This week’s travels took me to warm weather and great baseball along Tobacco Road featuring a pair of ACC series, each with plenty of top prospects. My weekend began on Friday night in Winston-Salem to see Wake Forest host NC State. Deacons’ centerfielder Javar Williams was the headliner of this contest and he’s yet another Wake Forest player development success story. He’s emerged as a top five-to-seven round prospect this spring after two previous seasons of average level production. The left handed leadoff man wasted little time making an impression, homering in his first at-bat. He showed below average bat speed with a longer path that he turned into good leverage. Despite well below average raw power with a 105.7 mph max EV this spring, it is a swing that has produced nine home runs and 19 XBHs in 161 at-bats this spring after totaling just four home runs in 284 at-bats during his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. He also uses all fields which enables him to hit for a high average (.348). His top tool is plus-plus speed. He combines this natural ability with good base running instincts. He also flashed an even higher gear with further acceleration about halfway to second base on a stolen base, running a 3.15 from his first move to bag touch at second. Williams has swiped 25 bases in 28 attempts this season. Defensively, he showed below average arm strength with above average range and defense.

Mr. Consistency, a.k.a. Kade Lewis batted .377 as a freshman at Butler, .376 last season at Wake and currently sits at .367 this spring. However, he has yet to show the big over-the-fence power that is craved for his position at the pro level. After connecting for just five home runs in his previous 38 games this spring he did begin a power surge over the weekend with three round-trippers, one in each game. He finished the series 8-for-10 with nine RBIs and four walks. The lefthanded hitter has a smooth, easy stroke with average raw power to all fields (109.2 mph max EV) and he controls the zone with a 13.8% walk rate vs just a 12.2% strikeout rate. Additionally, Lewis makes consistent hard contact with a 105.9 EV 90 (87th percentile) and uses all fields to help boost his batting average. Defensively, he played four innings of third base on Saturday where he’s a below average defender with limited range and 40-grade arm strength. He spent the rest of his time across the diamond at first base where he’s still learning the position – communication with the pitcher covering, how far to range into the 4-hole, etc. – but is likely to become at least average with more reps. Lewis is likely to be selected in the third-to-fifth rounds.

Wake Forest also has three talented draft-eligible sophomores in righthander Blake Morningstar, infielder Dalton Wentz and outfielder Luke Costello. Over the years Wake has produced several heavy hitters like Bobby Seymour and most recently Jack Winnay. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Costello could become similar with the ability to hit for both average and power. There isn’t a huge scouting buzz on the right handed cleanup hitter, but evaluators are certainly taking notice of his production (.331/.467/.729, 13 home runs). His season max EV is 110.1 mph (average raw power) and his 90th EV is 90th percentile at 106.6. He’s a fair athlete with a tough positional profile that is likely first base at the pro level.

Wentz looked trimmed down compared to my previous look in the Cape last summer. During pregame I/O he also looked improved defensively with bounce to his step at the hot corner. However, he committed three errors in three games, shuffling between second and third base while showing below average range at both positions. On a positive note, Wentz showed above average-to-plus arm strength and accurate throws across the diamond. In the batter’s box the switch-hitter has plus raw power (112.7 max EV) and has piled up the XBHs with 24 this spring. However, swing/miss remains an area of concern. With a current 22.8% strikeout rate it is improved from last year’s 26.9%, but still too much for a liking by pro analytics departments. Much of this total is due to his struggles adjusting his approach. From both sides of the plate he was continually out front against offspeed, especially changeups, for swing/miss throughout the series.

Morningstar hasn’t had the type of season (7.97 ERA, 41 hits, 35 innings) that will maximize his 2026 draft value as he’s struggled to locate his offerings, especially his fastball. Once a top two round prospect the 6-foot-4, 240-pound righthander showed scattered control of a 93-96 fastball on Friday out of the bullpen. As a result, he threw more breakers than heaters and happily ended with his first appearance all season in which he didn’t allow a walk. His preference for benders over heaters could also be related to a .702 opponent’s slugging percentage much due to a 38.8% (14th percentile) heart-of-the-plate rate with his fastball. Expect Morningstar to turn around his 2026 spring season in the weeks ahead, as well as a likely short run in the Cape this June in advance of the draft.

Wake’s top prospects for future drafts are power righthanders Chris Levonas (video below) and Evan Jones. Both appeared in the series with Levonas starting the opener and Evans appearing in relief on Saturday. The 6-foot-1 Levonas was selected in the 2nd round out of high school, but instead headed to Winston-Salem. He’s on track to become an even higher pick next summer. The righthander wasn’t his sharpest with a 76 pitch effort and only 36 for strikes. He left in the fourth inning for a no decision while holding a 12-1 lead. It was not a typical weekend start for Wake’s ace who has posted a 2.25 season ERA with 21 walks and 82 strikeouts in 52 innings this spring. With a VELO 90 of 99.6 (100th percentile) he touched 100.4 during opening weekend and was up to 99, mostly 94-95 with his fastball on this recent look. And as good as his heater, his 85-87 mph slider has performed even better with a 69.4% strike rate and a 99th percentile whiff rate of 56.6%. Levonas also spins an 80 mph curve and 90 mph cutter giving him three distinct breaking pitches.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Jones averages 96.7 mph with his fastball and has been up to 99 mph this spring. Despite the upper-90s heater velo, he prefers throwing a mid-80s slider that has produced a 50.6% whiff rate (96th percentile). Jones has a long, loose arm swing that could perhaps be shortened a bit to enhance his fastball control (65th percentile strike rate) and potentially the consistency of his already stuff-plus-plus sweeper and late-actioned 60-grade slider. One thing for sure, he’ll be a fun one to watch develop in the Wake Forest Pitching Lab over the next two seasons in advance of the 2028 draft.

NC State

Two of the Wolfpack's top three prospects for the 2026 draft in Jacob Dudan and Ryan Marohn were out of the lineup this series. Dudan recently had Tommy John surgery and Marohn is day-to-day with a muscle strain. Despite his injury, Dudan remains a top 75 overall pick for me with a 65-grade slider and a similar quality fastball up to 99 mph. He profiles as a two dominant pitch reliever at the Major League level and he’ll most likely be treated similar to past injured college righthanders in their draft year that include Cam Leiter (2025 Florida State), Ryan Forcucci (2024 UCSD) and Teddy McGraw (2023 Wake Forest) -- although McGraw was a two-time Tommy John propsect.

Marohn is a southpaw who relies on a high-carry 91-93 mph fastball, a mid-80s changeup and a quality 75-78 mph curve. Previous to injury he was regarded as a top five round prospect.

Centerfielder Ty Head has big league vibes and swagger to his game. He also leads the Pack with 11 home runs and has only struck out 14 times in 40 games for a miniscule 7.9% strikeout rate. Even more impressive is his 21.3% walk rate (100th percentile) which is attributed to his keen eye at the plate and a superior ability to extend an at-bat with elite hand/eye. However, he was consistently late getting his foot down, off-time and struggled with pitch ID. Well over half of his swings during the series were indecisive, half swings. It was especially noticeable early in the count or when in a “hitter’s count.” Instead of taking his “A” swing, he looked like he was protecting with two. Lacking many hard hits, his season .201 BABIP (1st percentile) is one result. There’s not an easy fix to this issue, although getting one's foot down earlier, before the swing starts, is a fairly straightforward first step. Head will need a hitting approach reset in order to get the best out of his abilities that were regarded as high as a potential top 50 overall pick entering this season as a draft-eligible sophomore.

Junior third baseman Sherman Johnson showed at least average tools in his run, throw and raw power with above average arm strength as his top talent. He’s a tall, wiry-bodied athlete whose best days are likely ahead, especially if his bat continues to develop. He showed a smooth swing with slider bat speed for average raw power in BP, but struggled to make hard contact during the game, finishing the series 2-for-9. For the season the right handed batter is hitting .331, but has just seven XBHs with a max EV of 111.1 mph.

Junior second baseman Luke Nixon leads the Wolfpack with 12 doubles and is second on the team with a .347 batting average. He showed sneaky power and good bat-to-ball along with strong defensive tools and sure hands. He’s committed only three errors in 125 chances this season. The lefthanded hitter will need to get stronger (5-foot-10, 160 pounds) and develop more bat speed for pro ball, but is athletic and definitely one to consider in the later rounds this July.

Another who will benefit from strength gains is freshman leadoff hitter Rett Johnson. The leftfielder peppered a 5-for-5 Sunday raising his ACC batting average to .485 and his overall season rate to .431. He’s a lefthanded bat-to-ball specialist with limited power (103 mph max EV) at this point, but with a 5-foot-9, 170 slender frame he’s likely to pack on some pounds and some future punch at the plate. Johnson is also a plus runner and a middle of the diamond prospect to follow for the 2028 draft.

Physical-bodied shortstop Mikey Ryan looked to be the top 2027 prospect for the Wolfpack. I’ve been high on the LSU transfer ever since my first look at the 2023 East Coast Pro Showcase during the summer before his senior season of high school. He’s a well-rounded baseball player with plus speed his top tool and otherwise is at least average across the board. His separator is an excellent feel to play the game. The right handed hitter showed opposite field raw power in BP then followed it up with a 110 EV single to left field on Sunday. He’s second on the club with nine home runs and his max EV this spring is 111 mph. Ryan is also  a sure-handed defender with both average range and arm strength. He also looks to have very good makeup and a work ethic that could carry him into the top three rounds next summer.

North Carolina

College Crosscheck previously followed the Tar Heels to Notre Dame in Week Seven, but playing at the Bosh in 90 degrees was a much different look than 40 degree weather during a Saturday double-dip in South Bend. 

Friday’s starter Jason DeCaro set the tone early with a 1-2-3 first inning that ended with a 94 heater by Georgia Tech three-hole hitter Jarren Advincula for a strikeout. DeCaro was aggressive early and pitched to contact while also painting the edges when ahead in the count. His fastball sat 92-94 mph and spun into the 2600 rpm range while his low-80s slider darted at 2900 rpm and subtracted with a similar speed changeup. He earned his sixth win of the season with five innings of one run baseball. The junior righthander who turned 20 years old on the day of this start presently seems to be undervalued by the industry in a similar way that Anthony Eyanson was last draft. Prep Baseball had the LSU righthander as the No. 49 draft prospect, yet he was selected No. 87 overall. DeCaro is currently seen as a third round prospect, but one I’d consider a round earlier.

Centerfielder Owen Hull showed much better this weekend than against Notre Dame in Week Seven. The left handed hitter continues to get it done in the middle of the order for the Tar Heels and leads the club with 15 doubles and a .387 average. He finished the series 4-for-11 with eight RBIs. His slider bat speed gives cause for some concern at the next level, but he’s posted a slightly above max EV of 111.2 and it’s hard to argue against a high average hitter who controls the strike zone (30 walks vs 28 strikeouts). At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds he’s longer-actioned and deceptively fast, posting a 4.19 H-1B from the left side.

I also like the game/baseball playing skills of Tar Heel shortstop Jake Schaffner. The North Dakota State transfer led off Friday’s game with a 99 mph double off the glove of centerfielder Drew Burress and was an on-base machine. Schaffner finished the series 6-for-10 with five walks at the plate and flawless defense in the field. For the season he’s first on the team with 16 stolen bases and second in batting average at .329. He also ranks in the 94th percentile with just a 2.1% Whiff against fastballs in the strike zone this spring.

As a catcher with some thump and average arm strength, Macon Winslow should draw some top ten round attention this July. The Duke transfer ranks fourth on the club in batting average at .320 and has walked (38) more than he’s struck out (29). He went 367’ at 103 mph for a backside home run on Friday and his max EV this spring is slightly above average at 111.9 mph.

Righthander Caden Glauber has posted five wins in relief and a 1.74 ERA in 46.2 innings as a true freshman. Standing 6-foot-4, 210 pounds he has a pro reliever look with effort and sling to his operation from a three-quarter slot, but what comes to the plate is filthy with a fastball that has averaged 94.4 this season and a slider he consistently throws for strikes. He’s one to watch for the 2028 draft.

Georgia Tech

Vahn Lackey has shot up draft boards throughout the industry. He’s now our No. 2 overall college prospect behind UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky. Lackey is a great athlete with exceptional hands as witnessed soft-picking a 58’ slider from Take McKee out of the dirt on Friday. He also casually tossed out Jake Schaffner with a laser 1.79 POP in the fourth inning. At the plate he shows present plus raw power and there’s likely even more raw power in the future as he could more fully open his hips to finish his swing. Lackey currently leads the team in stolen bases (yes, more than Drew Burress) and is second with 12 home runs. The projection and future star power for Lackey is nearly unlimited. He should be selected in the top five overall.

Speaking of Drew Burress, the Georgia Tech centerfielder draws Sal Frelick comparison for his size (listed as 5-foot-9, 185 pounds) and tools. There aren’t many of his size who went on to become everyday Major League outfielders, but Frelick has been one and Burress has a chance to become another. I differ slightly from the industry as I don’t see him as a top ten overall pick, but more likely about where Frelick was selected in 2021 – 15th overall – if not a handful of spots lower since the 2026 draft is much deeper than the 2021 class.

Needless to state, but second baseman Jarren Advincula can really hit. He consistently takes the bat to the ball. His raw power is below average with a 106 mph max EV this spring, but he did show near average raw power in BP to his pull side before Saturday’s game. The lefty hitter has also hit with wood (.392 in the Cape in 2024 and .360 in 2025) which bodes well for analytics models, if they are even needed in his case. Overall, his talents in the batter’s box combined with his strong defensive skills and plus run tool places him as a top 35 overall pick.

Alex Hernandez began the season at a torrid pace, but has cooled a bit since. Now batting .368 with seven home runs, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound right handed hitter rarely misses his fastball. He’s sweet-spotted a top EV of 112.2 mph and produced a 95th percentile barrel rate of 16.9% this spring. A versatile defender who has the arm strength to profile as a rightfielder at the pro level, Hernandez will be considered in the top two rounds as a draft-eligible sophomore.

Shortstop Carson Kerce continues to climb draft boards as he continues to develop over his three-season career at Georgia Tech. He’s yet another impressive Yellow Jacket player development success story who currently leads the country with 22 doubles. He’s also second on Tech with a .383 average. Much of his increased draft value is due to an uptick in his consistent hard contact. His EV 90 has increased from 100.1 in 2025 to a 92nd percentile 107.2 mph this spring. He’ll take a big swing to produce near average raw power (108.5 max EV), but maintains consistent contact and a well above average Z-Whiff rate of just 7.2%. Kerce is also a dependable defender who also makes the above average play and shows above average arm strength.

There’s a lot to like about third baseman Ryan Zuckerman who has plus-plus raw power (116.7 max EV), plus arm strength and improved defensive chops at the hot corner. However, he hasn’t lowered his bright red flag strikeout rate of 33% last season at Pittsburgh. It remains at that same rate this spring and is even higher in ACC only games at 39%. It’s also a rate that predicts terminal struggles at the next level. Making it even more difficult is that his strikeout rate is not produced by chase and whiff on pitches out of the strike zone. It’s ignited by an in-the-zone whiff rate of 17.3% (33rd percentile) against fastballs and fueled by a slider Z-Whiff of 32.6% (7th percentile). With all of that stated, his physical size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and other tools do have value and a team is likely to take a 7th-to-10th round “flyer” on him this summer.

On the mound it’s a bit thinner, prospect-wise, for the Yellow Jackets, but that could be said for any team with such a prolific offense. The top three draft prospects are Friday starter Tate McKee, power reliever Justin Shadek and Saturday starter Porter Buursema. Buursema didn’t last long in his game two start (2 IP, 3 H, 7 ER, 4 BB), but he touched 98 with his fastball and flashed an above average slider. His ultra-competitive fire inside seemed to get the best of him as he ran hot on emotion throughout his two inning/60 pitch effort. Despite this recent setback, he has top ten round draft value with his arm strength and feel for a future plus slider. The redshirt sophomore Shadek was downright unfair during his matchup of Tar Heels’ catcher Macon Winslow. The next pitch after touching 100 mph (2700 rpm) with a heater, he froze Winslow with a two-strike 79 mph breaker. It hasn’t been a sequence that the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder has repeated very often this spring, but was one that shows his potential ceiling as a late-inning power arm out of a Major League bullpen. He’s also low-mileage, pitching just 76 innings over his college career.

McKee threw his kitchen sink arsenal at North Carolina, but lasted just 2.1 innings and 76 pitches. He worked down the mound with a short arm action and some deception. His fastball reached 95, sat at 92-93, but was super straight and rarely resulted in a whiff. This pitch has allowed an opponent's EV 90 of 108.9 mph (3rd percentile) which forces him to use his other offerings, led by a manipulation of his breaker for different actions and velocities. The best of his offspeed pitches is his mid-80s changeup which has tallied a 25% Z-Whiff (56th percentile). McKee will also cut it (87-89), slid it (82-86) and curve it. All typically grade as below average breakers, but his slider did flash above average at 86 mph on a couple occasions against the Tar Heels. For the season the righthander leads Tech with six wins and 48 strikeouts in 46 innings.