By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

Early February and snow is on the ground.  Perfect time to get out the old crystal ball and take a look ahead to the exciting upcoming 2013 Illinois high school baseball season. Opening Day on March 11 is a little over a month away.

Let’s take a look at what I foresee to be some contenders to take home some state championship hardware in June …

When you have a 31-4 season in 2012 and return a third-team PBR All-State pitcher, one of the best catchers, centerfielders, and shortstops in the state in 2013, people will take notice. Add a second-team All-State transfer and three other returning front-line players and people really will notice.

That’s what Lincoln-Way North head coach Joe Skarbek has returning for the 2013 season. Senior RHP Mike Miller (SIU Edwardsville) went 9-1 with a 1.26 ERA last spring to garner PBR third-team All-State status. The Phoenix also added another All-Stater this summer, when senior RHP/SS Kevin Smith (Creighton) transferred to Frankfortfrom Catholic League Blue power St. Laurence. Smith, a PBR second-team All-State Utility selection, went 8-1 with a 1.45 ERA for the Vikings. Smith hit .368 with four homers and drove in 30 and played a stellar shortstop for the Vikings.

Senior C Ryan Pellack handles the deep Phoenix pitching staff. Pellack, a .400 hitter at the plate, provides offensive punch for the Griffins. Senior CF Corey Krupske may be the best defensive centerfielder in the state. Blessed with great speed and an uncanny ability to get a great jump on a batted ball, he reminds me of the St. Rita ‘10 multi-PBR All-Stater, Mark Payton. Payton, now a junior, has had a stellar career at Texas. Krupske (Oakton C.C.) as the Phoenix leadoff man sets the table for North’s attack

Senior shortstop Josh Handzik (St. Joseph’s College) is a vacuum at short and few turn the twin-killing any better than Josh. 

Another team to look out for in 2013 is an old familiar name, Lyons Township.

The Lions lost a heart-breaking 4-3 Class 4A state championship game to West Suburban Silver rival Oak Park-River Forest last June.

To use the old cliché, they don’t rebuild at LT; they reload. In late-July, LT head coach George Ushela and his Lions won their fourth IHSBCA/Phil Lawler Summer State Championship defeating Joliet Catholic Academy. Led by senior PBR first-team All-State RHP/3B Keith Lehmann (Michigan) and 2012 IHSBCA/ Jack Kaiser MVP senior OF Mike Lorenz (St. Joseph’s College), the Lions could once again could be in Joliet in June. IHSBCA/Phil Lawler All-Tournament SS Stewart Nelson (Evansville) provides a great glove and speed.

Chicago Simeon (31-8 in 2012) will make another run in 2013, to be the first Chicago Public League representative to take home the state championship trophy since Chicago Hubbard won the 1973 Illinois State Baseball Championship. The Wolverines lost a heart-breaking 1-0 Class 3A Crestwood Super-Sectional contest to eventual 3A king-pin Marian Catholic.

Head coach Leroy Franklin is loaded again in 2013 headed by Louisville-bound senior CF Cory Ray. Ray, a PBR first-team All-Stater, in 2012, hit .439 with 5 homers and 35 RBI for the Chicago Public League champions.

The Wolverine pitching staff will be led by junior ace RHP Darius Day (8-1). Day, currently ranked fourth in the PBR Class of 2014, suffered his lone loss in the aforementioned Super-Sectional game. The run was unearned and he concluded 2012 with a miniscule 0.82 ERA.

Four other Division-1 recruits also return for the Wolverines. Vanderbilt-bound senior 2B Ronnell Coleman and senior SS Marshawn Taylor (EIU) may be the best Keystone Combo in the state. Alcorn State-bound C/RHP Elbert Dunnigan and 3B Robert Fletcher, will provide a lot of pop for the Wolverines drive to Joliet.

Hey, I haven’t mentioned a Chicago Catholic League Blue Division team…. yet……..Mount Carmel head coach Brian Hurry’s Caravan ripped off 23-consecutive games to start off the 2012 season. The Caravan fell to LT in the Class 4A Mount Carmel Sectional to conclude a sensational 32-6 season in 2012.

Led by University of Oregon-bound senior SS Jerry Houston and six returning position players, look for the Caravan to make a serious run at the Catholic Blue title and beyond in 2013. Senior LHP Jeremy Kravetz (Kansas) and senior RHP Jason Gasser (8-0) anchor the solid Caravan pitching staff. Junior LHP Austin Dodson, who shutout Providence last season, also returns.  Senior C Tommy Hayes is a quality receiver behind the plate for the Caravan. Oakton C.C. senior 2B Justin Gonzales has a solid glove and is a solid clutch hitter.

Joliet Catholic Academy, 29-8-1 and No. 1 for most of 2012, was stunned by

Lincoln-Way West and 6-foot-3, 215 pound freshman RHP Steve Skolarz, in the sectionals, last spring. JCA head coach Jared Voss and his Hillltoppers rebounded and went 19-3 and finished second to Lyons Township in the 2012 IHSBCA/Phil Lawler Summer State Championship Game in July at Benedictine University in Lisle.

With senior SS/3B Chris Tschida, who garnered PBR second-team All-State honors in 2012 returning, look for the Hillltoppers to be one of the state’s elite in 2013. Tschida hit .495 with three homers and 33 RBI in 2012.

Also returning in 2013 is senior C Alex Voitik (Holy Cross) and hard-hitting senior 1B Ryan Peter. Sophomore RHP Nick Dalesandro (Purdue),senior RHP’s Sam Couch, Cal Placher, and LHP Matt Testa, give the Hilltoppers a formidable pitching rotation for 2013.

Others to watch in 2013 include Big 12 powers Normal West and Bloomington. Perennial Catholic Blue powers St. Rita, Providence and St. Laurence are loaded again. Defending Class 4A state champion Oak Park-River Forest will be tough. Downstate powers Edwardsville, Harrisburg, O’ Fallon and Teutopolis will all be in the hunt for their respective conference championships and beyond.

Maine South, Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central, Minooka, New Trier, Moline, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, Downers Grove South, Sandburg, Plainfield North, Lockport, and Rock Island Alleman are potential preseason Super 50 teams. Stay tuned.