The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 11, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next two weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2024 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a preseason questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Hersey Huskies
Head Coach: Wally Brownley
Classification: 4A
Conference: Mid-Suburban League
2023 Record (Finish): 29-9 (Sectional Championship appearance)
Key Players Lost: Connor Cave, Aidan Groberski, David Denten (Herkimer County CC), Tyler Naegele, Carson Naegele

 

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ROSTER PREVIEW

No. of Returning Positional Starters: Six
No. of Returning Pitchers: Seven
Team Strengths: Pitching depth, veteran leadership. 

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X-FACTORS

RHP Jeremy Allen, Kansas commit, will be looking to have another impressive year heading into his senior season. The 6-foot, 185-pound right handed pitcher was a 10 game winner last year with a 1.42 ERA in 59 innings, striking out 93 batters while limiting them to a .120 average. The right hander works with a three pitch mix, attacking hitters with a fastball sitting around 90 mph. Working off the fastball is a curveball with sharp 12/6 action in the mid 70s and a changeup in the upper 70s to low 80s that has late fading action.

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NEWCOMER TO WATCH

C/3B Mikey Sokan (2026) will be a sophomore to keep an eye on for the Huskies this year. Sokan showcased himself this year at our O’Hare Preseason ID event where offensively put up some impressive metrics; including a max distance of 322' per TrackMan and premium bat-speed (T78.3 mph). He has a chance to be an impact bat at a young age for the Huskies this spring. 

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TEAM OUTLOOK

In 2023 the Huskies won 29 games, finished first in the Mid-Suburban Conference and made it to the Super Sectional Championship game with a young roster. Now, with much of the core back but a year older, they will be looking to repeat, if not exceed their success. 

Alongside Allen, a pair of junior pitchers, Lincoln Causero (Xavier commit), and Keegan Luxem, will help to fill out the starting rotation. Causero, a 6-foot-4, 180-pounds right hander struck out 37 batters in 32 innings last year. At this year's Preseason All-State Upperclass, Causero’s fastball got up to 92 mph with easy life out of the hand and he also showed impressive off-speed offerings to pair.

RHP Lincoln Causero (Hersey, 2025) is athletic with a quick arm, and the velo ticked up over the offseason.

▪️FB: 91-92 mph (T92.3); spins over 2,500 rpm efficiently, carry/run
▪️CH: 82-83; hard arm-side action
▪️SL: 78-80

Xavier recruit#ILPAS24 | @ShooterHunt pic.twitter.com/IqcJQoyb7z

— Prep Baseball Illinois (@PrepBaseballIL) February 25, 2024

Luxem, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-handed pitcher, was second in innings with 58 as a sophomore. In those innings, Luxem went 6-2 with a 2.74 ERA and struck out 64. On the offensive side of the ball, Luxem batted .277 in 30 games and 18 RBIs. Luxem continued his impressive 2023 with an invite to represent Team Illinois at the Future Games, and he'll be a dynamic two-way presence for the Huskies once again in '24. 

Senior RHP John Balla (Southwestern Illinois JC commit) is another quality arm the Huskies will trot out. Recently showing well at the Illinois State Games, the right-hander has shown a fastball up to 87 mph with a quick arm out front, setting up a high-spinning curveball (T2820 rpm) to collect swing and miss. 

RHP Cooper Breiler (Loras commit) and RHP Matt Lemke are two more seniors that the Huskies will have adding depth to their rotation. 

Looking to take ownership of the late innings will be juniors RHP Bo Anselmi, LHP Charlie Arvanitis, LHP Bennett McNeill and LHP Riley Blackwell - as well as senior RHP Evan Fahey. 

Anselmi, a 6-foot, 212-pound right-hander, can run his fastball up to 88 mph with over 2,400 rpm, pairing with a slider in the mid-70s with over 2,500 rpm to be his out-pitch - while McNeill and Blackwell are a pair of intriuging southpaws that will both run their fasbtall into the low-80s. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the Huskey’s will have three incoming seniors who batted over .350 last year, Brandon Pflomm, Drew Phillips and Will Hickey. The three hitters combined for 87 runs batted in and 85 hits. Pflomm (2024) led the team in batting average with a .394 while appearing in 37 games and will look to carry his junior season over to help provide a veteran presence to the lineup. Hickey was tied for the most hits on the team with 46 in the 36 games he played while also batting .383 with four triples. 

SS Chuck Meister (2025) played 37 games last year as a sophomore, where he batted .368 with an OPS of 1.048.- also leading the team in home runs and doubles.  

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Find more information on the 2024 Hersey program below:

+ Follow them on X: @hersey_baseball
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 homepage

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