On the Bubble: Sandburg
March 2, 2020
The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 16, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2020 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, leading into a countdown through the official PBR 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 2020 preseason coverage continues today.
Team: Sandburg
Preseason Rank: On The Bubble
2019 Record: 16-14
Conference: Southwest Suburban Conference
IHSA Class: 4A
Head Coach: Jim Morsovillo
Playoff Run: Sectional Semifinals appearance
2019 Final Rank: NR
Returning Starters: 4
Returning Pitchers: 2
OUTLOOK
The Eagles have some question marks heading into 2020, returning only two arms from last spring and six seniors in total. With that said, Sandburg is known for reloading talent and the two senior arms they are returning; RHP Will Tenuta (2020; Purdue commit) and RHP Patrick Rafferty (2020; Dubuque commit) have quality stuff. Tenuta showed a big uptick in velocity this fall, sitting 89-90 mph in his outing at the PBR Midwest Fall Championships and a much improved breaking ball with swing-and miss action. Rafferty has an athletic, clean arm mid-80s fastball and goes right after hitters.
Positionally they will be young with senior OF Jimmy Rybarczyk (Parkland JC) being the main upperclassmen with the most varsity experience. C/INF John-Michael Scumaci (2021) and Jayden Comia (2022; Illinois) are two talented position players who gained varsity experience last spring as underclassmen. The Eagles will need a few others to step up if they want to make a run late this spring.
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT
Will Tenuta (9/13/19)
Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2020 season.
Find more information on the 2020 Eagles below:
+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website
+ Team Twitter
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