Final Illinois Power 25 Team Rankings

With the conclusion of this past weekend’s State Tournaments, we’ve compiled our Illinois Power 25 Final Team Rankings. It’s important to note that our rankings are not necessarily a final reflection of what happened during the playoffs, but rather take into account the entire season, including conference races.

That being said, winning a state title can take precedence and it certainly did this season. No. 1 Plainfield East capped off their improbable and impressive playoff run with an impressive 6-5 win to capture the 4A State Title. 

Three teams; Plainfield East, O’Fallon and Hononegah ended the season in the Top-5 of the power rankings after spending the entire season outside the Power 25.

Seven teams in the final Top-16 of the rankings were ranked within the Top-12 in our Preseason Power 25 countdown. 

One team that was overlooked throughout the season and proved their worth at the state playoffs was 2A Freeburg. No. 7 Freeburg, who played some of the top teams in the metro St. Louis area, regardless of class, impressed in the 2A State Finals, taking down No. 11 Normal University in the semi-finals and then breezing to the 2A title with a 12-0 win. Freeburg was led by power hitting 2021 1B/RHP Colin Brueggemann (Johnson County CC commit). Entering the state finals Brueggemann was hitting .472 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs and 59 RBI’s. They finished the season with a 36-3 record.

Below we take a look at the Top 5 teams in Illinois come season’s end.

+ No. 1: Plainfield East (19-15): The Bengals, led by head coach Adam O’Reel, saved their best baseball of the season for playoff time, riding arguably the best 1-2-3 on the mound that the state had to offer in LHP Brady Louck (2023 Notre Dame commit), RHP Gavin Schmitt (2021 Illinois commit) and RHP/SS Christian Mitchelle (2022 uncommitted). Louck was a bonafide ace during the playoffs, dominating a Brother Rice lineup in the Super-Sectionals that was one of the deepest and most talented lineups in the state. Louck then backed up that performance with another gem in the 4A State Semi-Final against Hononegah. Louck, a left-handed hitter, also sparked the lineup from the leadoff spot and was a key producer in the championship with two extra base hits to lead the Bengals. 

One of the more remarkable stats about the Bengals 2021 Championship season is that they started the season with a 5-12 record, finishing the season on a 14-3 run, going a perfect 7-0 in the playoffs with wins over Lake Park, Hononegah, Brother Rice, Yorkville, Neuqua Valley, Plainfield Central and Oswego.

CLICK HERE for the 4A Championship game story. 

+ No. 2 Lake Park (33-5): The Lancers, led by head coach Dan Colucci, were the definition of consistency throughout the season and ended up taking home the second-place trophy in Class 4A. They entered the Power 25 after the first update of the season and gradually worked their way to the No. 2 season ending ranking. The Lancers were led by two senior IHSBCA All-Stater’s, SS Chris Worcester (EIU commit) and LHP/LHH Jackson Kent (Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit). Worcester hit over .500 on the season, was a leader on the diamond and Kent served as the team's ace throughout the season and added punch in the middle of the lineup. Another key contributor to one of the most balanced, talented teams in state was junior CF/LHP Mason Baer (UIC commit). Baer got off to a torrid start to the season, earning PBR Player of the Week honors and was a mainstay at the top of the order. Lake Park also won a tough DuKane Conference regular season title with a conference record of 18-3.

+ No. 3 Springfield (31-5): The Senators, led by head coach Jim Steinwart, took home the 3A State Championship. In the Championship contest, the Senators stormed back from a 6-0 deficit to knock off Prairie Ridge 8-7. Springfield had a solid blend of youth and experience throughout the lineup but it was clear that senior SS/C/RHP Ben Hartl (Heartland CC commit) was the key to the team's success. The ultra-talented, versatile Hartl, is a natural catcher but played SS throughout the year out of necessity and was also a key arm out of the bullpen, who was used twice in the State Finals day. Hartl came through multiple times in the playoffs, including a bases-clearing triple that tied the game in the championship.

3A State Finals

‘21 Ben Hartl (@HCC_Hawks commit) continues to do it all for Springfield.

His bases clearing triple ⬇️ just tied the game at 7. @SHSSports still hitting with one out in the T6. pic.twitter.com/v6fhLC9VRz

— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) June 18, 2021

Springfield also was particularly strong on the mound with only one of their seven arms coming into the state finals with an ERA over 3.00. Marc Black and Joseph Crum both struck out over 40 batters in 35 innings pitched or less. Richie Snider, a senior Illinois-Springfield commit, seemingly saved his best game of the season for his relief appearance in the state championship contest. Snider, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound, right-hander sat 88-90 mph early in his appearance and ended up going five innings of one-hit, shutout baseball, while striking out nine and no walks.  

This was the second 3A State Finals appearance since 2016 when they finished second.

+ No. 4 O’Fallon (26-10): The Panthers, led by head coach Joe Bauer, are yet another team who started playing their best baseball towards the end of the season. On May 6th, the Panthers sat at 7-6 on the season after a loss to Alton. Since that point they went 19-4, earning the third-place trophy at the 4A State Finals. O’Fallon’s playoff run included a number of impressive wins. After shutting out Quincy and Granite City, O’Fallon took down No. 14 Edwardsville 4-1, a streaking Joliet West club 6-3 and No. 20 Providence Catholic 9-4 in the Super-Sectionals. At 4A state, they lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to No. 2 Lake Park in extra innings and took down No. 5 Hononegah 6-4 to take home third place. O’Fallon had all kinds of youth in the lineup with three sophomores in the everyday lineup and a number of juniors. Uncommitted, 2022 RHP Mike Larson’s emergence as an ace of the staff helped spur the late season push by the Panthers. The future is bright for coach Bauer’s club and they should enter the 2022 season as one of the top teams in the Southern part of the state.

+ No. 5 Hononegah (26-4): The Indians, led by head coach Matt Simpson, were riding a 19-game winning streak entering the 4A State Finals. A couple of tough, tight games led to a 4A fourth-place finish and a spot at No. 5 in the final power 25 rankings. Impressively, the only two losses on the Indians' record entering the playoffs were both 3-2 losses; one to No. 6 Huntley and the other to Rockford Boylan. On the mound, Hononegah was led by Ryan Anderson and Scott Porter who were 9-0 and 11-0 on the mound entering the state finals. Anderson twirled 58 innings, gave up 26 hits, four earned runs, struck out 71, walked 20 and pitched to a 0.48 ERA. Porter threw 42 innings, gave up 30 hits, 20 walks, struck out 39 and pitched to a 1.82 ERA. 

Offensively, senior catcher Noah Goddard (McHenry County CC commit), led the way and came through with a number of clutch swings throughout their playoff run. The right-handed hitter was hitting .512 with 14 doubles, two triples and five home runs entering the finals. Bryce Goodwine, and Gabe Roessler (Madison JC commit) were two other offensive producers who both entered the finals with double digit doubles. The Sayles brothers, ‘21 Braden (.423 BA) and ‘22 Dylan (.397 BA) also played big offensive roles throughout the season. This was the first-ever state trophy for coach Simpson in his 16 year’s at Hononegah.

FINAL TOP 10

CLICK HERE to view the final Illinois Power 25 Team Rankings.

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