By Ryan Quigley
Illinois Scouting Director

Over the next few weeks in addition to highlighting the Top 10 Player Profiles of 2014, we will also highlight the Top Ten Stories in Illinois High School Baseball during the 2014 calendar year.

No. 5 Jake Godfrey commits to LSU

Jake Godfrey, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-handed pitcher was the No. 1 ranked player in Illinois’ 2014 class for much of the last year. Godfrey started slow in the spring of 2014, but eventually heated up with the weather, leading Providence to a Class 4A State Championship, saving his best stuff for the end of the season. The Celtics’ workhorse dominated down the stretch, touching as high as 94 mph in the playoffs, and eventually was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 21^st round of the MLB Draft.

Godfrey spurned the Braves offer of professional baseball to attend Louisiana State on a baseball scholarship, where he joins fellow Illinois prep stars Jake Latz and Mike Papierski.

Godfrey made headlines in the recruiting world when he decommitted from Notre Dame before the high school season in March (he had committed to the Irish before the start of his junior season). He eventually chose LSU after also considering UCLA and Vanderbilt.

Both Latz and Godfrey give Louisiana State two impact freshman arms who could see their prospect values increase with three years of college. The Illinois prep hurlers may hear their names called even earlier in the 2017 MLB Draft, where they will once again be eligible to be selected.

Complete List of Top Ten News Stories of 2014

No. 10 – South Elgin’s Improbable Third-Place Run

No. 9 - St. Rita's 26 Game Winning Streak

No. 8 – Illinois 2016 Prospects Transfer to IMG Academy in Florida

No. 7 - Pleasant Plains Captures Class 2A State Title

No. 6 - Joliet Catholic Captures Summer State Championship with Perfect Record

No. 5 - Jake Godfrey Decommits; Chooses LSU