Throughout the next couple of weeks, the PBR Illinois team is going to be examining the 100-plus prospects on their way to Division-I destinations next fall, breaking them down conference by conference.

We kicked off the series by looking at the Big Ten, MAC, Horizon, Ohio Valley and Missouri Valley conferences. Today, we’re onto the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), one set to welcome six names, as of today, their way in the fall of 2020.

It’s important to note that we broke down all of the in-state D-I programs at length just a couple weeks back. You can find Part One here and Part Two here. If you’re looking for full, detailed breakdowns of Illinois’ top programs and their complete 2019 recruiting classes, check it out.

For now, here’s what you can look forward to inside the ACC baseball scene in the not-too-distant future.

ATLANTIC COAST

Five total prospects from Illinois are committed to Louisville, four of them ranked within the top-eight of the class: SS Christian Knapczyk (Joliet Catholic), C Jack Payton (Brother Rice), 1B Drake Westcott (Edwardsville), and RHP Ben Wiegman (Carmel Catholic) – and there’s also the helium-filled southpaw Riley Phillips, from Alton, who’s just ranked outside the state’s top-25.

Knapczyk is a heady player who makes it all look easy. His motor is infectious, both on defense and atop the lineup. Defensively he is as slick and sure-handed as they come with easy range and a highly-accurate arm. Offensively, he is a prototypical, top-of-the-order, left-handed hitter. Knapczyk has loose, whippy hands and an innate ability to barrel baseballs. Knapczyk naturally sprays balls to all fields, and he has shown sneaky pop as of late.

Brother Rice backstop Payton starred this summer and fall, yet again. He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the state with a quiet glove and the innate feel to stick borderline strikes on the edges of the zone. Payton also swings a strong gap-to-gap right-handed bat with more power to come.

Westcott is a power left-handed bat with an advanced feel to hit. When Westcott is at his best he stays within himself and creates easy power to all fields. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Westcott has been a mainstay in the middle of the Edwardsville order since his freshman season. He is also a nimble, smooth defender at first base given his frame.

Drake Westcott (7.9.19)

The No. 3-ranked pitcher in the state’s 2020 class is Carmel Catholic’s Wiegman, who’ll join his brother Andrew on campus next fall. The younger Wiegman is built at a large, strong 6-foot-4 with one of the liveliest arms in the Midwest – he topped 94 mph back at the PBR ProCase in early July.

Then there’s Phillips, who skyrocketed in our August rankings update. He sat at an easy 81-85 mph back in March but his velocity ticked up in a big way as the year went on, all the way up to 90 mph. Phillips is a late-bloomer who’s only just scratching the surface of his potential, still trending up.

The lone ACC-bound prospect headed outside of Louisville byway of Illinois is another prospect on the rise in Benet Academy’s Connor Hincks, who’s committed to Virginia. The No. 16-ranked prospect in the state has added quality strength to his wiry frame and his left-handed bat continues to ascend. Hincks has a smooth, fluid swing, stays inside the baseball, on balance and makes a lot of hard contact. That same fluidness is evident on defense where he plays an easy, confident shortstop and never seems to be in a hurry. It would not be a shock if pro scouts are paying close attention to Hincks this spring.

Connor Hincks (8.1.18)

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