By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

With a busy fall schedule officially in the books, and signing day upon us, the Class of 2014 once again comes into sharp focus. Over the last 10 weeks, much has been revealed about this crop of seniors. Most notably, it has become abundantly clear that area pro scouts will have their hands full next spring, as it appears that Illinois’ draft class has the makings of being one of the best in recent years.

Aside from the amount of quality draft prospects, Illinois’ 2014 class is remarkably deep in overall talent. More and more prospects have emerged recently, with several others elevating their games to new levels. All of which has made updating and expanding Illinois’ Class of 2014 Top 250 rankings that much more difficult.

RHP Jake Godfrey (Providence Catholic HS) remains at the top spot. National scouts are quickly finding out what we’ve known for years – that Godfrey is one of the top right-handers in the country, as he has proven at nearly every national event over the summer and fall. RHP Brad Bass (Lincoln-Way Central HS) isn’t far behind Godfrey. Certainly there isn’t a more projectable right-hander in the Midwest than the 6-foot-6 Bass.

LHP Jake Latz (Lemont HS) remains at No. 3, while left-handed hitting C Evan Skoug (Libertyville HS) moves up to No. 4 after his MVP performance at Jupiter. While we’re on the topic of catchers, this class has an abundance of them: Simeon Lucas (Grant HS), Mitch Trees (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin HS), Michael Papierski (Lemont HS) and Chad Spanberger (Granite City HS) are all ranked in the top 11 of the class.

Athletic left-handed hitting OF Darius Day (Simeon HS), RHP Tanner Houck (Collinsville HS) and RHP Bryan Pall (Sandburg HS) round out the top 10. Pall, a Michigan recruit, jumps 10 spots and made himself a high-interest draft prospect after his performance in Jupiter.

Some other big risers in the updated 2014 rankings include: 3B/RHP Dylan Rosa (Providence Catholic HS), RHP Ryan Netemeyer (Mascoutah HS), OF Ryan Noda (Grant HS), RHP Bobby Pennington (Maine South HS), INF Micah Coffey (Batavia HS), OF/RHP Zac Taylor (Downers Grove South HS), and RHP David Calderon (Lincoln-Way North HS), to name a few.

A look at the top 10:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Jake Godfrey	IL	Providence Catholic	2014	RHP	Notre Dame
2	Brad Bass	IL	Lincoln-Way Central	2014	RHP	Notre Dame
3	Jake Latz	IL	Lemont	2014	LHP	LSU
4	Evan Skoug	IL	Libertyville	2014	C	Texas Christian
5	Simeon Lucas	IL	Grant Community	2014	C	Illinois State
6	Darius Day	IL	Simeon	2014	OF	Arizona
7	Tanner Houck	IL	Collinsville	2014	RHP	Missouri
8	Mitch Trees	IL	Sacred Heart Griffin	2014	C	Louisville
9	Michael Papierski	IL	Lemont	2014	C	LSU
10	Bryan Pall	IL	Sandburg	2014	RHP	Michigan

CLICK HERE to view Illinois’ Top 250 Class of 2014 Prospects