Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 22 Neuqua Valley
March 10, 2020
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: Neuqua Valley
Preseason Rank: 22
2019 Record: 26-8
Conference: DuPage Valley Conference
IHSA Class: 4A
Head Coach: James Thornton
Playoff Run: Sectional Finals appearance
2019 Final Rank: 11
Returning Starters: 4
Returning Pitchers: 4
TOP PLAYERS
| NAME | STATE | SCHOOL | CLASS | POSITION | COMMITMENT |
| Ryan Auer | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | LHP | - |
| Cooper Avery | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | RHP | Nova Southeastern |
| Collin Blazek | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | MIF | |
| Kevin Butler | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | C | Bellarmine University |
| Nolan Clifford | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | SS | Creighton |
| Michael Gould | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | OF | Maryville University |
| Mason Graham | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | OF | Illinois-Springfield |
| Aiden Green | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | RHP | - |
| Mark Gronowski | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | OF | - |
| Payton Matthews | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | OF | - |
| Kaydon Norkus | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | RHP | - |
| Grant Palmer | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | 2B | - |
| Mitchell Rokosz | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | 2B | - |
| Noah Schnell | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | OF | Lake County CC |
| Carter Stubitz | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2020 | C | Wartburg College |
| Lukas Wenz | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2021 | 3B | - |
KEY PLAYERS LOST
| NAME | STATE | SCHOOL | CLASS | POSITION | COMMITMENT |
| Landon Arney | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | OF | Triton JC |
| Justin Blazek | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | 3B | - |
| Jacob Karaba | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | RHP | Lewis University |
| Casey Pickering | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | RHP | Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
| Ethan Schreier | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | OF | Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
| Josiah Scott | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | C | College of DuPage |
| Anthony Sterchele | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | RHP | Santa Fe |
| Nick Taylor | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2019 | SS | - |
NEWCOMER TO WATCH
With the losses of some key arms due to graduation, Coach Thornton will be looking for as many arms as he can find this spring. One arm to keep an eye on is junior RHP Aiden Green. Green is not exactly a newcomer, since he did throw 9.2 varsity innings last spring but the majority of his work came on JV. In 17 JV innings Green went 2-0 with 22 strikeouts. The junior right-hander has a 6-foot-2, 185-pound, high-waisted, athletically-built frame and fastball that last summer he spotted up to both sides of the plate, sitting 82-85 mph, touching 86. His slider flashes plus potential with tight spin and sweeping action.
X-FACTOR
SS/RHP Nolan Clifford. Clifford, a Creighton commit, is one of the top prospects in the area and does a little bit of everything for the Wildcats. Last spring the left-handed hitting middle infielder was an All-Conference selection and led the team in hits, extra-base hits, triples, RBI’s, run scored, walks, batting average, on-base-percentage, slugging percentage and stolen bases. So to say Clifford will be a key to this year’s success would be an understatement; and that is just on the offensive side of the ball. Clifford is a high-level defender who will be moving to shortstop this spring with the departure of Nick Taylor, a talented defender in his own right. On top of all that, Clifford also carved out a role on the mound last season finishing 2-0 and 5-for-5 in save opportunities. Clifford’s most impressive outing may have been his six out save in the Sectional Semi-final last season. Below is a blurb from his outing:
“Clifford, who started the game at second base, came on to get the final six outs of the game. Clifford, a Creighton commit, who is better known as a position player, did more than impress on the mound. The highly-athletic right-hander, pounded the strike zone at a 73% clip, sat 86-88 mph, touching 89 and routinely showed off a swing-and-miss changeup with feel for the bottom of the zone. Clifford allowed one hit, no walks and struck out two in his two inning save.”
As Clifford goes, so will the Wildcats this spring.
OUTLOOK
When you start looking at the 2019 graduates that the Wildcats have to replace, such as quality arms like Anthony Sterchele, Jacob Karaba, Landon Arney and Casey Pickering, duplicating last season's 26 wins seems like quite the challenge. With that said, Neuqua has reinforcements ready to step up. Starting with the arms, look for Aiden Green (mentioned above), Cooper Avery, Ryan Auer and Nolan Clifford to take on a fair amount of load. Outside of those four, juniors Lukas Wenz and Kaden Norkus also will add much needed depth. Both Wenz and Norkus had impressive numbers on a JV team that went 27-4 last season and both will have a chance to contribute offensively as well. The Wildcats should have plenty of quality options who are more than capable of getting meaningful outs this spring.
Clifford will be expected to set the table offensively, once again in 2020 but he will not be alone. Left-handed hitting C Kevin Butler, 3B Mitch Rokosz and UTIL Mike Gould are all seniors who gained experience and had success last spring. Butler hit .338 with 18 RBI. Rokosz was an All-Conference selection, led the team in doubles and hit .421 in conference play. Gould took over an outfield spot late in the season and hit .326. Another senior who hit over .300 in limited at-bats was Cooper Avery.
Juniors Colin Blazek, Payton Matthews, Grant Palmer and Kayden Norkus all will have a chance to compete for spots in the lineup as well.
BOTTOM LINE
Yes, there are certainly question marks to be answered this spring but coach Thornton will have plenty of talent in the dugout to work with.
Who will be the ace of the staff? What will the rotation look like by the end of spring? There is no concrete answer as of yet, which may lead to a few hiccups to start the year, but if history holds true, Neuqua will play sound baseball, throw strikes, not beat themselves and will be one of the top teams in the DuPage conference.
Expect to see Neuqua as one of the top seeds in the regional come playoff time and if the chips fall into place do not be surprised if they make a run to Joliet in early June.
Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2020 season.
Find more information on the 2020 Wildcats below:
+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website
+ Team Twitter
PBR ILLINOIS PRESEASON POWER 25