By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Illinois’ Class of 2015 has the makings of being a special class, one filled with potentially high-level draft prospects and significant college-level depth throughout.

Over the course of the high school season and June, we’ve seen an incredible amount of baseball. We’ve seen some meteoric rises and hundreds of previously unknown names from all over the state, all of which has led to significant shakeups in our updated and expanded Class of 2015 prospect rankings.

 Our updated Top 100 2015 rankings feature players from all corners of the state with high levels of ability. While several familiar names still populate the top 10, many new names have emerged. Already 12 rising juniors have pledged their college commitments – clearly the most in the Prep Baseball Report nine-state coverage area – including seven of the top 10 players.

Athletic left-handed hitting SS Charlie Donovan (Westmont HS) once again heads the list. But not by much. RHP/1B Trent Johnson (Metamora HS), an Arizona recruit who recently earned PBR first-team All-State honors, is right there at No. 2, followed by the multi-dimensional RHP/OF/C Nick Dalesandro (Joliet Catholic Academy HS), who pitched a complete-game victory in the Class 3A championship game. When it’s all said and done, No. 4 LHP Kyle Ostrowski (Lincoln-Way North HS) very well may be the highest draft prospect in the class.

3B Willy Bourbon (Stevenson HS), a strong and athletic left-handed hitter, rounds out the top five, followed by RHP Jeremy Orbik (Homewood-Flossmoor HS), who has as high of a ceiling as anyone in the class.

A pair of highly athletic outfielders – Josh Stowers (Mount Carmel HS) and Chris Botsoe (Hinsdale Central HS) – are both verbally committed to Louisville and have risen into the top 10. RHP Brad Parchutz (Marian Central Catholic HS) and left-handed hitting SS Cole Daily (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin HS) round out the top 10, with LHP Brett Newberg (Moline HS) right behind.

Defending Class 4A state champion Mount Carmel has three players in the top 20: No. 7 Stowers, No. 15 2B Ako Thomas and No. 19 1B Malik Carpenter. In all, the Caravan have a remarkable seven 2015 prospects ranked in the top 100.

Players who have made significant leaps over the last three months include: LHP Mitchell Townsend (Libertyville HS), OF/RHP Ryan Sargent (Jacobs HS), 1B/LHP Cory Wright (St. Charles North HS), C Jesse Forestell (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, C David Craan (Whitney Young HS), LHP Kyle Shimp (Yorkville HS), C Wyatt Mascarella (Cary-Grove HS), OF Eric Giltz (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), OF Jimmy Perkins (Cary-Grove HS), RHP Shane Ritter (Plainfield South HS), and SS Tyler Engel (VIT HS), to name a few.

Enough reading about it. See for yourself.

Updated Class of 2015 Top 100 Player Rankings