Preseason Bubble Teams: Mundelein

March 3, 2019
By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 11, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2019 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, leading into a countdown through the official PBR Illinois Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2019 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Mundelein
Preseason Rank: On The Bubble
2018 Record: 23-9
Conference: North Suburban
IHSA Class: 4A
Head Coach: Randy Lerner
Playoff Run: Regional Final
2018 Final Rank: 23
Returning Starters: 3
Returning Pitchers: 3

TOP PLAYERS

NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POSITION	COMMITMENT
Justin Binz	IL	Mundelein	2019	OF	Hope College
Rahul Champaneri	IL	Mundelein	2019	LHP	Concordia (IL)
Jake Devine	IL	Mundelein	2019	RHP	Augustana College (IL)
Jared Dorfman	IL	Mundelein	2019	OF	Illinois College
Tyler Yakimisky	IL	Mundelein	2019	3B	Illinois-Springfield
Austin Greco	IL	Mundelein	2020	RHP	Miami (OH)
Jonathon Hanscom	IL	Mundelein	2020	RHP	-
Andrew Schroeder	IL	Mundelein	2020	SS	-

KEY LOSSES

NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POSITION	COMMITMENT
Drew Breitenreiter	IL	Mundelein	2018	SS	-
Jeff Morton	IL	Mundelein	2018	OF	Triton JC
Ryan Patel	IL	Mundelein	2018	SS	St. Louis
Steven Sanchez	IL	Mundelein	2018	LHP	Arkansas
Mason Schaller	IL	Mundelein	2018	C	Triton JC

OUTLOOK

Mundelein, a perrenial North Suburban power, will be looking to replace a number of key contributors from last spring's 23-win club. The most notable holes to fill were left by the graduation of LHP/1B Steven Sanchez (Arkansas commit) and SS/RHP Ryan Patel (St. Louis commit). The 6-foot-7, 240-pound, Sanchez, was a do-it-all player for the Mustangs. Sanchez served as the ace of the staff and was a middle-of-the-order bat with big power in his bat. Patel was the everyday shortstop and came out of the bullpen with a upper-80's fastball and feel for his secondary. Both will be tough to replace in 2019.

On the bright side, the Mustangs return three quality arms; Junior RHP's Austin Greco (Miami, OH commit), Jonathon Hanscom and senior LHP Rahul Champaneri (Concordia-Chicago commit), all of whom could be aces on most high school teams across the state. Greco has a lively fastball that touches 91 mph and a hard slider to go along with it. When not toeing the rubber, Greco should be the top hitter in the Mustangs lineup. Greco, has a knack for finding the barrel and coming through with big hits in crunch time. Hanscom, emerged last year as a high-follow 2020 arm thanks to a loose, live arm and fastball that sits comfortably in the mid-80's with hard arm-side-run. Champaneri, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound, loose, easy left-hander has a three-pitch repertoire and sits in the mid-80's.

An unproven offense is the biggest weakness when looking at Mundelein on paper. Besides Greco, the mustangs will look for senior's 3B T.J. Yakimisky, OF Jared Dorfman and junior Andrew Schroeder to step up and take a bigger role. Ultimately, if the offense can find a way to score runs, Mundelein will once again be one of the top teams in the North Suburban Conference.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Austin Greco (8.2.18)

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