2019 Illinois Player of the Year: St. Laurence C/RHP Matt McCormick

With the 3A/4A state tournaments coming to an end last weekend, we have finally concluded the 2019 Illinois high school baseball season. Along with the end of the season comes the many accolades that will be announced in the coming weeks. One of those accolades is the PBR Illinois Player of the Year, and while there were many players who had huge spring seasons, there was a familiar face that stuck out above the rest.

Prep Baseball Report is excited to announce that the 2019 Illinois player of the year is St. Laurence senior catcher and West Virginia commit, Matt McCormick. With this announcement, McCormick makes Illinois high school baseball history, becoming the first ever player to win multiple PBR Illinois Player of the Year awards -- let alone winning them back-to-back. McCormick is no stranger to accolades, and he will add this one to a long list of honors he’s received -- including being a 2019 MLB Draft pick, a three-time 1st Team All-State recipient, a 2018 1st Team All-American, and the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year recipient. 

McCormick did it all on the baseball field this spring. He was a dominant and feared bat in the middle of the order for St. Laurence, he was lights-out as the team’s closer, and he was the anchor for the defense at the catcher position -- throwing out 10 runners on the year and committing no errors. He was a big reason why St. Laurence had such a successful postseason run, making it all the way to the 3A state title game before being knocked off by Montini.

At the plate, McCormick hit for power and average, while striking out only nine times in 157 plate appearances. He slashed an impressive .419/.563/.810, good for an OPS of 1.380. The 6-foot, 205-pound also added 51 RBI’s including 22 total extra-base-hits and nine home runs. McCormick didn’t shy away when the lights shone brightest either, as his numbers were even better in conference play. What makes it all the more impressive is that St. Laurence is a part of the Chicago Catholic League (CCL), arguably the best conference in the state. In 36 conference at-bats, McCormick picked up 19 hits and slashed .528/.638/1.029, leading his team to a 12-3 record in conference.

McCormick had a chance to help the team on the mound this season more so than in past years, and he did not disappoint. As the team’s closer, he was 10/10 on save opportunities and pitched his way to a 1.47 ERA -- striking out 24 batters in 19 innings of work. He continued his CCL dominance on the rubber, allowing only one earned-run on 8 ⅔ innings of work.

With the end of the 2019 season, McCormick’s historic high school career will come to a close. Over the past four years, McCormick has been a main cog in the varsity lineup for St. Laurence, and while it will be bittersweet knowing we will no longer be covering him at a prep level, we are very excited for what is in store for his baseball career in the future. McCormick was fortunate enough to here is name called in the 2019 MLB draft, selected in the 40th round by the Cincinnati Reds. 

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