The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 16, 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 2020 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 2020 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Warren Township
Preseason Rank: 5
2019 Record: 32-5
Conference: North Suburban
IHSA Class: 4A
Head Coach: Clint Smothers
Playoff Run: Sectional Semifinals appearance
2019 Final Rank: 8
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 2

TOP PLAYERS

NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POSITION	COMMITMENT
Mikey Kocen	IL	Warren	2020	2B	Triton JC
Reece Lawler	IL	Warren	2020	RHP	Iowa
Nate Rentas	IL	Warren	2020	C/DH	Marietta College
Dru Jasnoch	IL	Warren	2020	OF	Lewis
Thomas Kenney	IL	Warren	2020	C	St. Thomas (MN)
Ryan Scanlon	IL	Warren	2020	LHP	Carthage College
Gabe Schmitt	IL	Warren	2020	OF	-
Ryan Devries	IL	Warren	2020	OF	-
Brian Rapanan	IL	Warren	2021	INF/C/RHP	-
Michael Rivera	IL	Warren	2021	INF/RHP	-
Ryan Risch	IL	Warren	2021	RHP/C	-
Alexander Carruthers	IL	Warren	2021	RHP	-

KEY PLAYERS LOST

NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POSITION	COMMITMENT
Bradley Vondruska	IL	Warren	2019	INF	Milwaukee Area Tech
Casey Cobe	IL	Warren	2019	INF	Lake County JC

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

RHP/INF Michael Rivera is a junior set to contribute on both sides of the ball for Warren in 2020. He’s an athlete which helps him project as a middle infielder moving forward. He ranges well on the infield with easy actions, but Warren’s blessed with depth on the dirt, so we’ll see how Rivera fits in. He should also earn some sort of role on the mound. At the start of February, we saw Rivera up to 87 mph and it might be most effective as a reliever for now, given the seniors on staff. The uncertainty surrounding Rivera’s everyday part on the team really only underscores just how deep this team is, and this two-way junior only makes them better.

Michael Rivera (2/9/20)

X-FACTOR

Senior RHP Reece Lawler is all set to return to the Blue Devils’ dugout in 2020, having last pitched for his high school as a sophomore. Lawler, an Iowa commit, is one of the state’s best arms as a competitive 6-foot-2 right-hander that pitches with moxy, pounding the bottom of the zone with a running/sinking fastball that lives in the mid-to-upper 80s, we’ve seen it up to 89 mph. His separator is his breaking ball, a late and sharp offering off an 11/5 plane that coaxes out some ugly swings and misses.

Warren’s staff was highly effective without Lawler in 2019 and his addition only amplifies what they can do in 2020. 

OUTLOOK

The Devils are largely back in full force – and then some – bringing about an optimistic view of what’s in store for them in 2020. 

This year's senior class was a huge reason why Warren breached the 30-win mark, finishing the 2019 campaign with 32 total before an earlier exit than they would have hoped for immediately following a Regional title win over Saint Viator. It is a well balanced offense with a mix of tough at-bats up-and-down the lineup, featuring a number of guys with doubles and home-run type of power. They’ll be supporting a stifling staff that’s about to be injected with one of the state’s most competitive pitchers, Lawler, who we named our X-Factor above. Lawler has go-to, ace-like stuff but Warren thrived as a pitching staff on their own last year, with 2020s RHP Dru Jasnoch and LHP Ryan Scanlon at the helm. 

Jasnoch is a strike-throwing submariner who’s clearly tough to square up, as evidenced by his 9-1 record and 2.14 ERA in 82 innings pitched last spring. That arm slot combined with a feel to pitch makes life difficult on the average high school hitter. Scanlon returns 45 innings himself, as well as a 2.25 ERA. He’s a projectable 6-foot-4 lefty with another delivery that’s uncomfortable from the batter’s box – a high front side look with long levers that keep the ball well-hidden.

These two have earned the title of dependable and Lawler’s traditional No. 1-type of arsenal gives them a trio of starters that could help them achieve a consecutive 30-win spring. The junior Rivera could also become a reliable weapon on the mound, possibly in more of a high-leverage bullpen role. And the same can be said about junior Brian Rapanan, who’s still probably more vital to the team up the middle and on offense.

Though, as established as this staff looks on paper, there’s a depth on offense here that has the capabilities of bailing out an uncharacteristically tough outing, on the rare occasion that it might happen for Warren’s rotation. 

The aforementioned Rapanan hit .347 last year with 11 doubles and 26 RBIs while playing shortstop alongside senior second baseman Mikey Kocen. Kocen is the team’s most productive returning bat, bringing back a .390 average with 13 doubles, six triples, and three homers – and he struck out only five times all year. And if it wasn’t Kocen driving the Devils home, it was C/DH Nate Rentas, a big and strong left-handed hitter who delivered 10 home runs for the team in 2019, driving in 41 runs with the help of 10 more doubles.

Mikey Kocen (8/6/19)

Senior Thomas Kenney hit .334 with 28 RBIs last spring, too, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see an uptick in extra-base hits ourselves. He swings a strong and quick right-handed bat and is a talented athlete, especially for his sturdy, muscular size, which helps him operate as the team’s usual backstop.

Fellow senior outfielders Gabe Schmitt and Ryan Devries also return a couple of .300-type bats to further bolster a lineup lacking a real hole.

Junior two-way talent Ryan Risch was up to 85 mph on the mound this winter, with a tight breaking ball, and is also capable of rounding out this lineup in some way, similar to Rivera. We also saw junior RHP Alexander Carruthers top 85 mph, with arm-side action, at our Libertyville event in February. This junior class is all set to make this one of the most well-rounded and talented staffs in the state, making them an especially tough out come playoff time.

BOTTOM LINE

It’s hard to think of another squad in the state that’s set to look so familiar to last year’s roster – and few of them can say they enjoyed the kind of success that Warren did. Coach Clint Smothers has a rare and exciting combination of senior-led talent and experience spread all over the diamond with capable juniors fully prepared to integrate themselves into a prosperous everyday role or regular spot on the staff. The 32 wins is a tough benchmark to top, but if there were a team to get there, it’s this 2020 Warren roster. They should enter this season as a heavyweight and favorite to embark on a trip that takes them to Joliet, with the personnel to earn them hardware.

Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2020 season.

Find more information on the 2020 Blue Devils below:

+ Team Website
+ Team Twitter

PBR ILLINOIS PRESEASON POWER 25