Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 9 Mount Carmel

Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
Kevin Dowling	IL	Mount Carmel	2019	OF	Murray State
Luke Pappas	IL	Mount Carmel	2019	LHP	-
Nic Vitiritti	IL	Mount Carmel	2019	RHP	Carthage College
Ed Howard	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	SS	Oklahoma
Tony Livermore	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	SS/2B	Northwestern
Josh Houston	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	INF
Andrew Etter	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	OF/RHP
Ethan Imlach	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	OF/INF
Jack Gilbert	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	C
Tom Egan	IL	Mount Carmel	2021	RHP/OF
Shane Curtin	IL	Mount Carmel	2022	LHP

KEY LOSSES

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

Tom Egan. The athletic sophomore with a durable 6-foot, 180-pound frame came to his first-ever PBR event, the Chicagoland Open, in August of last year. He showed well for a freshman with a firm heater, sitting 81-82 mph with a feel for two offspeed pitches, a hard biting slider with vertical depth and an advanced changeup that deceptively fades off his heater. The two-way prospect also flashed the ability to swing the bat with twitchy hands and present bat speed (topped 85 mph exit velocity from the tee).

Now, fast forward to last month's Underclass Invitational. In a mere six months, Egan has seemingly tacked on 10 pounds of muscle to his well-proportioned frame, translating to a five-tick hike in his fastball velocity. In his bullpen, the fastball sat 84-86 mph, touching 87 mph, finishing firm through the zone with the same advanced repertoire he showed months prior. There’s looseness in his arm action with quickness out front that suggests there is more of the same to come from the budding sophomore who will look to eat innings for a new-look Caravan pitching staff.

Tom Egan (2.17.19)

X-FACTOR

Ed Howard. Perhaps the most tooled-out athlete in the entire Midwest, Howard is getting recognition on the national scene before his junior year, and deservedly so. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound hybrid shortstop "dazzled" our National Crosschecker Shooter Hunt during the MLB Breakthrough Series last October. The PBR Illinois staff first saw Howard at the 2017 Underclass Games event, but he's only gotten better since, and was among the top prospect's in attendance at September's PBR Fall Championships.

The current No. 1-ranked player in the state's 2020 class is electric all over the diamond. His skills continue to hone in as he gets a grasp on his still-developing athleticism. The Oklahoma commit has a fluid bat path with the ability to backspin baseballs to the gaps on repeat. There is quick-twitch and body control in all facets of his game. Howard has the ability to slow the game down and make plays with confidence and ease, a trait that is not frequently recognized. Already known for his defensive prowess, Hurry shall look to his shortstop as a catalyst for the Caravan offense in 2019.

OUTLOOK

Coach Brian Hurry and the Caravan graduated a potent 2018 class consisting of Alek Thomas, who's currently in Arizona training with the Diamondbacks, as well as Division-I talents Anthony Herron Jr (Missouri State), Diego Munoz (Western Illinois), Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky), and Jake Kapers (Valparaiso) along with Joe Egan (Loras College) and Anthony Scanlon (Dubuque). All the players listed entrenched themselves as starters throughout the duration of the 2018 season, leaving many voids to fill.

Fast forward to this spring.

Mount Carmel may have had a senior-laden starting lineup last spring, but they received plenty contribution from its 2020 class in Howard, Tony Livermore (Northwestern), and Josh Houston (uncommitted; video below) all falling within the state’s top-20 rankings. Livermore will pair with Howard to create a dynamic and confident middle of the infield, possessing soft, sure hands with a knack to make tough plays look routine. The live-bodied Livermore plays bigger than his 5-foot-9 frame and is a pitcher's worst nightmare, grinding out at-bats and showing a feel for the strike zone and the barrel inside it. Houston, a prospect with a thicker build, has special hands at the plate and on defense. No matter where the pitch is located, Houston gets the barrel to it with vicious intent. There is pure power in his swing with rhythm through contact. He profiles at one of the corners, playing a more-than-capable third base for the Caravan in a handful of games last year. Both Livermore and Houston were standouts at the PBR Future Games as Illinois representatives last August.

Kevin Dowling (Murray State) will be a three-year letter winner for the Caravan and is a top-100 ranked prospect in the 2019 class. The senior will more than likely carve out a role for himself in the outfield grass.

With three of the top inning eaters on the mound graduated and out the door, Coach Hurry will look to new faces to toe the rubber for the Caravan in 2019. Senior lefty Luke Pappas (uncommitted) tossed the most innings for this year's returning staff and should take the reins as the ace of the bunch. Pappas threw a no-hitter early in the 2019 season showing that the talent is prevalent for the southpaw.

Additional names looking to earn innings within the dirt circle are: RHP Nic Vitirriti (Carthage College, 2019), RHP Jack Slade (2019), RHP Justin Alvarado (2019), OF/RHP Andrew Etter (2020), and LHP Shane Cutin (2022), as well as the aforementioned Egan. Vitiritti, Slade, and Alvarado all threw a handful of innings out of the bullpen for the Caravan last spring. Etter is a two-way prospect that has the athletic ability to crack the lineup card on both sides of the ball. Curtin possesses advanced pitchability for only his freshman classification. The lefty has shown our staff a three-pitch repertoire on two occasions headlined by a fastball that touched 82 mph.

Two more names to watch are INF/OF Ethan Imlach (2020) and C Jack Gilbert (2020). Imlach is an athletic player who can play multiple positions on the field and Gilbert, a physical catch-and-release backstop, could very well get meaningful innings behind the dish this spring.

BOTTOM LINE

The Caravan are no strangers to stringing together 26-plus win seasons, doing so in each of the last three seasons. It is so often we look at the Caravan with question marks on the pitching staff heading into the season, yet year after year they find themselves near the top of the conference come years end.

With thirteen returners and nineteen new faces on this years’ varsity roster, Coach Hurry will look to build the same camaraderie that so frequently leads to playoff berth after playoff berth. We will see the new look Caravan next weekend when they open up play at the PBR Kickoff Classic on March 14 against Edwardsville at GSC Stadium.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Josh Houston (8.1.18)

Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2019 season.

Find more information on the 2019 Caravan below:

+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website
+ GameChanger
+ Team Twitter

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN