Prep Baseball Report

Top-10 Stories of 2022: No. 5 Year One Success At The Illinois State Games


By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

On Aug. 9 and 10 of this year, PBR Illinois hosted its first Illinois State Games at the Rantoul Family Sports Complex in Rantoul, Ill. This two-day, invite-only event was the first of its kind, consisting of a workout that occurred on the morning of Day One, followed by live gameplay through the remainder of the day and all of Day Two. Over 160 of the top prospects in the state competed in the event and were broken down into 10 teams. The lineups and rosters were assembled by our staff and players played three simulated games against each other, featuring players representing grad classes 2023 through 2026.

In total, 70 players who entered the event uncommitted have gone on to make commitments in the four months since the event took place with many more on the way. Of those 70 commits, 19 have been to Division I schools.

Following the event we also chose a Most Valuable Player Award, along with a Most Valuable Pitcher:

LHP/1B Patrick Gardner (Lemont; 2023) took home the Most Valuable Player award and committed to Heartland CC this fall. Here is what we had to say on Gardner’s performance:

Perhaps the biggest winner from the event’s second day was LHP/1B Patrick Gardner (Lemont, 2023). At 6-foot-4, 230-pounds, Gardner displayed easy bat strength nestled inside that physical frame, finishing the day with six hits in total and multiple extra-base hits to the opposite field. He also hopped on the mound and struck out six of seven batters faced over two innings pitched, pitching in the low-80s with his fastball while spotting both of his secondary offerings for strikes. Still uncommitted, Gardner certainly caught our attention throughout the weekend.

The Most Valuable Pitcher went to RHP Dominic Voegele (Columbia, 2023) who committed to Kansas this fall:

From the Takeaways story (8/15/22): The event’s most electric pitching performance came from RHP Dominic Voegele (Columbia, 2023), who toed the rubber Wednesday afternoon. Standing at a lean 6-foot-2, 180-pounds with upside, Voegele easily pumped his fastball at 90-91 mph, touching 92 mph with more left in the tank, and commanded it to both corners of the plate. Voegele threw two breaking balls with distinct shapes, too. He tossed a more gradual 75-79 mph breaking ball at 2,600+ RPM, landing it more comfortably for strikes, while turning to a firm low-80s slider as a more swing-and-miss pitch at 2,550+ RPM. Voegele impressed at the plate throughout the event, staying up the middle from a short, quick right-handed stroke. A high level athlete who’s a multi-sport standout at Columbia, Voegele remains a top-end uncommitted prospect in Illinois.

Dominic Voegele

The talent of the event was eye-opening, especially with this being the inaugural year.

+ 70 commits
+ 19 D1 commits
+ 35 arms 85+ mph
+ 33 Sub-7.0 60s. 
+ 19 Peak Exit Velocities of 96+ mph
+ 15 INF velocities of 83+ mph.
+ 11 OF velocities of 87+ mph
+ 12 catcher velocities of 78+ mph
+ 9 sub-2.0 pop times

Shortly following the event we looked at some of the top performers from each team in our “Takeaways” article FOUND HERE

Throughout the course of the event, we were able to capture much of the action on social media. Below are some of the more noteworthy moments and prospects from the event:

CLICK HERE to view all of the analysis from the event. To view the event's stat leaderboards in their entirety, click here

COMMITMENT TRACKER

At the first-ever Illinois State Games, there were over 30 colleges in attendance: Augustana (IL), Butler, Concordia (WI), Danville Area CC, Davenport, Eastern Illinois, Elmhurst, Illinois-Champaign, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois-Springfield, Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan, John A. Logan JC, John Wood CC, Kankakee CC, Lake Land JC, Lewis, Lincoln Trail JC, Lindenwood, Maryville, McKendree, Missouri-St. Louis, North Park, Olive Harvey, Rose-Hulman, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Triton JC, Wabash Valley JC, Webster, Western Kentucky.

Below, we have kept a running list of the players who attended State Games uncommitted, and have since made their commitment announcement.

NAME POSITION HIGH SCHOOL CLASS COMMITMENT
Jude Allen 1B Providence Catholic 2023 UW-Parkside
Jack Bauer LHP Lincoln-Way East 2025 Virginia
Charlie Bergin C/1B Hinsdale Central 2023 Augustana (IL)
RJ Bergren LHP Mount Carmel 2023 Illinois-Springfield
Brayden Biggs C/RHP Belleville West 2023 McKendree
Blake Binkowski 1B Lincoln-Way East 2023 Millikin
Jacob Blunk OF Maroa-Forsyth 2023 Monmouth
Ian Boal LHP Johnsburg 2023 McHenry County JC
Damon Brena C Niles West 2023 Southeastern (IA) CC
Austin Brown RHP Triad 2023 Chipola JC
Michael Carrano C/1B St. Laurence 2023 Parkland JC
Dominic Catalano OF Montini Catholic 2024 Illinois-Chicago
Nate Ciemny RHP Joliet Catholic 2023 Wisconsin-Parkside
Danny Cihocki RHP Princeton 2023 Lake Land JC
Ricky Collazo C IC Catholic Prep 2023 Davenport
Daniel Connelly C Mundelein 2023 Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Owen Cornett 1B Du Quoin 2023 Wabash Valley JC
Daniel Darin OF/LHP Gibault Catholic 2023 Lindenwood (MO)
Alex Day RHP Andrew 2023 Northern Illinois
Ryan Deist RHP Lincoln-Way East 2023 Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Reed Drabant OF/INF Columbia 2023 Vincennes JC
Donovan Dykas RHP Lincoln-Way Central 2023 UW-Parkside
Michael Farina SS Mundelein 2023 Southeastern CC
Patrick Gardner LHP/1B Lemont 2023 Heartland CC
Dylan Harer OF Saint Viator 2023 Winona State
Jack Helms RHP Mattoon 2023 Lake Land JC
Andrew Hendrickson 3B Edwardsville 2023 Lincoln Land CC
Chris Iannuzzi RHP Stevenson 2023 Southeastern (IA) CC
Kenneth Jackson RHP Simeon 2023 Southeastern CC
Connor Jendraszak RHP Lincoln-Way East 2023 UW-Parkside
Ray Jesse C Lockport Township 2023 Pima CC
Owen Kelly LHP Belleville East 2023 Saint Louis
Ryan Klukas LHP Lemont 2023 UW-Parkside
Drew Koenen RHP Maine South 2023 Dartmouth
Caden Kuder LHP Coal City 2023 Spoon River JC
Charlie Lazo RHP De La Salle 2023 Alabama A&M
Austin Leonard C/OF Hampshire 2023 McHenry County JC
James Love 3B/SS Joliet West 2024 Eastern Illinois
Jayden Malone OF Metea Valley 2023 John A. Logan JC
AJ Malzone C St. Rita 2023 Wabash Valley JC
Joseph Martin RHP Newark 2023 SIU-Edwardsville
Dylan Mayer OF/LHP New Trier 2023 Manhattan
William Millard C O'Fallon 2023 Hillsdale
Jake Morrill OF Normal West 2023 Black Hawk JC
Bryce Nevils C/OF Brother Rice 2023 Western Kentucky
Charlie Parcell OF Maine West 2023 Northern Illinois
Sohrab Rezaei SS/2B University of Chicago Laboratory 2023 Wabash Valley JC
Jared Rodriguez RHP Harvest Christian 2023 Iowa Western CC
Danny Rollins C Lake Park 2023 Murray State
Andy Roman C/1B Wheaton Academy 2023 Bossier Parish CC
Parker Schuring RHP Huntley 2023 Northern Illinois
Jake Siekierski RHP Fenton 2023 Lake Land JC
John St. Clair MIF Plainfield North 2023 UW-Parkside
Easton Steck SS/OF Galesburg 2023 Illinois-Springfield
Carter Storti INF/RHP Lemont 2023 UW-Parkside
Jake Swanson LHP Grant Community 2023 Lake County JC
Khamaree Thomas OF Kenwood 2024 Michigan State
Donald Timon C/RHP Mascoutah 2023 Eastern Illinois
Khamaree Thomas OF Kenwood Academy 2024 Michigan State
Tommy Van Daff LHP York 2023 Spring Hill
Xzavier Vargas RHP Lyons Township 2023 UW-Parkside
Dominic Voegele RHP Columbia 2023 Kansas
Caden Vogt LHP Marengo 2023 McHenry County JC
Zan Von Schlegell INF Saint Viator 2023 St. Thomas (MN)
Trace Vrbancic RHP Praire Ridge 2023 UW-La Crosse
Luke Wallace OF Lemont 2023 Southeastern CC
Jude Warwick MIF Downers Grove North 2024 Michigan State
Isaiah White OF Homewood-Flossmoor 2023 Highland (KS) CC
Henry Wolfe C New Trier 2023 Elon
Nolan Zurawski C Minooka 2023 Lawrence

 

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