2007 Illinois Draft Picks

Butch Biela, Jake Smolinski, Casey McMurray, The Pitcher from Sandburg

Nick Chmielewski- Sandburg- touching 94 with a nasty slider

John Flanagan- Belleville West- big lanky lefty with an effortless 88-90 fastball and one of the best curves I've seen

Casey Crosby- Kaneland- 6'4 lefty touching 92 with a deuce

Kevin Crane- Crete Monee- 6.6-6.7 speed with a pro bat...I've never seen a kid swing the bat so hard

Seth Blair- Rock Falls- Never seen him but I saw he touched 94 at the PG National Showcase

Newsome? (Marist)

Sexton? (Oak lawn)

Recchia? (Shepard)

Don't get tpp caught up in the draft. The players don't always get drafted in order of talent. The issue of "signability" always comes up. To get drafted in the 44th round is an honor. Bob Horner (former MLB,ASU star)was going to be an obvious 1st rounder out of high school, but his Dad told the scouts he would not sign unless he got $100,000 (1975) so he fell to round 15. Believe me, he was as good a hitter as anyone in the country. A kid on my high school team was picked in the 6th round and he wasn't the talent of Bob Horner. So go figure...

the draft is a dream, if it happens to come true for any of the mentioned kids great. getting an education and having them pay for is not. move on,keep dreaming,get the paper, get a job and whatever happens , happens.....but don't give up the dream.

Brandon Adams C from Troy Triad
Todd Baumgartner 2b/ss from Edwardsville

Nc42dad please check your PM. Thanks!

Sean Estand of St. Rita can play I guess he had the best arm from 3rd to 1st at this years area code tryouts.

Originally Posted by: TheGlove12

quote:

Casey Crosby- Kaneland- 6'4 lefty touching 92 with a deuce

Can Crosby really throw over 90? I was impressed by his stuff when we faced him, but it did not feel like 90. When did this happen?

kacmarek?? why not him, hes a stud

kaczmarek***

When I was there at NC on Thursday watching Kaczmarek, there were a couple of colleges at least 1 pro scout there (Devil Rays, I believe that was the hat he was wearing). Hopefully, Mike made a good impression.

Just a comment for some of the players that might be drafted or college bound. I was at a game a couple of weeks ago watching and I was suprised at what I saw from some players that get a lot of press either here, locally or in pbr. What suprise me was some of them dogged it on the bases, during warm-ups before the game and also between innings, quite honestly some didn't look like they wanted to be there. I am not sure what some of the hs, travle, legion players are told but I think many scouts watch you the entire time they are there. They see a lot more balls to the shortstop during warm-ups than during some games. They also see how you react when you fly out as well as go deep, is it always run out thinking double or do they jog to first base in disgust. How do they act with their coaches, do some of these kids think a college or pro coach want someone that yells back at their coaches or players, they better think again. My point is you never know who is in the stands and who they might be watching. Heck they might be looking at another player and they find you, but I think you can rest assure they won't look again if you are the one doing any of the items I mentioned. I just thought I would mention as I saw this more than once over the last couple of summers and I was shocked that their coaches didn't correct it but then again it isn't going to effect their coach down the road. By the way at the aprticular game a couple of weeks ago there was 2 scouts in the stands, I don't think they went away very impressed. JMO

Good post 2 bagger. We preach that to our kids all year. If they dont take it to heart then they will be the ones who lose out.

2 bagger, good observation. I see guys going down the line half speed all the time. Guys don't realize that they are on the watch down the line. Every scout knows what they are looking for and a dog isn't one of them.

Playing the game is tough enough, playing the game hard isnt, guys who have the tools, play the game hard and respect the game are the ones who keep moving on, that simple...

ok, who's list has changed? i know mine has, here we go:

1. Jake Smolinski
2. Casey Crosby
3. Nick Chmielewski
4. Seth Blair
5. John Flanagan
6. Casey McMurray
7. Cody Scarpetta
8. Mike Kaczmarek
9. Butch Biela
10. Grant Monroe

Allen from Geneva and Martinez from Grayslake are two that belong on that list. Don't know if they want to go pro though.

I know one of the coach's who helped Stu Cann and Chris Hall, run the Invite only Braves Camp Last week,and he told me Mick Doyle was by far the camp's best prospect, and the Braves told him they are going to follow him during the season.He had the best swing in camp. Phil Wonderlick showed real well, as did Shaun Hardy and Brad Allen.

2bagger:

That's ...real !

talent4thegame

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quote:

John Flanagan- Belleville West- big lanky lefty with an effortless 88-90 fastball and one of the best curves I've seen

I saw this LHP in San Diego pitching in scrimmage at PG AFLAC Event and was very taken by his command and ability to pitch against a tough hitting line-up selected by PG Selection Committee. He has a very projectable bodytype and even more upside potential even though he had enough velocity the day I saw him along with good breaking pitches with tight spin and late-break to excel at higher levels. Much higher levels! His FBs had life in low 90s with good sharp movement into and away from hitters. Evidently he has gained velocity since this above post of 88-90MPH on his FBs.

He is 6'6" now and may get taller! He reminded me of LHP Randy Johnson and should make the great state of IL very proud this spring if he pitches the way I saw him in California. He is the real deal and is head and shoulders above 99% of the HS lefties I've seen including 06 graduates.

I also received a call yesterday from someone who saw my post at PG messageboard on Flanagan.
That person had just verified from prospect's mother that Arizona State offered him a hefty scholarship which covers almost all costs. This is great news for this fine young man with an excellent attitude who really earned my respect, as well as many others, with his self-reserved, humble demeanor, as a high profile pitching prospect in CA. IL, you're lucky to have him up there, I wished he were down here in FL. I would attend every game he pitches, I believe in him so much. He's a keeper peace, Shep

Shep...Nice review.

Thanks.

Good luck to John and his mom. I'm sure it is quite interesting right now with all of the phone calls........

Shep, nice job on describing Flannagan. We have to deal with him every year. He's about as tough as they come to play against. Again, nice review.

talent4thegame

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