Updated Illinois Power 25 Rankings

Today marks the fifth Power 25 update of the season after another busy week of games. Brother Rice, the No. 1 team in the state over the last few weeks, traveled down to Louisville last week and suffered their first losses of the season; two, one-run losses to St. Xavier, one of the top programs in Kentucky. As a result, the Crusaders dropped two spots to No. 3 in Illinois and currently sit at 18-2 on the year. 

Your top two programs in the state, No. 1 Edwardsville and No. 2 St. Laurence remained undefeated with a number of quality wins under their belt. 

Perhaps the most impressive climb comes from Belleville East, who jumped into the top-10 on our rankings for the first time after a perfect 5-0 week that featured two integral wins in conference play. The Lancers are an all-around threat right now, with an offense that features multiple streaking bats and one of the state’s more dominant pitching units at the moment. 

Check out the rest of the movement in the Power 25 below.

CLIMBING

+ No. 1 Edwardsville (19-0): The Tigers vault up to the top spot in our rankings, having not lost a game all season to this point. Their resume on the year is impressive, with wins over Huntley, New Trier, Lincoln-Way East, Columbia, St. Rita, and Sacred Heart Griffin under their belt. This past week, Edwardsville took all five of their contests, sweeping Alton rather handedly while beating both Liberty and Liberty North. The Tigers will look to keep their undefeated season alive this upcoming week, drawing Belleville West and Civic Memorial. 

+ No. 2 St. Laurence (19-0): The Vikings’ offense has been one of the state’s most lethal units all season long, erupting for 10 or more runs in 15 of their 19 games, and they’re up three spots in this most recent update. They scored 38 runs in total last week and allowed only 10, anchored by OF Luke Stulga (2023) and OF Angelo Luna (2022; Illinois-Springfield), who appear to be slugging their way to potential all-conference first team honorees in the Chicago Catholic League - Blue thus far. St. Laurence has a tough week on the horizon, with conference games against Providence Catholic and Mount Carmel this week and a non-conference matchup against Marist on Friday. 

+ No. 5 Belleville East (18-2): Belleville East has steadily climbed over the last few weeks, starting at 16th and rising to 11th, now occupying the fifth spot in these rankings. The Lancers have been successful in all aspects this year, posting prodigious numbers on both sides of the ball. They have four players with 70-plus plate appearances under their belt that are batting above .400: INF Micah Georgian (2022), OF Kannon Walker (2022; Lake Land JC), 3B Joseph Mendiola (2023) and C Patrick Mendiola (2023). Their pitching staff is anchored by RHP Zander Mueth (2023; Ole Miss), but RHP Owen Kelly (2023), RHP Ean DiPasquale (2023), RHP Dylan Mannino (2023), and the aforementioned Walker have all posted sub-1.50 ERAs across 25+ innings each. The Lancers will draw their toughest assignments of the season in the coming weeks, with Edwardsville and Breese Central on the horizon. 

+ No. 8 St. Charles East (10-1-1): The Saints returned back to the Power 25 in the previous update after spending two weeks off of it, and now rise four spots to eighth after winning all four of their games last week. They swept through Glenbard North, outscoring them 40-5, and beat Wheaton Warrenville South 8-2 as well. With their offense clicking how it is right now and both LHP Gavin Sitarz (2022; Michigan State) and RHP Nathan Hayes (2022; North Dakota State football) at the top of their rotation, the Saints are playing like one of the state’s most dangerous teams right now. 

+ No. 10 Lincoln-Way East (12-4): Rising up seven spots are the Griffins, who split with Lockport and defeated Minooka 13-2 on the weak. Even with four losses this year, Lincoln-Way East still has plenty of potency and talent scattered throughout their roster. Strong weeks from OF Alex Stanwich (2022; Tennessee) and INF Tyler Bell (2024; Pittsburgh) at the plate, followed by a 10-strikeout outing from 3B/RHP Zachary Kwasny (2023), paved the way for the Griffins’ success this past week. Key matchups with Lincoln-Way West, Providence Catholic, and Homewood-Flossmoor loom, but Lincoln-Way East is trending upward right now. 

+ No. 13 Lincoln-Way West (10-2-1): Three wins and a tie have the Warriors up six spots and trending in the right direction for a key matchup against Lincoln-Way East this week. Their offense showed what it’s capable of all week, scoring 51 runs across their four games, including a 21-run outburst against Oak Park-River Forest. The Warriors offense is in good hands with their middle-of-the-order trio of OF Cole Crafton (2024; Louisville), C/3B Kaleb Wilkey (2023), and C/OF Harrison Scroggins (2022) leading the charge. 

+ No. 14 Barrington (12-1-2): A tight-knit victory over New Trier, two-game sweep of Conant, and a 5-1 win over Fremd capped off a successful week for the Broncos, who climbed up seven spots in this update. Barrington hasn’t lost since Hononegah walked them off on April 6th, having rattled off seven straight wins and a tie in that span. 

+ No. 18 Minooka (14-4): Despite a loss to Lincoln-Way East, the Indians climb five spots up our Power 25 board after sweeping Oswego in a three-game set and outscoring their conference foes 16-6. Three games against Oswego East, including a matchup with RHP Ashton Izzi (2022; Wichita State) today, and one with Plainfield South is what Minooka has coming up this week. 

+ No. 20 Evanston (11-3): The Wildkits move up a couple of spots to No. 20 in the rankings thanks to a strong three-win week, taking down Maine West (10-2), New Trier (2-1) and Highland Park (10-7). Before their 8-5 loss to New Trier this week, Evanston rattled off eight straight wins and looked to be one of the hotter teams in the state at the time, and still deserve to be considered as such thanks to an abundance of losses from other teams throughout the state.

SINKING

+ No. 7 Huntley (13-2): The Red Raiders started the year in our No. 1 position and now find themselves at No. 7 after a tough 5-1 loss to Jacobs this past week. The loss of C/OF Ryan Bakes (South Carolina, 2023) doesn’t make it any easier for Huntley, as they will be without their star player for the remainder of the spring season. Despite the loss of Bakes, their lineup is potent - not to mention the plethora of arms they have at their disposal. Adding both of these components together still makes Huntley one of the more dangerous teams in the state, and they could easily make a charge back up the rankings in the coming weeks.

+ No. 12 Mundelein (12-3): Even with two key losses to Libertyville last week, the Mustangs stayed inside the top-15, dropping six spots to 12th. They still own an incredibly talented roster from top to bottom, featuring a lethal one-two punch atop their pitching staff of RHP Ryan Geraghty (2023; Wichita State) and RHP Bennett Musser (2023). Mundelein has a busy week which includes games against Lake Zurich, Deerfield, and Lane Tech. 

+ No. 15 Mount Carmel (15-5-1): Rising up eight spots after winning three games two weeks ago, the Caravan dropped again in this update after an up-and-down 1-1-1 week, which now has them at No. 15 in the state. They started the week off with a tie against Oak Lawn, defeated Montini 12-4 the next day before dropping a 4-3 contest against Evergreen Park via walk-off fashion. The Caravan will have their biggest challenge of the season this week as they have two games against No. 3 Brother Rice and two against No. 2 St. Laurence. 

+ No. 16 Nazareth (14-4): The Roadrunners fall seven spots after a 2-2 week. They split with Marist to start things off on Tuesday and followed that up with an 11-2 victory over Glenbrook North on Wednesday before falling to Carmel on Saturday, 4-3. The roster still features an abundance of underclass talent with a plethora of arms. A two game set against conference-foe Joliet Catholic awaits to start the week. 

+ No. 18 O’Fallon (14-4): Two losses to the new No. 5 team in the Power 25, Belleville East (5-1 & 1-0), results in the Panthers slipping eight spots to No. 18 in our Power 25. Their one win was a 5-2 victory over Marion at home. O’Fallon will look to bounce back this week with four non-conference games.

NEW TO POWER 25

+ No. 11 Libertyville (15-5): Libertyville makes their first appearance in the Power 25 this spring thanks to a perfect 3-0 week, sweeping previously-ranked No. 6 Mundelein 7-6 and 3-1, while also capturing a 3-0 win over Vernon Hills. The Wildcats have been on a tear recently after starting the season with a 6-4 record, going 9-1 in their last 10 games and finding themselves in the No. 11 position to start the week. One of the hottest teams in the state will look to keep it going this week with two conference games against Lake Forest to start it off.

+ No. 21 Normal University (13-5): Normal University did not get off to the start we expected; initially starting the season at No. 3 in the Power 25 and eventually falling out completely. They find themselves back in the mix at No. 21 thanks to a perfect 5-0 week which saw wins over Eisenhower (17-0), Springfield Southeast (10-0), Joliet Catholic (5-4), Bloomington Central Catholic (8-1) and Williamsville (12-0). The Pioneers are starting to settle in and given their arms, should have a chance to beat any team in the state on any given day.

+ No. 22 Glenwood (14-4): Three wins this past week and some previous wins over tough opponents proved to be enough for Glenwood to find a spot in our rankings, coming in at No. 22 this week. Glenwood turned in some dominant wins this past week, knocked off Pleasant Plains by the score of 18-1 and Lanphier 15-0. They have one of the most highly regarded pitcher/catcher combinations in the state; with RHP Parker Detmers (Louisville, 2023) taking the mound every week and C Will Plattner (Wabash Valley, 2022) leading the charge offensively. 

+ No. 23 Triad (17-3): The Knights have rattled off 12 straight wins and now find themselves slotted at No. 23 in our Power 25 rankings for the first time all year. Their only losses came early in the year, dropping a 13-12 contest against a tough Naperville Central club and losing to Glenwood and O’Fallon 5-2 and 5-1, respectively. Triad proves to be yet another talented club from Southern Illinois who is no stranger to postseason success in 3A.

+ No. 24 St. Joseph-Ogden (19-2): St. Joseph-Ogden, who comes in at No. 24 this week looks to have one of the toughest teams in Central Illinois. The Spartans, who currently sit at 19-2 on the season, rattled off five wins this past week to extend their winnings streak to 11 games, with wins over Prairie Central (14-0), Oakwood (10-2), Pontiac (7-1), Illinois Valley Central (11-1) and Illinois Valley Central (17-7). Southwestern Illinois JC commit and right-handed pitcher Tyler Altenbaumer seems to have picked up right where he left off from last season, proving to be one of the more talented right-handers in the state and leading the Spartans staff on a weekly basis. 

+ No. 25 Washington (17-4): The Panthers find themselves in the Power 25 for the first time this season after taking down No. 22 Morton in a two game stretch; winning by the scores of 1-0 and 6-4. Washington has a legitimate one-two punch atop their rotation; headed by RHP/INF Easton Harris (Parkland, 2022) and LHP Gus Lucas (Bradley, 2022). Lucas and Harris are also proving to be catalysts in the middle of the lineup for the Panthers, with Harris batting .381 on the year and Lucas leading the team with a .413 batting average.

DROPPED OUT

+ Naperville Central (10-4)
+ Oak Park-River Forest (8-6)
+ Hinsdale Central (9-4)
+ Glenbrook North (11-3)
+ Morton (14-3)
+ Homewood-Flossmoor (10-6)

JUST MISSED THE CUT

+ Hononegah (7-1)
+ Lemont (12-3)
+ South Elgin (11-1)
+ Maroa-Forsyth (18-0)
+ Grayslake Central (13-2)
+ Champaign Central (16-3)
+ Mahomet-Seymour (13-3)
+ Willowbrook (12-3)
+ Joliet Catholic (13-6)
+ Bloomington (15-4)
+ Mascoutah (15-4)
+ Warren (12-3)
+ Riverside-Brookfield (14-2)
+ Richmond-Burton (17-3)
+ Paris (18-2)

UPDATED TOP 10

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