it easier to envision how this sophomore launched a ball at nearly 110 mph. The left/left uncommitted slugger is also a 7.08 runner and there’s also some upside on the mound.

Only four hitters have reached the 105.0 mph EV mark this winter at Preseason IDs so far, including Cornell, and the aforementioned Santarelli and Peterson are two others, leaving only 1B Nick Armstrong (Damonte Ranch HS, NV, 2026) as the one we’ve yet to dissect so far. At the Reno Preseason ID in early February, Armstrong showcased a powerful right-handed swing that contains big bat speed, and the combination of his big 6-foot-2, 263-pound build result in some huge EVs, highlighted by his 105.1 mph high here.

RHP/3B Brady Cunningham (Brother Rice HS, IL, 2027) is one of Illinois’ top sophomores with legitimate two-way potential. Few sophomores in the country have Cunningham’s combo of power, speed, and athleticism, especially in a 6-foot-2, 222-pound physique. At the Chicago Preseason ID a few weeks back, Cunningham’s right-handed swing unleashed some huge EVs, including a 104.9 mph max (93.7 avg.), but what’s more is that his power profile is boosted by his athleticism as a 6.76 runner with a 28.2-inch max vertical jump. He’s ranked just outside the top-200 nationally, and he also has a gifted arm on the mound, creating one of the Midwest’s most interesting sophomore follows from the winter.

OF Anthony Karis (Gonzaga Prep HS, WA, 2026; Oregon State) is a nationally ranked player who was featured on Team Washington’s squad at the 2024 Future Games, and he made gains this offseason. Karis recorded one of the highest average (95.7 mph) and max (104.7) exit speeds in the nation at this year’s PID events.

Another committed junior, OF Matthew Kerrigan (Lowndes HS, GA, 2026; Auburn), came out swinging this winter at one of the first Preseason IDs of 2025, the South Georgia ID. There, Kerrigan recorded a max EV of 103.6 mph from the left-handed batter’s box, and he has since been boosted up all the way to the No. 20-ranked player in the state following a couple standout preseason performances in front of our Georgia staff.

3B/OF Graham Keen (Mt. Lebanon HS, PA, 2027) is Pennsylvania’s top-ranked sophomore and he certainly looked like it at last month’s Southwest Pennsylvania ID. There, Keen averaged an exit speed of 95.0 mph with a 103.4 max, marks that earned him places on both of the leaderboards above. Keen’s righty bat contains big bat speed (77.9 mph) from an imposing 6-foot-5, 198-pound physique. It’s effortless too, and he also brings with him some above-average athleticism for his size which lends some optimism that Keen isn’t just some first base slugger, but capable of holding down third or a corner outfield spot long-term. Combine all these factors and skills, and you see why Keen’s not just the top-ranked player in the state, but one of the best players in the entire class.

CIF Parker Rahn (Hamilton HS, AZ, 2026) is an uncommitted right-handed bat worth following. At the Mesa Preseason ID in early February, Rahn launched some of the day’s best-hit balls, including one that left his bat at 103.4 mph. He wields substantial bat speed too, and his 6-foot-5, 198-pound build fit easily inside the middle of a lineup.

Here’s two uncommitted SoCal juniors who found their way on this leaderboard, both of whom shined at January’s Orange County Preseason ID: INF Brody Williams (JSerra Catholic HS, CA, 2026) and CIF Jaxon Foshay (Foothill HS, CA, 2026). Williams is a big, strong 6-foot-5, 192-pound right-handed hitter who flashed some power potential at this event, which was actually held on his home high school field. Foshay, meanwhile, is a right-handed hitter listed at 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, and he averaged an exit speed of 94.3 mph with a 103.2 max.

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