By: Diego Solares & Evan Furfaro

On Wednesday, June 10th, ScoutConnect hosted its annual Summer Games event at Roy E. Lee Field, home of the SIUE Cougars baseball program. This invite-only event featured 60+ uncommitted 2027s and 2028s from Illinois and Missouri, with 25 college programs in attendance. 

Participants went through a pro-style workout, collecting data through our TrackMan and Blast Motion units, as well as your traditional showcase stats, like 60s, positional throwing velocities, etc. Afterwards, players were split into teams and played in a simulated game, giving them the ability to showcase their talents in a workout setting, as well as in gameplay. 

For all of the statistics collected from the event, click HERE. Yesterday, our staff highlighted more than 30+ uncommitted 2027s that stood out to us from the day. You can find that story by clicking HERE. 

While there weren’t as many 2028s at the event, in general, there were still several talented ones, a multitude of which should be on the college radar for when August 1st rolls around, a majority of which we’ve highlighted below. 

+ One of the top winners from our event was MIF Nick Chiarodo (Edwardsville, 2028), a high-follow incoming junior with tools across the board. Chiarodo started his day running a 6.65 60, one of our top times of the event. He’s nowhere near done growing into his lean, athletic, and long-levered frame, though is able to produce next-level outputs already. At the plate, it’s a controlled, direct right-handed swing that stays level through the zone and generated one of our highest max exit velocities on the day (97.1 mph) in BP. On top of that, Chiarodo also ambushed a pitch and barreled it to the left-center field gap for a triple at 97 mph in game. Chiarodo’s average bat speed (72.1 mph) and average hand speed (23.3 mph) are both advanced for his age and were also some of the highest marks, on average, of any player in attendance. The confidence in his glove and his ability to cover ground on the infield were both noteworthy as well. On his run through play, in his workout, the fluidity and ease of operation that Chiarodo had on the transfer is highly, highly advanced for his age. In game, he ranged up the middle to snag a baseball most players in general wouldn’t get to, let alone someone who just finished up his sophomore year of high school. There’s no doubt in our minds that Chiarodo is going to be plenty popular on August 1st and he should be one of the more sought after high school prospects in the state for the 2028 class. 

Nick Chiarodo

+ One of the more physically impressive right-handed bats on the day, regardless of class, was CIF Elijah Johnson (Quincy Notre Dame, 2028). Johnson is a name our staff has become increasingly familiar with over the past year, as he’s stood out at a few ScoutConnect events, and was also a performer across multiple tournaments last summer. This past week’s look, however, may have been our best to date. Physically, Johnson’s trimmed out and muscled up a frame that’s only going to keep adding strength with his work ethic. As a result, his ability to impact the baseball from a batted ball standpoint has ticked up. Johnson’s average exit velocity (90.05 mph) and max exit velocity (95.7 mph) are both notably up from the winter, as is his average batted distance (271.1 ft.) and his peak batted distance (348.3 ft.) It’s not just a power profile, either – there’s a real feel to hit, and Johnson has proved that to our staff, as he did on Wednesday, too. He’ll be a name to keep tabs on throughout the summer that is somewhat of a sleeper in the Illinois’ incoming junior class. 

Elijah Johnson

+ OF/RHP Tyson Wampler (Edwardsville, 2028) showed to be an intriguing two-way talent for the ‘28 class at our event. Wampler had a productive spring for Edwardsville at the plate, but has shown to be a follow on the mound as well. The right-handed pitcher repeats an in-line delivery that works short in the back while getting to a 3/4 slot. Threw the fastball in the low-80s, topping 83 mph. Went to a slurvy breaking ball in the mid-60s to keep hitters off-balance. We expect these numbers to easily tick up with added strength as Wampler features a long, lanky frame with room to add on. At the plate, Wampler showed a strong, right-handed swing that consistently found the barrel averaging an 88.7 mph exit velocity, and a peak of 95.6 mph. It’s a short, simple, and controlled right-handed swing that, at times, will finish on an uphill path, allowing him to leverage the baseball gap-to-gap. Wampler jumped on the first pitch he saw in the gameplay portion of the event and barreled it back up the middle, something we’ve become accustomed to seeing from him.

Tyson Wampler 

+ One arm that continues to catch our attention each time we see him is RHP Maxwell Nowak (Mt. Vernon, 2028). At 6-foot-6, 215-pounds, Nowak checks the size box, and there’s more room for him to keep filling out physically. This past look, on the mound, may have been the most intriguing we’ve gotten at him. Nowak pumped his fastball at 83-86 mph with hard, late run at times. With some more consistency, his fastball has the potential to morph into a true turbo sinker, and that’ll play nicely with the sweeping slider he spins in the low-70s. While there’s still work to be done, Nowak does have one of the higher ceilings on the mound in southern Illinois for the 2028 class. 

+ MIF Landon Maisenbacher looks to be one of the top uncommitted middle infielders in the incoming junior class. It’s a more compact, yet athletic frame that’s trimmed out since we last saw him and replaced that with strength. He created rhythm in his swing while working uphill and showed the ability to reach the larger parts of the field with his furthest hit ball traveling 325 feet. On the infield, Maisenbacher displayed the definition of fluidity with clean, efficient actions. He was able to get the ball out quickly and showed rhythm and proper timing with the lower half. His backhand play, in this workout, was as clean, and on time, as you’ll find for a player his age. One of the more advanced gloves in the ‘28 class, Maisenbacher also ran a 6.79 60, a large jump from our previous event he attended. He should be a middle infielder that coaches follow closely over the course of this summer. 

Landon Maisenbacher

+ A notable performer from our group of incoming juniors was C Aiden Saracco (Staunton, 2028). Saracco features a physical, 6-foot, 176-pound frame that will only continue to add strength with time. He showed athletic actions across the board, starting with a 6.95 60 time. The right-handed-hitting catcher was on the barrel consistently in both rounds of BP, spraying line drives to both sides of the field from a simple, uphill swing. Saracco also showed the ability to throw it well from behind the plate, his hardest checking in at 77 mph. 

Aiden Saracco

+ A top winner from the outfield position for this year’s event was Gabe Heaps (Kirkwood, 2028). Heaps began his day running a 6.7 60, also one of the top recorded times in our event. With physicality throughout a compact frame, he showed a strong, quick-twitch swing with a peak exit velocity of 96 mph, and impacted the baseball at a high level throughout his rounds recording an average exit velocity of 90 mph. Heaps worked uphill with his swing and generated our second-highest average hand speed on the day (24.1 mph). To round out the tool set for Heaps, he showed a 90 mph arm from the outfield in his defensive evaluation.

Gabe Heaps

+ Another intriguing two-way talent in the incoming junior class was OF/LHP Tyler Mehrtens (Highland, 2028). Athletic actions on both sides of the baseball, Mehrtens began his day by running a 6.83 60. In his batting practice rounds, he showed a strong, flat swing allowing him to backspin the ball to both sides of the field while generating one of our higher average hand speeds at 24.5 mph. Mehrtens also threw one of our top outfield velocities (90 mph) in his defensive workout. He then hopped on the mound and showed a slightly cross-fire delivery that worked short in the back and got to a 3/4 slot. The fastball played in the zone in the low-80s, topping 83 mph. Paired with it, Mehrtens spun a two-plane breaking ball in the low 70s, and flashed a change up with fading action, also in the low-70s. The left-handed pitcher featured a lanky, athletic frame with plenty of room to add and generated above average arm speed throughout his outing. 

Tyler Mehrtens

+ OF/MIF Brody Akins (Union, 2028) was one of the top athletes in attendance last week, regardless of class. The lean, athletic right-handed hitter ran a 6.75 60, which was a personal best for him at our events and was one of the faster marks of any player in attendance. In BP, Akins sprayed it gap-to-gap from a loose, athletic right-handed swing that, at his best, kept his barrel through the zone on a long, level path. His ability to backspin the baseball the other way, in particular, stood out. With the glove, Akins has the athleticism to track it down in center field, and he’s versatile enough to play either up the middle spot defensively on the dirt. 

Brody Akins

+ Behind the plate, C Lucas Sloan (Olympia, 2028) has always impressed our staff with his ability from a catch-and-throw standpoint. Sloan’s arm strength (79 mph) was one of the event’s top marks with a short, quick draw from the chute that was on the bag throughout his workout, popping a 1.98 at peak. 

Lucas Sloan

+ MIF Davis Venters (Mt. Zion, 2028) showed some of the cleaner, more natural infield actions of the day amongst those in attendance for his class. He trusts his hands, and his glove works clean out front over the baseball with a quick, sure-handed funnel to release. On the move, Venters stayed in control, and showed the ability to throw from a lower, quicker release. At the plate, it’s a longer, slightly uphill right-handed swing that should grow into more gap-to-gap impact as he gets stronger. 

Davis Venters

+ OF James Weitekamp (Kirkwood, 2028) has a lean, lanky frame with long levers that’s grown since the last time we saw him. There’s plenty to project on from a physicality standpoint, as well as athletically, as Weitekamp ran a 7.00 60, a number that’s only going to keep dropping with continued physical maturity. Weitekamp also posted personal bests, at our events, in max exit velocity (92.1 mph) and peak batted distance (327.4 mph), both of which were upticks from his showing this past winter.

+ 1B Braden Reich (Gillespie, 2028) is a physical incoming junior with a strong, uphill left-handed swing that flashed pull-side lift in BP and singled twice in game.