Now that the 2024 and 2025 rankings have been revised and updated we take a look at the 2026 class. There have been numerous showcases, camps and events since the last update and many new sophomores have come to the forefront. All of these events, as well as the start of the IHSA season, have come into play when updating the 2026 class.

The Preseason All-State: Underclass took place in February and featured some of the best 2026’s in the state. The event played a big role in bringing a number of high-level sophomores into the fold and the depth of the class continues to grow.

The list expanded by 20 prospects with the Top-100 prospects now ranked from all across the state. A number of high-follow sophomores were left off the list and should find their names enter at some point in the near future once we can get more in-game looks; whether that be this spring when we cross-check high school games all spring, or this summer when we track down a number of the names at Prep Baseball Tournaments. For now here is a look at some of the notable names in the recent update.

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

The top of the class remains the same with SS/ATH Ethan Bass (Glenbrook North; Illinois) remaining the No. 1 prospect. Bass has the athleticism to play anywhere on the diamond and is one of the more polished bats in the class with sneaky present power and more to come down the road. Bass, who is a top-20 prospect in the country, has all kinds of tools across the board and was an impact varsity starter for Glenbrook North as a freshman.

CIF/COF TJ McQuillan (Mount Carmel; Louisville) moves up to No. 2 in the class. McQuillan is arguably the most impactful left-handed bat in the class and moves well around the diamond, especially given his 6-foot, 223-pound, physical frame. McQuillan has all kinds of power in his swing, along with above-average feel to hit and put up noteworthy numbers at the Preseason All-State in February. Below is what we had to say about McQuillan from the event.

QUICK HIT: Few boast the sheer physicality at the plate in the Midwest that 3B/OF TJ McQuillan (Mount Carmel, 2026; Louisville commit) does. At 6-foot-1, 215-pounds, the left-handed hitting Louisville commit blistered baseballs on repeat throughout BP at Saturday’s event. He averaged an event-best 98.4 mph per batted ball, with eight of his 10 swings resulting in exit velocities at 96+ mph. Five of those eight came off his bat at 100+ mph, including a 102.4 mph high. McQuillan comfortably produced the furthest batted ball of the event (381 ft.) and he had four other outputs that traveled more than 340 feet into the right-center gap. All of his Blast Motion metrics are highly advanced; 24.6 mph average hand speed, 77.1 mph average bat speed, and 32.1 g of rotational acceleration on average. To add onto his pure physicality, McQuillan led all those in attendance in grip strength with both his right (198) and left (183) hand. He put up numbers in other aspects of his workout too, as he ran a 7.04 60-yard dash, was up to 89 mph from the outfield, and also peaked at 86 mph on his hardest throw across the infield.

RHPs Paddy Roth (St. Patrick; uncommitted) and Callaghan O’Connor (Bishop McNamara; Notre Dame) come in at No. 3 and No. 4 in the class. Roth, the highest ranked uncommitted prospect on the list, impressed once again this winter. This is what we had on Roth from the Preseason All-State:

RHP Paddy Roth (St. Patrick, 2026) was the Most Valuable Pitcher at the 2023 Illinois State Games, and left this event with a similar impression. An ideal frame at 6-foot-3, 195-pounds with seemingly added strength since we last saw him, Roth is currently ranked No. 4 in Illinois’ sophomore class and No. 105 overall. He has a simple and repeatable delivery paired with a loose arm that has some acceleration out front. A polished and mature arm for his age, his fastball sat 90-91 mph, attacking the zone with the pitch. His slider sat 73-75 mph with late break, and he showed the ability to locate the pitch in and around the strike zone. To round out his three-pitch arsenal, he showed a change-up that sat 80-82 mph with an average of 17.4 inches of fade, as well as feel for the zone. Roth is a high-level uncommitted arm to follow closely this spring.

Infielder’s Joey Ireland (Mount Carmel; Illinois), Landon Thome (Nazareth; uncommitted) and Jory Crocker (Willowbrook; uncommitted) are the next three prospects on the list. Of those three, Crocker is the biggest riser, moving up from No. 14. Crocker is a high-floor/high-ceiling prospect who continues to improve every time we see him. The 6-foot, 171-pound, high-waisted two-way prospect looks like he can stick up the middle of the diamond moving forward, ran a 6.88 this winter and his right-handed swing continues to tick up. Here is what we had to say on Crocker from the event:

…..has one of the highest ceilings in the entire state. Listed at 6-foot, 171-pounds with lean strength and an ultra-high waist, still holding room to add all sorts of muscle in the future. At the plate, the right-handed hitter displayed easy barrel control with an upside stroke, working consistently up the middle of the field with line-drives; averaging 89.4 mph for his EV with a max of 93.7 mph, working on the sweet spot 70% of the time per TrackMan. Defensively, he glides around the infield with athleticism and bounce, pairing it with easy range to both sides of his glove and soft hands with a clean transfer. His arm is plenty strong, topping out at 86 mph across the diamond. Above-average runner, cruising to a 6.88 in the 60, also led the event in vertical jump with a 36.2”. On the mound, Crocker controlled his levers and showed minimal effort to run his fastball up to 87.2 mph. He mixed in a curveball which played with 12/6 shape, and a slider that played with 11/5 shape, and he showed the ability to throw strikes with both. Rounding out his four-pitch mix, Crocker threw a changeup that sat 76-77 mph with mostly straight actions.

OF Nolan Ramoley (Brother Rice; uncommitted), 1B Brody Landgraf (Columbia; uncommitted) and C Addison Latko (DePaul College Prep; Illinois) round out the Top-10. Ramoley is one of the more impressive prospects in the state when it comes to all-around tools and ceiling. The 6-foot, 196-pound, physical, right-handed hitter is a 6.52 runner, was 92 from the outfield and peaked at 104.3 mph off the bat during BP at the Preseason All-State. Here is what we had to say on Ramoley:

There is only one sophomore in the entire Prep Baseball system that owns a 100+ mph max exit velocity, runs faster than a 6.70 60, and has a max throwing velocity above 85 mph: OF Nolan Ramoley (Brother Rice, 2026). Packed with strength at 6-foot-1, 205-pounds, Ramoley’s tools legitimately beam off the charts. He ran a 6.52 in the 60-yard dash with a 1.58 10-yard split and reached a peak run speed of 20.7 mph, both of which were the event’s highest marks and are well above-average metrics for someone of any aged high schooler, let alone a sophomore. To add onto his physical profile as a whole, Ramoley jumped 33.9” in the vertical test and also recorded the second highest weighted grip strength marks with both his right (196 lbs) and left (177 lbs) hand. Turning to the plate, Ramoley blasted the day’s hardest batted ball (104.3 mph) and his average mark of 96.1 mph was the second highest mark of the event. Seven of his 10 batted balls came off his barrel at 95+ mph, including three at 100+ mph, and he averaged an estimated 280 feet per batted output, which nearly came in as the day’s top mark. Ramoley’s Blast Motion swing metrics are all off the charts as well - his peak hand speed (25.8 mph), average hand speed (23.8 mph), peak bat speed (84.5 mph), and average bat speed (81.6 mph) are all extremely advanced. To top it all off, Ramoley’s arm played plenty loud from the outfield, peaking at 92 mph on his firmest throw to the plate.

OUTSIDE THE TOP-10

Looking outside the top-10, there are a number of sophomores on the rise in the recent update. OF/RHP Frank Costabile (Stevenson; uncommitted) was one of the biggest winners coming out of the winter after he topped at 98 mph from the outfield and threw a polished bullpen while running his fastball up to 91.8 mph with a 79-82 mph slider with 2,700 average rpm. As a result, Costabile is up almost 20 spots to No. 14 in the state.

INF Kamrin Jenkins (Oswego; uncommitted) is another riser, up 20+ spots in the recent update. The new No. 17 in the state, Jenkins made his statement early this spring at the Kickoff Classic. Jenkins took a number of quality at-bats, showing he was unfazed by velocity, launched a home run and also looked the part at shortstop. Jenkins is a high-follow prospect who has the makings to continue to move up this list as he continues to add quality strength to his 6-foot, 167-pound, athletic frame.

RHP Brandon Pelz (Bartlett) and LHP Ian Tosi (Mount Carmel) are two uncommitted prospects moving up the board and now sit in the Top-20 of the class. Pelz is a fluid right-handed arm who was up to 89 mph this winter with above-average offspeed. Tosi is highly-competitive and was one of the top arms for the Caravan last year as a freshman. Tosi is a strike thrower who ran his fastball up to 87.1 mph with 20.5 average IVB and an advanced changeup at the Preseason All-State.

UTIL/ATH Easton Newman (Deerfield), C Adam Swanson (Ottawa), LHP Callum Morrison (Lake Forest) and RHP/INF John Strzechowski (St. Laurence) are four more uncommitted prospects who are on the rise and now sit in the Top-30 of the class.

Swanson has a compact, strong frame, ran a 6.71 60, 95.1 mph average exit velocity, 80 mph from the crouch and a low pop time of a 1.87 at the Preseason All-State.

Strzechowski is a clean, athletic mover on the mound with one of the more polished repertoires in the class. He should continue to see his stuff and velocity tick up as he matures and gains quality strength to the frame.

+ Stay tuned in the coming days for a deeper look at the class, including a number of worthy prospects that just missed the Top-100.

CLICK HERE for a look at the new Top-100 for the Illinois’ 2026 class.

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