Wed March 23, 2016
By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director
Now that the 2016 rankings have been analyzed and revised we move on to the 2017 class. Taking into consideration the late fall, winter season and events such as the Preseason All-State scouted over the last couple of months, we have updated the Illinois 2017 rankings once again.
Over that time we have seen players we were familiar with and plenty of new prospects who emerged. This has caused a good amount of reshuffling to the rankings. It has also allowed us to expand the new list from 125 to 175 prospects. The top of the junior class remains strong with plenty of arms finding their way into the Top 10.
With that being said the No. 1 player in Illinois remains, C Cal Greenfield (St. Rita HS), a Florida recruit. Greenfield solidified himself this winter at the Preseason All-State where he was the Top Overall Prospect. He is a physical right-handed hitter with juice in his bat. Routinely made hard contact with backspin. Defensively, he features a plus arm with carry and throws stay true.
Coming in at No. 4 is RHP Glenn Albanese (Batavia HS), a Louisville recruit. Albanese was another standout at the Preseason All-State event in February. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander has an easy, loose arm and features three-above average offerings. Fastball was 85-88 mph at the event with arm-side-run and sharp command to both sides of the plate.
Another RHP, Mark Diluia (Marian Catholic HS), a Maryland commit, jumped up to the No. 6 spot. Diluia continues to impress with his polish on the mound and profiles as a high end starting pitcher. His command, mound presence and stuff is well beyond his years. He has feel for four pitches and his delivery is athletic and repeatable. His arm works clean, loose and easy.
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Commitment |
| 1 | Cal Greenfield | IL | St. Rita | 2017 | C | Florida |
| 2 | Brady Corrigan | IL | Plainfield North | 2017 | RHP | Arizona State |
| 3 | Reid Detmers | IL | Nokomis | 2017 | LHP | Louisville |
| 4 | Glenn Albanese | IL | Batavia | 2017 | RHP | Louisville |
| 5 | Austin Marozas | IL | Plainfield South | 2017 | RHP | Mississippi State |
| 6 | Mark DiLuia | IL | Marian Catholic | 2017 | RHP | Maryland |
| 7 | Bobby Miller | IL | McHenry West | 2017 | RHP | Louisville |
| 8 | Ryan Eiermann | IL | Naperville Central | 2017 | LHP | Texas Christian |
| 9 | Erik Kaiser | IL | Waterloo | 2017 | RHP | Vanderbilt |
| 10 | Joe Donovan | IL | Westmont | 2017 | C | Michigan |
Keep an eye out the rest of this week for a further breakdown of the updated 2017 rankings. We will take a look at several of the top new prospects on the list and some of the biggest risers. Also, 2017 state ranking updates are taking place around our coverage area and overall rankings will be updated in the near future. Stay tuned the next couple of weeks to find out how Illinois fits into the overall picture.
CLICK HERE for complete 2017 Illinois Rankings.
