We’re a few months into 2024, and it’s been extremely busy across the Top Tier landscape. From a couple personnel hirings, updated player rankings, collegiate and pro alumni performances to launching a new branch - Top Tier NWI - there’s been a ton of movement nationwide.
We’ll provide a recap of some of the key highlights in this story.
Top Tier NWI
On Feb. 28, we announced a partnership with the Schererville Baseball League to forge Top Tier NWI (Northwest Indiana). The Schererville Baseball League will begin to host tryouts this summer in preparation to operate under the Top Tier umbrella this fall. You can read the press release by clicking here, which includes a quote from CEO and Founder, Todd Fine, along with a statement from front office members of the Schererville Baseball League.
College Alums
We’ve been following the college season closely with nearly 200 players rostered from Division I through JUCO. We’ve been publishing alumni roundups every Tuesday, and we announce an Alum of the Week in conjunction. Thus far, Jackson Kent (Arizona), Noah Edders (Bradley), Khyle Radcliffe (Southern), Blake Wright (Clemson), Brendan Summerhill (Arizona) and Luke Napleton (Louisville) have earned the award. Each of these alums are having outstanding seasons for their clubs with many more standing out. DIII All-American Colin Husko (Dubuque) and JUCO standouts Angelo Luna (Morton) and Luke Brabham (Morton) are names to follow from now until June.
Pro Alums
Headlining our pro alums are MLB’ers Ryan Borucki (Pirates) and Paul DeJong (White Sox). DeJong enters his first season in Chicago while Borucki stays in Pittsburgh after spending the majority of the 2023 season with the Pirates.
Luke Adams (Brewers) will begin the 2024 season in either Single-A or Double-A. Adams was named to the Brewers Spring Breakout Series team, a team composed of an organization's top prospects. The Breakout Series is an initiative that’s in its first year by the MLB.
Also named to the Spring Breakout Series is Los Angeles Angels prospect and Top Tier Roos alum Camden Minacci. Minacci is a Wake Forest alum selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Aidan Miller is a highly-touted prospect for the Philadelphia Phillies and rightfully so. He was a headliner on the Breakout Series roster and performed well in the Breakout game against the Tigers. In another spring training game against the Tigers, Miller launched a home run with an exit velocity of 108. Miller will be a name to keep track off this summer and beyond as he works up the prospect rankings.
Tier Boys in the News
Speaking of Miller, he was interviewed by ABC Action News Tampa Bay about beginning Spring Training in his ‘backyard.’ You can find that interview by clicking here.
Conor Essenburg was interviewed on MLB Roundtrip with Perfect Game hosted on MLB Network Radio on SirusXM. He talks about the progress he’s made as a player, his commitment to Kansas State and his relationship with the Top Tier program.
TJ McQuillan has been in the news a few times, both in the Southtown Sports and Beverly Review. The highly-ranked 2026 begins to gain media attention as he leads Mt. Carmel towards CCL Blue play.
Liam Peterson was interviewed by WRUF (ESPN Florida) about his road to the University of Florida. In a well-done piece by Jack Meyer, Peterson talks about his upbringing and the kind of player he is now and looks to become in Gainesville.
Rankings
Plenty of Top Tier players have been featured in state rankings updates. Ryan Sloan sits at No. 1 on the Illinois 2024 list while Jack Bauer is the top 2025. CJ Deckinga now sits in the top-10 on the 2025 list, Essenburg is knocking on the door at 11. The 2026 class in Illinois features a handful of Top Tier players towards the top. Ethan Bass, Callaghan O’Connor, TJ McQuillan and Paddy Roth are the top sophomores in Illinois, according to Prep Baseball Illinois. Also in the top-10 is Addison Latko at No. 9.
In Indiana, Dylan Bowen sits at No. 2 on the 2026 board. Reed Robinson isn't far behind at No. 12 out of New Prairie HS.
Kaedan Waechter (Jesuit HS) has gained a ton of traction this spring. He's No. 27 in Prep Baseball Florida's 2026 rankings.
March Madness at Lakepoint
A handful of Top Tier youth teams traveled down to Lakepoint in Georgia for the Prep Baseball March Madness tournament. Teams from different satellites made the trip and a few left with some hardware.
Top Tier Athletics 14U took first with a dominant performance over the weekend. Here's the final pitching line from that squad: 23IP, 5H, 8 BB and 31K. Throughout the entire weekend, the team committed just one error. Overall, an impressive performance from the Top Tier A's 14U group.
Top Tier Kentucky's 12U competed in a stacked 19-team field. Despite extremely tough competition, the 12U squad made it to the championship.
Velocity and Performance Program
This winter, Seth Kenny, Dylan Rajkovich and others hosted the Velocity and Performance Program. This program is designed to help players improve in all aspects of pitching, from mechanics to mobility to increasing metrics. Players finished the program in late February, with nearly every player making massive gains.
Here’s a few highlights from the program:
Mound velocity increase (mph):
Ashton Hite - 6.3
Doug Strom - 6.5
Jack Slightom - 7.2
Paulie Hobbs - 4.5
Jacob Hernandez - 5.6
Brandon Cisneros - 5.6
Brady Koren - 5.2
The first quarter of 2024 has been a great start and looks to be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the remainder of the calendar year. There’s much more to look forward to that we’ll recap as the year goes on, but until then, make sure to follow us on social media for daily updates and news.
