Prep Baseball Report

Updated Class of 2014 Player Rankings



By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

With a busy fall schedule officially in the books, and signing day upon us, the Class of 2014 once again comes into sharp focus. Over the last 10 weeks, much has been revealed about this crop of seniors. Most notably, it has become abundantly clear that area pro scouts will have their hands full next spring, as it appears that Illinois’ draft class has the makings of being one of the best in recent years.

Aside from the amount of quality draft prospects, Illinois’ 2014 class is remarkably deep in overall talent. More and more prospects have emerged recently, with several others elevating their games to new levels. All of which has made updating and expanding Illinois’ Class of 2014 Top 250 rankings that much more difficult.

RHP Jake Godfrey (Providence Catholic HS) remains at the top spot. National scouts are quickly finding out what we’ve known for years – that Godfrey is one of the top right-handers in the country, as he has proven at nearly every national event over the summer and fall. RHP Brad Bass (Lincoln-Way Central HS) isn’t far behind Godfrey. Certainly there isn’t a more projectable right-hander in the Midwest than the 6-foot-6 Bass.

LHP Jake Latz (Lemont HS) remains at No. 3, while left-handed hitting C Evan Skoug (Libertyville HS) moves up to No. 4 after his MVP performance at Jupiter. While we’re on the topic of catchers, this class has an abundance of them: Simeon Lucas (Grant HS), Mitch Trees (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin HS), Michael Papierski (Lemont HS) and Chad Spanberger (Granite City HS) are all ranked in the top 11 of the class.

Athletic left-handed hitting OF Darius Day (Simeon HS), RHP Tanner Houck (Collinsville HS) and RHP Bryan Pall (Sandburg HS) round out the top 10. Pall, a Michigan recruit, jumps 10 spots and made himself a high-interest draft prospect after his performance in Jupiter.

Some other big risers in the updated 2014 rankings include: 3B/RHP Dylan Rosa (Providence Catholic HS), RHP Ryan Netemeyer (Mascoutah HS), OF Ryan Noda (Grant HS), RHP Bobby Pennington (Maine South HS), INF Micah Coffey (Batavia HS), OF/RHP Zac Taylor (Downers Grove South HS), and RHP David Calderon (Lincoln-Way North HS), to name a few.

A look at the top 10:

Rank Name State School Class Pos Commitment
1 Jake Godfrey IL Providence Catholic 2014 RHP Notre Dame
2 Brad Bass IL Lincoln-Way Central 2014 RHP Notre Dame
3 Jake Latz IL Lemont 2014 LHP LSU
4 Evan Skoug IL Libertyville 2014 C Texas Christian
5 Simeon Lucas IL Grant Community 2014 C Illinois State
6 Darius Day IL Simeon 2014 OF Arizona
7 Tanner Houck IL Collinsville 2014 RHP Missouri
8 Mitch Trees IL Sacred Heart Griffin 2014 C Louisville
9 Michael Papierski IL Lemont 2014 C LSU
10 Bryan Pall IL Sandburg 2014 RHP Michigan


CLICK HERE to view Illinois’ Top 250 Class of 2014 Prospects