By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

The 2014 season brought us snow in late April, consistent cold and, alas, another year filled with indelible moments. It all came to a crescendo Saturday with two memorable state championship games, capped by Providence’s improbable 4A state championship.

With the end of the season comes the final 2014 Power 25 Team Rankings. With the final rankings, we look back throughout the entire season, week by week, and shape the rankings that reflect the entire season, and not just the playoffs.

After being ranked in the top five for most of the season, Lemont finishes at No. 1 – the first time all year – after the Indians’ incredible two-out seventh-inning rally over No. 4 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin to win the Class 3A state championship.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Providence endured a roller-coaster season, but got hot in the playoffs to beat No. 3 St. Rita, 4-1, in the 4A state championship game. Although the Celtics finished fifth in the Chicago Catholic Blue, they were ranked preseason No. 10. To win the state title, the Celtics beat all ranked opponents: St. Rita and Lincoln-Way North (both were No. 1 at the time), No. 8 Edwardsville, No. 18 Brother Rice and No. 22 Sandburg.

No team sat atop the rankings longer than St. Rita, which opened the season with 26 consecutive victories. The Mustangs shared the Chicago Catholic Blue title with No. 5 St. Laurence, which got knocked out of the playoffs by No. 6 Mount Carmel, the 2013 4A champion. An interesting factoid discovered by The Guru: all Chicago Catholic Blue teams, other than Loyola, were knocked out of the playoffs by a Chicago Catholic Blue opponent.

No. 7 Lincoln-Way North resided in the top 10 for most of the season, as did No. 9 Mundelein, which defeated No. 10 Glenbrook South to win a sectional title.

No. 11 South Elgin made an impressive playoff run, going from unranked for the entire season to finishing third in 4A.

No. 12 Champaign Central’s incredible run ended against SHG in the sectionals. No. 13 Lincoln-Way West ousted No. 14 Joliet Catholic in the ridiculous 3A JCA Regional.

After rolling through the regular season, which included another Southwestern Conference championship, No. 15 O’Fallon got ousted in the first round by Belleville West. No. 16 Batavia’s impressive season ended against South Elgin in sectionals.

No. 17 Libertyville, No. 18 Brother Rice, No. 19 Downers Grove South, No. 20 Lyons Township and No. 21 Minooka all had excellent seasons. No. 23 Metamora rallied late to earn third place in 3A, the school’s first state finish, while No. 24 Grayslake Central took home its third 3A state trophy in six years. No. 25 Prairie Ridge finished fourth in 4A.

Looking back to our preseason Top 75 teams, we were on the mark with most. The only team we didn’t have ranked in the preseason was South Elgin. In the final rankings, we included the team’s preseason rank.

The 2014 season marked our 10^th season comprehensively covering Illinois high school baseball. Despite the weather, it was another memorable campaign.

CLICK HERE to view the final Top 25 Power Team Rankings.

CLICK HERE to view the preseason Top 75 Team Rankings.