Prep Baseball Report

Updated Illinois Power 25 Team Rankings


By Drew Locascio and Peter Hamot
Illinois Staff

We purposely waited two weeks to release our initial Power 25 Team Rankings because we wanted to allow more teams to get games under their belts. It’s still really early, and thus hard to say an undefeated team is truly better than a team with one or two losses that has played a quality schedule. The good thing about several of our teams in the Power 25 is that most of the debates will be settled on the field at some point this spring.

St. Charles North, the Preseason No. 1 team in the state, remains at the top. The North Stars are 8-0 to start the season and have played their fair share of tough opponents. This past week they went 3-0 with a 4-2 win over Prairie Ridge, an 11-9 win over preseason No. 11 Lockport and a 12-10 win over South Elgin. They also swept a three-game set against Wheaton Warrenville South in week one as well as knocking off No. 23 Jacobs and Neuqua.

CLIMBING

+ Huntley (7-0) - The undefeated Red Raiders move up to No. 2 in the Power 25 after an impressive start to the season. Huntley knocked off preseason No. 2 Brother Rice and No. 17 Homewood-Flossmoor en-route to their 7-0 start. They also have wins over Hononegah, Schaumburg, Streamwood, Neuqua and Marengo. The Red Raiders have given up two runs or less in five of their seven wins.

+ Lincoln-Way East (7-0) - The Griffins arguably have more quality wins to start the season than anyone else in the state and have climbed from No. 16 to No. 3 as a result. The Griffins boast Power 25 wins over Marist 8-2, Brother Rice 4-0 and Providence Catholic 7-0.  Lincoln-Way East have outscored their opponents 59-8 so far to start off the season.

+ Marist (8-1) - The RedHawks made a statement in the opening week of the season by winning the loaded “Do It Stevie’s Way” Tournament. En-route to the Championship, Marist knocked off then ranked No. 10 St. Rita 6-5, De La Salle 12-5, No. 5 Providence Catholic 2-0 and No. 2 Brother Rice 5-3. They also have wins over then No. 4 Mount Carmel and No. 23 Sandburg. Their only loss on the season was to now No. 3 Lincoln-Way East.

+ Sacred Heart-Griffin (7-0) - The Cyclones are one of the hottest teams to start the year in the central part of the state. The preseason No. 19 squad is up to No. 6 after a 7-0 start to the season which includes wins over preseason Power 25 squads, No. 8 Edwardsville 3-1 and No. 25 Normal West 6-4. A dangerous 2A club to keep an eye on moving forward.

+ Nazareth (10-0) - The Road Runners were bound to run into some bumps in the road, due to the amount of freshmen they start (5-6 on any given day), but that has yet to happen. Playing a busy 10 game schedule to start the year, the Road Runners have yet to lose and have quality wins on their resume, to-boot. Of their 10 wins they have shut out their opponent four times. Nazareth will be put to the test with consecutive games against No. 4 Marist to start the week.

+ Lockport (6-2) - The Porters had a strong week two of the season going 4-1 while winning the WJOL tournament. Their only loss in week two came to No. 1 St. Charles North by a tight margin of 11-9. In their other four games on the week, Lockport outscored opponents, 48-12, scoring double digits in all but one game. On the season, Lockport has wins over Preseason Power 25 teams; Providence Catholic, Sandburg and St. Laurence. 

SINKING

A number of teams that find themselves sinking after the first update of the year play in the Chicago Catholic league and have started off the season beating up on each other, especially in the “Do It Stevie’s Way” Tournament. A number of the teams below could easily be climbing once again with a strong week three.

+ Brother Rice (6-4) - The Crusaders, who have played one of the toughest schedules in the state to start the year, have three wins against Power 25 teams. They have also lost four times to start the season. The good news for them, however, is that all four losses have come against Power 25 teams. A 6-4 start has Brother Rice down from No. 2 to No. 8 but a strong week could propel the Crusaders right back into Top-5 talks. 

+ Edwardsville (8-3) - The Tigers had a strong showing last Saturday against No. 25 Normal West and Kaneland, where they won 12-7 and 11-1, respectively. However a couple of week two losses; 9-3 to Springfield and 3-1 to Sacred Heart-Griffin have the Tigers down to No. 16 from No. 8.

+ St. Rita (3-3), Mount Carmel (5-4), Providence Catholic (4-4), St. Laurence (6-2) - All four of these teams reside in the Chicago Catholic league and have played a daunting schedule to start the season. Many have beaten up on each other and all have at least two losses on the season. Of the four teams, St. Laurence had the strongest week two of the season going 5-0 (1-2 in week one) with wins over New Trier, Maine South, Andrew, Ridgewood and Brooks. Time will tell with these Chicago Catholic League teams but all four still deserve to reside in the Power 25 until their schedules lean out a little bit and give us a better indication of just how good they are.

NEW TO THE TOP 25

+ No. 10 Grayslake Central (9-1) - Grayslake Central enters the Top 25 for the first time this year at the No. 10 spot. The Rams most impressive/statement win came over preseason No. 9 Warren by a score of 3-1. They also have strong wins over Palatine 11-3, and Grant 10-0 & 12-5 and a host of others. Their only loss of the season was a 6-5 game against Grant.

+ No. 13 Lake Park (8-1-1) - The Lancers enter the Top 25 for the first time this year at the No. 13 spot. Lake Park went 2-0-1 against a quality St. Charles East club in their first DuKane conference series and have also collected wins over Hoffman Estates (5-1), Glenbard East (16-5), St. Viator (8-7) and a host of others, which have them as one of the hotter teams in the Chicagoland area. Junior Mason Baer has gotten off to a torrid start for the Lancers which earned him the first PBR Player Of The Week award for the 2021 season. 

+ No. 15 Lane Tech (7-1) - Lane Tech finds themselves at No. 15 after starting the season not ranked. Lane Tech has gotten off to a fast start with wins over preseason No. 10 St. Rita (9-8), Evanston (10-2), Maine South (3-0), Lincoln Park (9-3 & 9-1) and Ignatius (16-5). Their lone blemish on the season was a 4-2 loss to Warren who is currently ranked No. 11.

+ No. 24 Oswego (5-0) - After an undefeated start, Oswego finds themselves in the No. 24 spot and their first ranking of the year. With their best win so far being over previously ranked No. 20 JCA (10-9). The Cats also have strong wins over Benet (5-4) and Plainfield Central (4-0), Naperville North (6-1) and Neuqua Valley (6-1). 

+ No. 25 Marian Catholic (5-2) - Marian Catholic enters the Top 25 for the first time this year at the No. 25 spot. Their best win so far is over previously ranked No. 4 Mount Carmel (2-1). The Spartans also have strong wins over St. Ignatius (11-7) and Niles Notre Dame (11-4). One of their losses came to previously ranked No. 2 Brother Rice (10-6). The Spartans have five games on the calendar this week with two coming against Joliet Catholic to begin the week.

DROPPED OUT

+ Libertyville 

+ Joliet Catholic

+ Sandburg

+ Jacobs

+ Normal West

JUST MISSED THE CUT

+ Lyons Township (6-0)

+ Mundelein (7-0)

+ St. Joseph-Ogden (7-0)

+ Harrisburg (5-0)

+ Glenbrook North (6-1)

+ Stevenson (5-1)

+ Yorkville (6-1)

+ Hampshire (6-1)

+ Naperville Central (5-2)

+ Plainfield Central (4-2)

+ Springfield (4-1)

UPDATED TOP 10

RANK
PRESEASON RANK TEAM CLASS
2021 RECORD
1
1 St. Charles North 4A  8-0
2 6 Huntley
4A 7-0
3 16 Lincoln-Way East  4A 7-0
4 7 Marist
4A 8-1
5 3 Normal University 2A 6-1
6 19 Sacred Heart-Griffin
2A 7-0
7 22 Nazareth
3A 10-0
8 2 Brother Rice 4A  6-4
9 11 Lockport 4A 6-2
10 NR Grayslake Central 3A 9-1

CLICK HERE to view Entire Updated Power 25 Team Rankings.

2021 SEASON

+ Illinois Scout Blog

+ Illinois Daily Roundup

+ Player of the Week

+ Diamond Notes

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