Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 23 Sandburg

KEY LOSSES

TOP PLAYERS

OUTLOOK

Coach Jim Morsovillo, if you didn’t already know, has roots that run deep into the Sandburg Blue and Gold. After graduating in in 1992, Morsovillo was an all area shortstop for the Eagles and went on to play at Western Illinois before returning to Coach at his alma mater. Morsovillo took the reigns from legendary coach Doug Sutor seven years ago compiling 163 wins to only 64 losses and the Daily Southtown Coach of the Year honor after their fourth place finish in the 4A state Finals last season. Not to mention their tie for first place in conference play last spring. The skipper will be losing a strong core of seniors that will be going on to the college ranks headlined by SS Branden Comia (Illinois), C Ryan Hampe (Illinois-Chicago) and ace RHP Even Tenuta (Notre Dame).

Each of the last three seasons, the Eagles have gone further in their playoff push than the year prior. Regional Finals in 2016, Super-Sectional Finals in 2017 and State Semi-Finals in 2018. Look to 2019.

Added onto the three aforementioned ‘studs’ graduating above, Morsovillo is also sending six more high contribution players out the door. One name that has been penciled into the lineup card since his Freshman year who may be the new ‘guy’ to lead the ‘19 Eagles is SS/RHP Tommy Windt (South Suburban commit). Windt is coming off a SWSC All-Conference selection in which he set the table atop the Eagles lineup for a majority of the season. The RHH has amble bat speed and grinds out each at bat while harnessing the ability to play at any position in the infield and on the mound. Speaking of on the mound, Senior Ryan Leland (Ball State commit) a projectable 6-foot-3, 200-pound RHP, has the repertoire and upside to claim the most starts on the mound for the Eagles in 2019 already showing his worth as a starter last year against a myriad of tough opponents. Leland has a clean delivery and arm action that is geared toward a velocity jump as he continues to add strength.

Seniors INF/RHP Nick Skrabis and C William Wirt are two names to watch as the pair both look to carve out more playing time than they did last year. Wirt is a durable, strong back stop that has pop from the right side of the dish and Skrabis, a LHH, has loose hands at the plate and upside on the mound.

UTIL Brian Adams and INF Ian Sanders are two talented seniors that will be looked upon to claim a position and call it home in 2019. Adams played an above average right field each time seen last year making loud contact from the left side of the plate with barrel control in the zone. Sanders, a highly athletic infielder, bought into his role last season as a late innings replacement utilizing his speed and defense and should be relied upon more with multiple spots being open for the taking.

NEWCOMERS TO WATCH

Not to be too cliche, the newcomers to watch is the fresh crop of Freshman and Sophomores that have been named to the 2019 Varsity Eagles squad. Coach Morsovillo runs his program with a hard nosed style holding players accountable when needed. This can be a daunting pill to swallow for the wide-eyed underclassmen in a program that’s had such present success. The Seniors on this team will need to be ‘coaches on the field’ and handle the business needed in order to get the most out of the fresh faces.

2021 John-Michael Scumaci can range with ease on the infield dirt, possess soft, sure hands and can stick it with an advanced approach at the plate. 2021 Justin Egan is a compact, athletic  two-way player that can also range well with soft hands for his age and has rhythm in his swing with a pull side approach. Kevin Zimmer is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound Freshman that stood out at the PBR Junior Future Games in August. There is sure fire power potential in his bat and is working on his actions defensively. Perhaps the most intriguing underclassman is Jayden Comia. Nothing Comia does shows his 2022 classification. He has rhythm and moxy in his swing, is sure handed and ranges with ease on the infield and has sound mechanically behind the dish, advanced for his age.

X-FACTOR

Jimmy Rybarczyk, the No. 61 rank in the IL 2020 class, is the X-Factor heading into the Eagles 2019 campaign. The uber-athletic right-handed hitting outfielder impressed in his limited amount of playing time of last year due to a log jam of Senior on the outfield grass. He is built like a safety on the football team at 5-foot-11, 195-pounds and has easy strength in all facets of his game. We recently got a look at Rybarczyk at our Lockport Preseason ID (Video below) repeating loud contact to all fields (100 mph exit velocity), playing through the ball confidently in the OF and tossing seeds to home (88 mph OF velocity). Not to forget he can get to max speed with ease running an impressive 6.82 60-yard dash. He has all the tools to be a mainstay in the lineup for the skipper each time he runs out the starting lineup.

Jimmy Rybarczyk (2.18.19)

BOTTOM LINE

Sandburg has been battle tested each of the last three sequential playoff runs, but more so in their fourth place finish at 4A State last year. You cannot teach or mimic pressure situations quite like the state finals and with their crop of upperclassmen witnessing the allure of a jam-packed stadium and falling just short, gives a slight leg up. The Eagles upperclassmen should be more comfortable and confident in the present and will be longing to get back to that electric atmosphere. The student section and the parents and the teammates all screaming at the top of their lungs ‘for the team’ is plenty to create the drive and ‘want to’ in order to make the trip back to Joliet in early June. There will be plenty of new names to jot into the lineup card for Coach Morsovillo and he will be looking to his Seniors to usher in the young blood in order to make another deep run into the 2019 IHSA 4A State Playoffs.