With all the talk of senior signings and such... lets change things up. Who are some of the Juniors in the Northwest Suburbs of Illinois(or any area) who are going to (or once again) make impacts on their varsity teams this upcoming season. Some I am familiar with that I have seen play...

Scott Firth (Stevenson- SS/P) Natural athlete... throws high 80's.

Todd Dunham (Fremd- SS/2B) Fast as lightning and hits ropes.

Tanner Witt (Lake Zurich- C/IF/OF/P) The best anywhere you put him on a field. Low 2.0 Pop Time, mid 80's arm and quick hands. Hits bombs.

Kurt Schmidt (Grayslake Central- INF) Speed, glove, bat has it all. Great athlete.

Zach McMahon (RHP) Glenbrook North

McMahon was varsity as a sophomre and has already made an impact. Firth is the real deal, has been since he was 12, but I think he was already a varsity player as well.

It seemed like you were asking about juniors who were previously unknown on the varsity level.

Just any Junior in general (varsity or not as sophomores) is fine.

Mistrada boys--Schaumburg High

Josh Levy C- Niles North

Kyle King & Alex VanNess - Bartlett

Jack Havey-Loyola
Mike Kane-Notre Dame
Jason Cohen-Deerfield

A senior that has been under the radar is Sam Dickstein from Deerfield. Went 3-1 as a junior. Then he went 9-0 for Norwood, making the NABF all tournament team after throwing a 1 hitter. He just get's guys out. Throws strikes, low to mid 80's, but has a straight change that is 10 MPH slower than the fastball, and he throws it with the same arm action.

Five 09er's that are getting a ton of attention are:

LHP 6'2" Sean Kennedy Warren- Hard throwing lefty who has been pitching on the varsity since his freshman year. Had a great Summer going 15 and 3 and pitched complete games in his last 8 starts for the Kenosha Indians. Shawn is getting serious attention from Oklahoma State and Louisville. This kid knows how to compete! 2011 brother Ryan might turn out to be even better!

LHP 6'4" Jack Havey Loyola- Has all the tools to be a very successful division 1 pitcher. He has now developed the Christian Friedrich (Loyola 05) hook! Look out now......... 87-88 mph with a great curve.

RHP 6'5" Troy Barton Libertyville- Has been improving at a very fast rate. Troy has developed into one of the top pitchers in the area in 1 year time. Troy has great command of his 83-86 mph fastball to go along with a devastating split finger change. Curve has also developed into an out pitch. This kid will not beat himself... He is just scratching the surface, he's gonna get a lot better!

Josh Levy C 6'2" Niles North. Gotta love this throwback type player. Hard nosed kid! Quality in and out of the classroom. Outstanding student and person. Quick release, strong arm and can hit for power and average. Josh is the type of player that everybody is pulling for.

Jon Menke 6'2" RHP Highland Park. This guy contunes to get stronger and stronger. He has always thrown strikes and been very effective with his cutter, splitter and curve. Now he is gaining in velocity. Late developers.... usually turn out to be the exceptional ones in the long term.

Keen an eye out for Aaron Snyder RHP Graylake Central. He is starting to show some promise!

That would be Sean Kennedy.

Last time i saw Havey pitch this past summer , he topped out at around 84-85 . Nowhere near 88 . Still, a Pretty good pitcher with good command . No need to exaggerate the velocity.

Sully - Heard that Jack got a tweak and some rest and his velocity is up. I wouldn't doubt that 87-88 is within his reach. And congrats on Mike's continued success... Any thoughts on college yet?

Mike is doing well and getting ready to play this weekend at the PG wood bat tourney in Jupiter . As far as college , im guessing he would prefer to go somewhere with warmer climate . Will have to see how things shake out in the next year . If i am a lefty hitter , i wouldnt be too anxious to face Sean or Havey.

Thanks and good luck in Jupiter. I think I heard Jack is going... Sean is done until Jan 10., when those cold and snowy drives to the academy begin again....

Sulltiger24- Not on my gun!(Jugs). Different leg kick can make a big difference. Kid got run into the ground during his Sophomore year(picthed a ton and used on 3 days rest a few times, very tough on a young arm!). Started to gain in strength in late July to the mid 80's and very recently topped at 88 mph on my gun, rarely going below 85 mph during that stint. Kids are kids, different day's, different results. Kids can be tight from off-season weights etc.. at this time of the year. These numbers can wildly bounce around. By the way, he was in the very low 80's during the Spring, I think it is safe to say his new leg kick added a quick 3 to 4 mph in the Summer and as the Fall has progressed he has become more comfortable with it gaining a few more. Let's put it this way; he is far better off now than he was at the end of the Spring and Summer for that matter.

Willowbrook:
Chris Savas
Nick Cuzzone

Both will be big parts of the team. Savas as a great hitter with great power, Cuzzone as the ace of the staff.

quote:

Originally posted by TT41:
Sulltiger24- Not on my gun!(Jugs).

I think that may be the cause of confusion, considering the different readings on Jugs and Stalkers.

Also, I agree with both McMahon ( I threw against him in the Sectional Semi-final) and Chris Savas ( who just plain crushes the ball). Josh Levy is also quite good.

Jonathan

here is a list of the 2009's that made the Top 20 Prospect list out of the 100 or so 08/09/10's that attended the White Sox Academy Showcase on the 21st.

3)Christain Hickman - 2009 Simeon MIF
6’3” athletic infielder. Works smooth and flows through baseball. Easy arm action. Good set up at plate, loses launch angle early limiting whip. Will hit with a few mechanical adjustments. Average runner.

4)Matthew Carroll - 2009 Rockton Honenegah RHP
84-86 FB Max effort body, but throws a heavy ball. Slider works at 72 with sharp late break

10)Chris Wanderling - 2009 Nazareth Academy 2B
Solid all around prospect. Sound fundamentally. Plays through ball well. Hands too tight to body when fielding. 81 mph IF throw, 86 from OF. Balanced repeatable swing. Stays through ball, balls have carry

14)Matthew Mistrata - 2009 Schaumburg C/3B
LH bat. Top power in camp. Big linebacker frame. Plus bat speed. Surprising athleticism. Body limits arm. 2.2 pop time, 71 throw from infield. Hands work at 3B.

15)Nolan Jacoby - 2009 Prairie Ridge C/IF
One of the top bats in camp. Ball jumps off bat, plus bat speed. Balanced, repeatable swing. Top catcher in camp: 2.09 pop time. Gets through throw well.

16)Thomas Polus - 2009 Andrean (IN) OF
Excellent athleticism. Good actions. Throws have carry from OF. Ball jumps off bat; uses entire field and stays through ball

18)Bob Schuch 2009 Brother Rice OF
Good hands, actions and athleticism. Gets through OF throws. 90 mph throw from OF.
6’4” athletic frame. Short compact swing that stays inside ball. Should add power with his frame.

19)John Day 2009 Barrington OF
6’3” big soft body. Strong. Good carry on throws. 88 mph from OF. Above average bat speed, excellent swing plane. Good bat speed, combined with size, gives him good power potential.

21)Chance Johnson 2009 Harlan Academy IF/P
Great body – 6’1” frame. One of the top athletes in camp. Strong swing with excellent bat speed. Stays behind baseball. Good infield actions, gets under throws.

sandler...

Nice report. I wonder though if you got John Day of Barrington mixed up with Gus Handler of Barrington. Both are very good players, but the body you described is much closer to Handler than Day. Day played Varsity for Barrington as a Soph. and Handler probably should have.

Handler showed excellent power, power you would expect from a big guy like him. Day also showed he can hit during the summer, but hasn' showed that kindof power yet. He isn't that tall but is very strong and perhaps will hit for power at some point.

Both kids have excellent potential and should have great seasons next spring.

Another from Barrington in the class of 09 is Tom Tom Unak.

A 2010 from Barrington Sean Bucholz (6' 4") has the potential to be one of the top pitchers around.

Sandler huh?

Fastball, that is Day, he showed really well at the White Sox Academy and the 88 is legit. I haven't seen him in a while so I am not sure about the 6'3 and the soft body.

Playball...

I have no doubt Day has a great arm. I was talking more about his size. He is a player we will hear about in the future.