Prep Baseball Report

Preseason Team Countdown: No. 50 St. Charles East



By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 75 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage:

Team:
St. Charles East
Preseason Rank:
50
2013 Record:
28-12
Conference:
Upstate 8
IHSA Class:
4A  
Head Coach:
Len Asquini
Playoff Run: Third-Place in 4A
2013 Final Rank: 8

Returning Starters: 2
Returning Pitchers:
1

TOP PLAYERS
Brannon Barry, OF, 2014 (Illinois State - Football)
Adam Rojas, C, 2014 (Spring Harbor)
Mike Boehmer, RHP, 2014
Adam Eck, LHP, 2014
Ben Smith, 1B/DH, 2014
Reid Olson, 3B, 2015
Jake Milosch, INF/RHP, 2015
Adam Regelbrugge, LHP/OF, 2015
Kyle Cook, RHP, 2015

X-FACTOR
Adam Rojas
. The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder is a top-level defensive catcher who should be able to shut down opponents’ running game.

KEY PLAYERS LOST
Joe Hoscheit, OF (Northwestern)
Matt Starai, RHP (Judson)

OUTLOOK
The Saints are coming off an impressive run in which they finished third in 4A and No. 8 overall in the final state rankings. Coach Len Asquini graduated a lot of talent from that team, including first-team All-State RHP Matt Starai. With only two starters returning, it has the makings of a rebuilding season, right? Not quite. The Saints proved over the summer that they will again be formidable when they advanced to the Elite 8 of the IHSBCA summer state tournament. Left-handed hitting Brannon Barry and catcher Adam Rojas anchor the team. Asquini also has several pitchers who proved their mettle during their summer run. He’s hoping that one of them will emerge like Starai did last year.

BOTTOM LINE
On paper, the Saints don’t look like they’re a dangerous club. But games are won on the field, and this team has proved that, despite not having much varsity experience, they can win. Once again they will right in the mix for the Upstate 8 championship. Whether they can make a similar postseason run depends on their relatively untested pitching staff.

Season Countdown

+ Preseason Team Rankings

+ Updated Illinois 2014 Player Rankings

+ June Event Schedule

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