The IHSA season is officially underway, but weather took a toll on a lot of teams and games around the state last week. As a result, a number of teams still have minimal games under their belt. For example, Lake Park our No. 18 Preseason Power 25 team, will be opening their season this week and have yet to play a game. Some other teams within the Preseason Power 25 have played two-to-three games which makes it hard to get a true read. With most teams on spring break this week, and the weather looking like it may break in the latter part of the week, teams should be able to get some games under their belt. This will allow us a fair sample size to make updating the rankings warranted.

For now, we will take a quick look at how the second week of the season has shaped up, checking out some of the teams that have been on the rise, some that have been 'falling', and some other teams throughout the state we think you should know about. 

ON THE RISE

+ No. 1 Nazareth (7-0): The Roadrunners are off to a scorching start, and they added three more wins to their total this past week, taking down ​​Limestone 6-0, Romeoville 11-3 and Ridgewood 5-4 to extend their record to 7-0. 

+ No. 3 Providence (2-0): The Celtics finally got some games under their belt and went a perfect 2-0 in their first week of IHSA action, taking down Dakota 7-1 and Joliet Central 16-5. Look for them to keep rolling as their schedule starts to pick up steam. 

+ No. 10 Huntley (3-0): The Red Raiders added two quality wins this past week to improve their record to 3-0, taking down a strong St. Charles East club by the score of 7-4 and Belvidere North 10-0. 

+ No. 14 Downers Grove North (4-0): Offense has been the key to success for the Trojans, as they’ve scored 37 runs in their first four games, 34 of them coming in this past week’s perfect 3-0 run as they took down Wheaton-Warrenville South 11-0, Plainfield East 12-2 and Oswego East 11-10. 

+ No. 20 Normal Community (5-0): To no one’s surprise, the Ironmen have been dominating on the mound to start the year, allowing just three runs in their five games played. They only played one game this past week, and it was a 1-0 victory over a strong Morton club. 

+ No. 24 Sycamore (2-0): The Spartans got their season started this past week and now boast a perfect 2-0 record. The highlight of the week was taking down Burlington Central by the score of 4-2, and they also saw a win over Belvidere North 14-7. 

Falling

+ No. 1 Edwardsville (3-2): Edwardsville took a tough loss to De Smet (MO) this past week by the score of 9-5, but also saw a win over Granite City 12-2. They’ll look to get right back on track this coming week as they’re set to take on Houston (TN) on Thursday. 

+ No. 4 Brother Rice (1-3): A loss to Sandburg 4-2 this past week has Brother Rice sitting at 1-3 after two weeks of IHSA play. They always play a tough schedule so there should be no reason to panic, and they’re set to see a couple more tough opponents this week with Marian Catholic on Wednesday and Lyons Township on Thursday. 

+ No. 12 Stevenson (2-3): We knew the Patriots might get off to a slow start with how young their lineup is, and they finished this past week at a 1-1 clip, seeing a quality win over DePaul College Prep 12-4 and falling to Glenbrook South 5-3. 

+ No.22 Bradley-Bourbonnais (2-4): A 1-1 record on the week has Bradley-Bourbonnais off to a 2-4 start, seeing a win over Herscher 11-0 and falling to Plainfield South 10-5. They have three games on the schedule for the week as they’re set to play Marbury (AL), Corner (AL) and Poplar Bluff (MO). 

+ No. 23 St. Charles North (0-1-1): North has yet to make it into the win column to start the year, and their only game this past week was an 8-7 loss to Bartlett. They have a slew of games scheduled for this week, as they’re slated to play Lake Forest, Thompson (AL), Lake Central (IN) and Beavercreek (OH). 

Teams to watch

+ Highland Park (5-1): The Giants are a team to watch moving forward, already notching a couple Power 25 wins under their belt. They finished this past week at a 2-1 clip, seeing wins over Zion-Benton 10-0 and Aurora 6-5 - also falling to Aurora by the score of 8-6. 

+ Lockport (4-0-1): The Porters got off to a hot 3-0 start, and they continued to play well this past week at a 1-0-1 clip, seeing a ranked win over No. 21 St. Rita 10-3 and tying a strong Downers Grove South club 3-3. 

+ York (3-0): The Dukes got their season started on the right track with three wins this past week, taking down Palatine 7-0, Glenbard East 3-0 and Waubonsie Valley 4-2. They’ll be an interesting team to watch this spring after making it all the way to 4A state a season ago. 

+ Lane Tech (6-0): Tech continues to roll, as they notched wins this past week over St. Ignatius 19-11 and Maine South 7-2. Already boasting an impressive 6-0 record, Lane Tech does not have any games on their slate for this week.

+ Mascoutah (5-0): Three wins this past week has Mascoutah out to an impressive 5-0 start, as they saw wins over Centralia 14-3, Belleville East 1-0 and Wesclin 7-0. There’s a lot to like about this Mascoutah club, and we expect them to keep rolling throughout the spring. 

+ Joliet West (6-1): The Tigers boast an intimidating offense, and it was on full display this past week as they scored 41 runs in their four games played. They went a perfect 4-0 on the week, taking down Wilmington 8-5, Glenbard North 10-1, Riverside-Brookfield 11-0 and Dundee-Crown 12-0. 

+ Fenwick (5-0): The Friars are picking up right where they left off from last season, as they made it all the way to the Super-Sectionals for 3A state. They finished this past week at a perfect 3-0 clip with wins over No. 16 Libertyville 8-2, Hinsdale Central 4-0 and St. Ignatius 6-5. 

+ Andrew (5-0): The Thunderbolts have some strong wins under their belt already, including a 7-4 win over No. 17 Mount Carmel this past week. They capped off their week with a 14-0 win over Lindblom, and they have three games on their plate this week. 

+ Lincoln-Way West (3-0): The Warriors were a mainstay in our Power 25 all of last year, and they’re looking to crack the rankings once again after their strong 3-0 start. They played just one game this past week, but it was a dominant 14-5 win over Thornton Fractional South. 

+ Monticello (10-0): Monticello is making a strong case in Central Illinois as one of the top 2A squads in the state. Off to an impressive 10-0 start, the Sages are led by RHP/SS Luke Teschke (Illinois State commit). Some key wins to start the year is a two-game sweep over Routt Catholic, Waterloo 7-2 and have blown out a few opponents as well. The Sages should be a team to follow closely moving forward.

+ Rochester (6-0): Head Coach Matt Carlson has the Rockets off to a strong start, led by 1B/LHP Jack Swaney (Northern Illinois commit). Swaney took home the first Player of the Week award of 2024 after a big first week of the season where he went 7-for-16 with four home runs, one double, 10 RBIs and six runs scored. Some noteworthy wins include Joliet West 10-9, Normal West 10-5 and Galesburg 6-5, among others.

+ Sacred Heart-Griffin (6-0): The Griffins are another Central Illinois squad off to a strong start to begin the season. After six games the Griffins are out-scoring opponents 66-12.

+ Montini (3-1-1): The Broncos have a new head coach, Eric Scott, leading the way and they are off to a noteworthy start. The only loss so far was a 4-0 loss this past week against No. 11 Lincoln-Way East. Montini has picked up wins over Lisle 10-0, Glenbard South 10-0, Payton College Prep 9-5 and they also tied Willowbrook 8-8. 

+ Effingham (5-0): The Flaming Hearts remain undefeated after another perfect week where they went 3-0. On the week they knocked off Mount Vernon 6-2, Altamont 4-0 and Marshall 3-1. So far this season they have not given up more than three runs to their opponents. 

+ Niles Notre Dame (5-0): The Dons are yet another team without a loss to start the season, rattling off five wins. So far the Dons have wins over Maine West 7-1, Maine East 10-9, Lake View 11-0, Niles West 9-2 and Niles North 12-6. 

+ Highland (4-0): The Bulldogs have rattled off four straight wins to start the season. Wins over Freeburg 11-1, Quincy Notre Dame 5-1 and two over Moline have Highland off on the right start as the season gets going in Southern Illinois.

+ Crystal Lake South (4-0): The Gators have scored an eye-opening 72 runs in their first four games of the year. They finished this past week with two wins, taking down Woodstock 14-8 and Harvard 25-8. 

+ Father McGivney (7-1): The Griffins are far and away one of the top 1A programs in the state, and they boast an impressive 7-1 record. They finished this past week at a 4-1 clip, seeing wins over Lausanne Collegiate (TN) 11-1, Greenbrier (TN) 8-6, Broadfording Christian (MD) 11-1 and Metro-East Lutheran 19-1 - with their lone loss coming against IMG Academy Black (FL) 8-5. 

+ St. Joseph-Ogden (7-1): The Spartans are looking to be one of the top teams in the 2A classification, seeing their only loss of the year to 4A Oswego. They went a perfect 5-0 this past week, notching wins over Tuscola 18-2, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 10-0, St. Thomas More 12-0, New Berlin 2-0 and Routt Catholic 3-1. 

CLICK HERE FOR A LOOK AT THE CURRENT POWER 25.

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