With the season starting a mere two weeks ago and a number of teams having less than a handful of games under their belt, it does not warrant an update to the Power 25. Instead, we will take a brief look at the Preseason Power 25 teams and how they have started their 2019 campaign. A handful of teams have started hot and remain undefeated, while others have had a few bumps in the road. Below is a breakdown of some hot teams, cold teams and a few teams who have been up-and-down.

WHO’S HOT

+ No. 4 St. Laurence: The Vikings currently sit at 4-0 to the start the season. In their four wins they have thrown two shutouts and scored a total of 27 runs. They have knocked off Brooks, Jones College Prep, Maine South and Simeon. The Vikings will have a tough test coming up on Tuesday when they travel to Lincoln-Way Central.

+ No. 8 Lincoln-Way East: The Griffins have arguably had the most impressive start to the season in the state. Led by senior ace Cole Kirschsieper, the Griffins are 5-0 with a 10-0 win over No. 2 Brother Rice. They also defeated Glenbard North 10-0 this past Saturday and in their five wins have outscored opponents 41-6.

+ No. 15 Lyons Township: Despite the small sample size, the Lions have been extremely impressive on the mound to start the season. The Lions are 2-0 with a 3-0 win over No. 2 Brother Rice and a 3-0 win over St. Charles East. In the win against St. Charles East, Senior’s Michael Walsh and Brendan Lawry combined to strike out 16. In the shutout against Brother Rice, senior’s Eric Steensma and Grant Leader allowed two hits and struck out seven. Lyons have a tough test coming up on Tuesday against a 6-0 Lockport squad.

+ No. 17 Lockport: The Porters have been rolling to start the season and currently sit at 6-0, with a 4-0 showing at the Metro East Kickoff Classic. Lockport’s pitching staff has not allowed more than two runs in any of their games and have outscored opponents 28-6. A few notable wins was a 9-1 win over Oswego East and an 8-2 win over Lemont.

+ No. 24 Plainfield South: The Cougars are 3-0 to start the season and the offense has been a big reason why. In Plainfield South’s three wins they have scored 29 runs. Plainfield South plays Streator today and then heads down to Louisville, KY for a tournament this weekend.

+ No. 25 St. Rita: The Mustangs are 4-0 to start the year and had a statement win this Saturday, knocking off No. 21 New Trier 15-3. The St. Rita has been potent to start the season and in total they have outscored opponents 42-10. The Mustangs have a tough week ahead with Lane Tech on Monday, Benet on Friday and Marian Catholic on Saturday.

WHO’S COLD

+ No. 12 Libertyville: Expectations are high with the Wildcats but they had a tough 0-2 start to the year. On Wednesday Palatine knocked them off 10-0 and then on Saturday Carmel won a tight 2-1 contest. Libertyville will look to get back on track on their spring trip to Arizona this week.

+ No. 22 Minooka: The Indians, who on paper have one of the top pitching staffs in the state, had a tough 0-3-1 start. After a 6-6 tie against Andrew on Wednesday, the Indians lost 14-10 to Batavia on Thursday and 6-1 to Providence Catholic on Saturday. The Indians will look to get back on track this week with Coal City, Waubonsie Valley, Lincoln-Way West and the WJOL tournament this weekend.

UP-AND-DOWN

+ No. 2 Brother Rice: The Crusaders have played one of the toughest schedules in the state to start the year and currently sit at 4-2. After an impressive 3-0 showing at the Metro East Kickoff Classic, they got shut out in back-to-back games; lost 10-0 to No. 8 Lincoln-Way East and a 3-0 loss to No. 15 Lyons Township. Brother Rice has wins over No. 7 Edwardsville (11-4), No. 13 Homewood-Flossmoor (7-1) and Normal West (2-1).

+ No. 9 Mount Carmel: The Caravan went 0-2 against two Top-25 teams (No. 16 Oak Park-River 10-3 Forest and No. 7 Edwardsville 4-2) at the Kickoff Classic. They currently sit at 3-3 with wins over Simeon, Morgan Park and Bremen.

+ No. 13 Homewood-Flossmoor: The Vikings, currently 2-2, have wins against No. 3 Joliet Catholic by the score of 12-0 and Crete-Monee 10-9. The two losses have been to Top 25 teams, No. 11 Marian Catholic 14-8 and No. 2 Brother Rice 7-1.  

RELATED CONTENT