2017 NHSI Trackman Leaderboard

With the 2017 National High School Invitational in the rearview mirror, and Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High celebrating its first tournament championship, it’s time to take a look at the players who had the best performances over the four-day tournament at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Hudson Belinsky broke down the prospects who stood out on days one, two and three of the tournament, and we also recapped the NHSI in a podcast you can find here, but this post is strictly for the numbers—specifically TrackMan data, which can be found in its entirety for the tournament on their website.

Average Exit Speed

• 100.7 — Adan Fernandez, Archbishop McCarthy (Southwest Ranches, Fla.)
• 100.5 — Patrick DeMarco, Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.)
• 100.5 — Owen Lovell, Cullman (Ala.) High
• 99.2 — Giovany Lorenzo, Canterbury School (Fort Myers, Fla.)
• 96.5 — Joseph Perez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 96.3 — Seth McAulay, Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) High
• 95.0 — Zach Busalacchi, Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High
• 94.8 — Tyler Shuck, Canterbury School
• 94.5 — Ubaldo Lopez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 93.7 — Garrett Mitchell, Orange Lutheran

Fernandez, a Florida International commit who predominantly played right field for Archbishop McCarthy, hit the first home run of the tournament on Wednesday against Arlinton, and also one-hopped the fence on a double to left in a 2-for-3 showing at the plate. He would tally just one more hit over the next three games (another double) but finished the tournament with a .300/.462/.800 triple slash thanks to three walks.

Max Exit Speed

• 106.8 — Owen Lovell, Cullman
• 106.4 — Patrick DeMarco, Winder-Barrow
• 105.7 — Zach Busalacchi, Orange Lutheran
• 105.6 — Alex Toral, Archbishop McCarthy
• 104.8 — Nick Pratto, Huntington Beach (Calif.) High
• 104.6 — Cory Acton, American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) High
• 104.2 — Giovany Lorenzo, Canterbury School
• 104.2 — John Dearth, South Hills (West Covina, Calif.) High
• 104.1 — Joseph Perez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 103.4 — Seth McAuley, Hough

DeMarco was second in OPS on an impressive Winder-Barrow team that fell in the semi-finals to eventual runner-up Dana Hills. The outfielder and second baseman is committed to Vanderbilt, and went 4-for-12 with two doubles, three walks and six runs scored.

Longest Hit Ball (feet)

• 390 — Garrett Mitchell, Orange Lutheran
• 388.2 — Adan Fernandez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 380.4 — Nick Pratto, Huntington Beach
• 366.4 — Andrew Fernandez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 365.3 — Triston Casas, American Heritage
• 362.7 — Nick Brueser, Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) High
• 360.1 — John Dearth, South Hills
• 357.8 — Giovany Lorenzo, Canterbury
• 353.5 — Joe DeBaca, Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) High
• 352.2 — Mark Vientos, American Heritage

Mitchell’s longest hit was a deep out to straightaway center field on the main field at the National Training Complex, but it carried well and was struck hard, as one might suggest of the longest hit ball of the tournament. Mitchell went 4-for-13 with four singles throughout the tournament, but was tied with four other players for the most stolen bases (3) and showed a plus-plus home-to-first time on a groundout to second base:

Garrett Mitchell can run a little bit. #NHSI17 #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/Xbk7WBToAY

— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) April 1, 2017

Average Fastball Velocity

• 94.4 — Hans Crouse, Dana Hills
• 91.9 — Joseph Perez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 91.7 — Hagen Danner, Huntington Beach
• 90.6 — Jacob Heatherly, Cullman
• 90.3 — Christian Santana, American Heritage
• 89.5 — A.J. Labas, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) Academy
• 89.1 — Mason Denaburg, Merritt Island (Fla.) High
• 88.5 — Dominic Hamel, Hamilton
• 88.0 — Nick Pratto, Huntington Beach
• 87.5 — Daniel Federman, Archbishop McCarthy

Crouse is also responsible for the fastest pitch of the tournament, a fastball at 97.2 mph, which is almost three ticks quicker than the No. 2 pitch on the leaderboard — a 94.4 mph fastball from Joe Perez. Crouse threw 5.1 innings against Jacob Heatherly and Cullman on Wednesday, striking out nine batters and and allowing three unearned runs on five hits. Crouse was the TrackMan pitching darling, listed among the top 3 in each of the following categories.

Average Fastball Spin

• 2,682 — Joseph Perez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 2,395 — Hunter Goodman, Arlington (Tenn.) High
• 2,373 — Hans Crouse, Dana Hills
• 2,302 — Christian Santana, American Heritage
• 2,292 — Dominic Hamel, Hamilton
• 2,261 — A.J. Labas, Trinity Christian
• 2,260 — Tyler Shuck, Canterury
• 2,257 — Michael Machin, Archbishop McCarthy
• 2,255 — Mason Denaburg, Merritt Island
• 2,253 — Dustin Bermudez, Hamilton

At almost 300 rpms higher than Goodman’s fastball, Perez’ main offering is easily the highest spinner of the field, although he said after a three-inning outing on the first day of the tournament that he didn’t have his best stuff. Perez has touched 97 and 98 previously, but didn’t get get to 95 during the NHSI according to TrackMan. Perez struck out six Arlington batters and allowed one unearned run in his only appearance on the mound.

Average Breaking Ball Spin

• 2,703 — Hans Crouse, Dana Hills
• 2,653 — Cody Cortelli, American Heritage
• 2,597 — Joseph Perez, Archbishop McCarthy
• 2,523 — A.J. Labas, Trinity Christian
• 2,515 — Will Morrison, Cullman
• 2,503 — Jake Barrett, Merritt Island
• 2,436 — John Leone, Archbishop McCarthy
• 2,402 — Seth Sas, Hamilton
• 2,390 — Christian Rodriguez, Orange Lutheran
• 2,378 — Drew Meadors, Arlington

Labas had arguably the best start of the entire tournament in the first game played Wednesday against Hough. The University of North Florida commit struck out 13 batters—the most of any pitcher—and walked none over seven innings. He threw 72 of his 92 pitches for strikes (the second highest strike rate among pitchers with 10+ pitches) while using a changeup as an out pitch to both righties and lefties.