By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the Top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage:

Team: Mahomet-Seymour
Preseason Rank: 50
2014 Record: 26-6
Conference: Corn Belt
IHSA Class:  3A
Head Coach: Nic DiFilippo
Playoff Run: Lost in Regional Final
2014 Final Rank: Not Ranked 

Returning Starters: 6
Returning Pitchers: 4

TOP PLAYERS
Name, Position, Class (College Commitment)
Jack Rettig, LHP/1B, 2015 (Illinois State)
Joe Kenney, SS/RHP, 2015 (St. Joseph’s College)
Tom Kenney, OF, 2016
Brooks Coetzee, OF/RHP, 2018
Nick McHale, INF, 2016
Alex Jackson, 2016

X-FACTOR
Jack Rettig. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound athlete will be counted on to anchor the staff and produce in the middle of the lineup, as he did last season as a junior.

NEWCOMER TO WATCH
Brooks Coetzee. Athletic freshman should make an impact in the outfield.

KEY PLAYER LOST
Cully Day, OF/P (Parkland College)

OUTLOOK
The Bulldogs ascended into the Top 25 for part of the season last year, en route to winning the Corn Belt Conference championship. With six returners back from last year’s 26-win club, the Bulldogs should again be formidable. The core of the club returns, headlined by Rettig and the Kenney brothers, Joe and Thomas. Joe Kenney will once again anchor the middle infield and the middle of the lineup, in addition to providing a strike-throwing No. 2 behind Rettig. Coach Nic DiFilippo lost two outfielders from last year, but look for freshman Brooks Coetzee to step in.

BOTTOM LINE
The Bulldogs should defend their Corn Belt Conference crown and once again be one of the top teams in Central Illinois. But just like last year, they will likely run into Champaign Central early in the Class 3A playoffs.