Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 17 Nazareth Academy

March 12, 2025
Michael Anderson & Peter Hamot
Illinois Staff

The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 17, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next two weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2025 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a preseason questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Nazareth Academy Roadrunners
Head Coach: Lee Milano
Classification: 4A
Conference: East Suburban Catholic Conference
2024 Record (Finish): 37-1 (Lost in sectional final)
Key Players Lost: Cooper Malamazian (Indiana), David Cox (Illinois-Chicago), Nick Drtina (Louisville), Cole Reifsteck (Belmont), John Hughes (North Carolina), Luca Fiore (Illinois-Chicago)

ROSTER PREVIEW

No. of Returning Positional Starters: 4
No. of Returning Starting Pitchers: 3
No. of Returning Relief Pitchers: 3
Team Strengths: Core of guys that know how to win at a high level. Pitching staff having a mix of experience and young arms.

NAME	STATE	CLASS	POS	COMMITMENT
Jaden Fauske	IL	2025	C/CF	Louisiana State
Mac McGarry	IL	2025	RHP	Western Kentucky
Andrew Kouris	IL	2025	RHP	-
Collin Roche	IL	2025	C/1B	Harper JC
Chase Zidlicky	IL	2025	RHP	Middlebury College
Dominic Chiaramonte	IL	2025	OF/LHP	-
Landon Thome	IL	2026	SS/2B	Tennessee
Kamran Alikhan	IL	2026	OF	-
Connor McKay	IL	2026	RHP	-
James Wasson	IL	2027	RHP	-
Eddie Donnelly	IL	2027	LHP	-
Josh Montano	IL	2027	UTIL	-
Gavin Hartigan	IL	2028	INF	-

X-FACTOR

RHP Mac McGarry (2025; Western Kentucky) looks to continue his success in his final high school baseball season. Standing at a strong and athletic 6-foot-3, 203 pounds, the right-handed Western Kentucky commit has been a major asset for the Roadrunners and is currently ranked among the top 100 players in the state. On the mound, McGarry's fastball comes out of his hand effortlessly and reaches up to 88 mph. In addition to his firm fastball, he throws a hard-biting 78-79 mph slider and an 80 mph fading changeup that he consistently lands for strikes. McGarry moves well on the mound with a loose, compact arm. With the names they lost from a season ago, if McGarry can be a true ace, he could be the piece that brings this team to the next level.

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

INF Gavin Hartigan (2028) is ranked number one in the state for his position and number five overall in the state for the class of 2028. Hartigan displays an athletic 5-foot-7, 157-pound frame with plenty of upside. In the field, he has a natural look with fluid footwork and clean hands. At the plate, he exhibits quick hands through the zone with a level path and the ability to get out of the box quickly. It will be intriguing to see how he's progressed since our last looks in the summer, and we're excited to see how he will be utilized this coming spring.

TEAM OUTLOOK

The Roadrunners and head coach Lee Milano return in 2025 after finishing last season 37-1 overall and 14-0 in conference. They bring back a chunk of players who were part of the team that led them to an almost perfect season, and they also boast two of the best pure left-handed bats in the midwest.

Alongside the previously mentioned McGarry, Nazareth brings back RHP Andrew Kouris (2025; uncommitted) who ranks 47 among all right-handed pitchers in the state of Illinois for the class of 2025, and he'll be looked to as one of their horses this year with a fastball that can reach into the upper-80s.

LHP Brooks Kooken (2026) and RHP Chase Zidlicky (2025; Middlebury College commit) are two more arms the Roadrunners expect to impact their roatation.

Kooken, a 6-foot-2, 177-pound southpaw, looks to be a crafty lefty with a clean arm and natural sinking fastball.

Zidlicky, currently ranked No. 213 in Illinois, has loud stuff with an upper-80s fastball, and he should be able to miss some bats with his four-pitch mix.

A couple sophomores that could see some big innings from the bullpen are RHP James Wasson and LHP Eddie Donnelly.

Wasson, the No. 47 ranked player in the state, has big upside in his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame. His fastball has swing and miss stuff to it, playing comfortably in the upper-80s.

Donnelly is another talented sophomore, standing in at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds. The southpaw has shown well for our staff in recent looks, particularly this past summer at the Illinois State Games where he impressed with a three-pitch mix and fastball around 80 mph.

LHP Dominic Chiaramonte (2025) and RHP Connor McKay (2026) are two more arms that will see time from the 'pen - with Chiaramonte's fastball playing in the low-80s and McKay getting up to 87 mph this winter.

The Roadrunners may have lost a good chunk of their starters from last season, but they do return two of the best bats not just in the state, but likely the country.

UTIL Jaden Fauske (2025; LSU commit) is coming off a monster year. The current No. 2 player in Illinois and No. 11 player in the country, Fauske earned Prep Baseball Illinois First-Team All-State honors after he hit his way to a .546 average with 15 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 43 RBIs, 45 runs scored and just nine strikeouts all year - also swiping 18 bags. The All-American is primed for his biggest spring yet, and teams wont be able to pitch around him very much with the other names lurking in the lineup.

Speaking of names lurking nearby, INF Landon Thome (2026; Tennessee commit) will certainly look to protect Fauske in the lineup, or vice versa. The former Future Games standout has an innate abilty to control the barrel with well above-average bat-to-ball skills, coming off a spring in which he hit .381 in 105 at-bats as only a sophomore. Currently ranked No. 3 in the state, Thome is a premier prospect that is in a great position to expand his role in the lineup.

C Collin Roche (2025; Harper commit) will look to handle the staff from behind the plate, and he's consistently shown to be a well above-average backstop that will supply some protection in the lineup, returning a .280 average in 93 at-bats.

OF Kamran Alikhan (2026) is a name our staff has grown quite fond of, coming in as the No. 78 ranked player in the state. He saw limited time as a sophomore, but he did collect over 30 at-bats that will help give him some confidence coming into the season. He will also provide quality defense in the outfield and some speed on the bases.

The aforementioned Hartigan, Kouris and Chiaramonte will all look to play a role offensively as well, along with sophomore Josh Montano.

Bottom Line

There's no denying that the Roadrunners lost quite a bit from last year's team, but what remains on this roster is still incredibly interesting. They have legitimately two of the top left-handed bats in not just the midwest, but arguably the country, with plenty of high-level athletes protecting them in the lineup. If they can get some support on the mound from the names we already know can be good, they will be a team you don't want to run into down the stretch.

Find more information on the 2025 Nazareth Academy program below:

+ Follow them on X: @Baseball_Naz
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 homepage