By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Illinois’ Class of 2014 continues to get deeper. Over the last two months, more and more seniors have emerged in what is turning out to be one of the state’s most talented classes in recent years.

What’s especially exciting about the 2014 class is it has good depth at all positions, which isn’t always the case, and it also features high-end depth. No doubt Midwest pro scouts will be spending a chunk of their time in Illinois this spring. Now let’s all collectively hope there will be games to be played in less than a month.

Nevertheless, if anyone reading or typing this article has the power to influence weather, you or I wouldn’t be reading or typing this article. We would be doing something more important, like solving debt crises, preventing world hunger, taming warring nations, or fixing the Power Ball numbers.

Alas, we can only do what we can do. In this instance, we will take a closer look at the updated 2014 Illinois player rankings.

Not much has changed at the top. RHPs Jake Godfrey (Providence Catholic HS) and Brad Bass (Lincoln-Way Central HS) still head the list. As we’ve said before, the crop of catchers are uncannily good, and that fact was reflected at the Super 60 and, ultimately, in the rankings. No. 3 Evan Skoug (Libertyville HS), No. 4 Simeon Lucas (Grant HS), No. 8 Mitch Trees (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin HS), No. 9 Michael Papierski (Lemont HS) and No. 10 Chad Spanberger (Granite City HS) are all catchers ranked in the state’s top 10.

RHP Tanner Houck (Collinsville HS) jumps two spots after the 6-foot-5 Missouri recruit’s electric bullpen at the Super 60. Rounding out the top 10 include LHP Jake Latz (Lemont HS) and OF/LHP Darius Day (Simeon HS).

All the aforementioned names have been mentioned a lot over the last 12 months. Some lesser-mentioned prospects that have made significant leaps in the updated 250 rankings include: LHP Marko Boricich (Mount Carmel HS), OF Cody Carroll (Glenbrook South HS), MIF Luke Johnson (Lake Forest HS), MIF Nate Tholl (St. Laurence HS), RHP Max Novak (Geneva HS), and RHP Doug Van Dyke (Bartlett HS), to name a few.

See for yourself. 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	Evan Skoug	IL	Libertyville	2014	C	Texas Christian
4	Simeon Lucas	IL	Grant Community	2014	C	Illinois State
5	Tanner Houck	IL	Collinsville	2014	RHP	Missouri
6	Jake Latz	IL	Lemont	2014	LHP	LSU
7	Darius Day	IL	Simeon	2014	OF	Arizona
8	Mitch Trees	IL	Sacred Heart Griffin	2014	C	Louisville
9	Michael Papierski	IL	Lemont	2014	C	LSU
10	Chad Spanberger	IL	Granite City	2014	C	Arkansas

CLICK HERE to view Top 250 Illinois 2014 Player Rankings