On Sunday, February 15th, ScoutConnect hosted its inaugural Winter Showcase, MO event at the SportsBarn West in Wentzville, MO. In its first year, this event saw 50+ uncommitted high school players representing the 2026-to-2029 grad classes in Illinois, with athletes from various parts of Missouri in attendance.

For all statistics, measurables, data, etc. from the day, click HERE. 

Earlier this week, our staff published our ‘Scout Notes’ piece for several 2027 grads that stood out from the event. To read up on those names, click HERE. 

We’re turning our attention today to the underclass group, and we’ve put some of our thoughts on the day’s top performers within these ‘Scout Notes’. Continue reading below to learn more about several of the top ‘28 and ‘29 grads that showed well to our staff at this year’s Winter Showcase, MO. 

SCOUT NOTES: UNDERCLASS

+ This event offered our staff an opportunity to check in one of the top underclass talents in the area with INF Ben Delic (Oakville, 2029). The strong, athletic freshman started his day off by running a 7.12 60, a testament to his athleticism and a number that is certainly only going to tick down over the next few years. Delic took the most mature, polished, and impactful round of BP on the day, finding the barrel on repeat gap-to-gap from a long, fluid, and leveraged left-handed swing. It’s easy middle-of-the-order strength right now, that will only continue to climb in impact, and he posted one of the top max exit velocities of the event (97.9 mph) as well as one of the day’s highest average marks (88.5 mph). Given his ability to impact the baseball, and the polish he presents for his age, it wouldn’t surprise us to see Delic playing regularly at Oakville as a freshman, a nod to the talented freshman on a top class six team in St. Louis. Circle Delic’s name in sharpie as a must-know, high-follow prospect in Missouri’s 2029 class. 

Ben Delic

+ LHP Cory Hilzinger (Seckman, 2028) continues to solidify himself as one of the top sophomore arms in the St. Louis area. Coming off an excellent spring and summer season, Hilzinger repeats a simple, balanced, and in-line delivery with a long, loose arm swing that finishes from a higher ¾ slot. Hilzinger’s calling card is his ability to pound the strike zone with three pitches, starting with a fastball that sat 83-84 mph in this look, and played on both corners of the strike zone. He showed advanced feel for a polished, fading changeup at 76-78 mph that he pulled the string on to the arm side corner of the plate, and spun a bigger, sweeping curveball at 72-73 mph that was in the zone consistently. Hilzinger’s likely to anchor a quality Seckman club on the mound this upcoming spring and should be a name college coaches follow closely for August 1st. 

Cory Hilzinger

+ Another left-handed hitter to show well at this event was C Eliyah Powell (MICDS, 2028). The 6-foot-1, 185-pound uncommitted sophomore backstop was repeatedly on the barrel with backspin feel through the middle of the field from a strong, controlled, and leveraged left-handed swing. Powell’s hardest ball came off his barrel at 90 mph, and his deepest traveled 332 feet, two batted ball metrics that will certainly continue to climb as he fills out his frame. Defensively, Powell was on the bag out of the chute with a short, quick arm stroke to release, peaking at 76 mph to the bag with a top pop time at 2.00 seconds. 

Eliyah Powell

+ C Jonah Bates (Lindbergh, 2028) has done nothing but shown well when we’ve seen him, and this event continued to build a positive resume in front of our staff. The 5-foot-9, 186-pound backstop has strong hands and a short, compact right-handed swing that carries natural impact off the barrel, spraying hard pull-side line drives consistently throughout his round. Bates had the third-highest average exit velocity (89.5 mph) of the event, and his hardest ball came off his bat at 93.8 mph, an indicator of his ability to find the barrel consistently. From an arm strength standpoint, Bates led the event in peak catching velocity (78 mph) and he popped a 2.04 down to the bag on his quickest bullet. 

Jonah Bates

+ One talented, athletic uncommitted sophomore that we’re expecting a strong spring from is RHP/INF Rory Marshall (Francis Howell Central, 2028). Marshall’s arm works loose and easy on the mound with an athletic, up-tempo delivery, pitching at 84-85 mph on the mound at this event, though we’ve heard he’s been up into the upper-80s in the past. He gave us an intriguing look at the plate too, swinging a long, loose, and athletic right-handed barrel that worked through the middle of the field. 

Rory Marshall

+ Two sophomores with advanced athleticism that are follows coming away from this event are MIF Eli Strinni (Herculaneum, 2028) and MIF/OF Brody Akins (Union, 2028). Both ran sub-7.00 60s, were elevating to the backside in BP, and they are both athletic, fluid up-the-middle defenders on the infield with a chance to stick at the next level. 

Eli Strinni

+ MIF Luke Eichhorn (Affton, 2029) continues to look like a promising freshman follow in the St. Louis area. A top performer at our summer tournament events this past year, Eichhorn’s a loose, fluid athlete that ran a 7.34 60-yard dash, but will almost certainly be in the sub-7.00 by the time he’s a senior in high school. In BP, he stayed on the barrel from a shorter, direct, and controlled right-handed swing, spraying backside line drives throughout his round. Eichhorn showed well defensively too, working clean and easy on the move with soft hands and clean, in-rhythm footwork. Expect Eichhorn to compete for a varsity role on Affton this upcoming spring season, and we’re excited to see his continued development. 

+ C Ben Meskovic (Rockwood Summit, 2029) was another talented freshman to leave a positive impact on our staff from this event. Meskovic’s ability to repeat a short, flat right-handed swing is advanced for his age, and it allowed him to backspin line drives back through the middle of the field as he went on. His average exit velocity (79 mph) was right in line with his peak (81.7 mph), an indication of his ability to stay on the barrel often. Meskovic also showed well in his defensive workout, having one of the stronger arms of the event (77 mph) with a 2.03 top pop time, which is certainly advanced for his age. 

Ben Meskovic

+ Another talented freshman to come away from this event as a follow was INF/RHP Adam Pate (Vianey, 2029). Athletic with lean strength throughout a compact frame, Pate showed feel to repeat a loose, fluid right-handed swing with leverage out front and an accurate barrel, staying through the middle of the field consistently. Pate hopped onto the mound later on and pitched in the low-80s, while showing some of the best feel for a low spin (1321 RPM) fading changeup (4 VB, 11.5 HB) at 74-75 mph. 

Adam Pate

+ Making the trip over to this event from Illinois, CIF/RHP Easton Carey (Highland, 2028) was a name that showed well in multiple areas of his workout. Carey took one of the more consistently impactful rounds of BP, staying on the barrel (87.8 mph average EV) with one of the hardest hit balls of the event (94.1 mph). Carey also hopped on the mound and pumped his fastball at 83-84, touching 85 mph. 

+ MIF/RHP Easton Benz (Vianney, 2028) continues to show well on both sides of the ball in our looks. At the plate, Benz swung an athletic, slightly uphill right-handed barrel with line drive spray, staying backside throughout his round with a 92 mph max EV. He jumped on the mound afterwards and pitched at 82-83 mph with his fastball, turning over a heavy fading changeup at 76-78 mph with a big, bendy curveball in the upper-60s to round out his arsenal. 

Easton Benz

+ OF Kyler Reno (Lutheran North, 2028) was the day’s fastest runner, bursting to a 6.72 60 time on our watch. He took a consistent round of BP, starting from a wider stance with a short, compact path to contact and spraying line drives through the middle of the field, as well as to the backside. 

+ C/CIF Aiden Champion (St. Dominic) and OF Ben Billeau (North Point, 2028) are two right-handed hitting sophomores that both took clean rounds of BP. They were both on the barrel from shorter, controlled swings that sprayed line drives back up the middle consistently. 

+ Three physical right-handed hitters from this event that all showed bat strength at the plate in BP were CIF Porter Sattley (Seckman, 2028), CIF Nolan Moellering (Vianney, 2028), and OF/RHP Leo Betts (Orchard Farm, 2028). 

+ Two long, athletic, and projectable freshman arms with upside on the mound to follow from this event are RHP Austin Thomas (Francis Howell Central, 2029) and RHP Aryan Patel (Francis Howell, 2029).