By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

It’s survive and advance time, and several of the top teams in the state did not survive regional play last week. And that’s the beauty of high school baseball – the unpredictability of it all (as you can see by our playoff predictions).

Indeed, there were shockers galore in the Class 4A/3A regionals, but none more so than the entire 4A Illinois Wesleyan Bloomington Sectional. The two heavy favorites to advance to the sectional final – Minooka and O’Fallon – both top 10 state-ranked teams, lost. Shockingly, battle-tested Minooka got blitzed 13-2 in six innings by surging Joliet West, which has won six straight, in the regional final Saturday. Meanwhile, O’Fallon, which was ranked No. 7, got stunned by Belleville West in the first round. In 3A, Lincoln-Way West ousted defending champ Joliet Catholic in the first round.

Meanwhile, Lincoln-Way North takes the No. 1 spot atop the poll despite narrowly surviving its first two regional games. But the Phoenix did survive. St. Rita, St. Laurence and Lemont still hover at the top of the rankings. Batavia, which received a colossal scare from Bartlett in the opening round, moves up to No. 5. Sacred Heart-Griffin, which held the No. 1 spot last week, fell to O’Fallon in a non-playoff game early last week and drops to No. 6.

Climbing

+ No. 13 Lyons Township jumps seven spots after the Lions won their 17^th consecutive game when they defeated rival Oak Park, 5-3, in the Lyons Township Regional final. After a slow start of the season, Lyons has flown under the radar– something the perennial powerhouse seldom does. The Lions will face a tough test on Wednesday when they face No. 2 St. Rita at the Reavis Sectional semifinal.

+ No. 12 Edwardsville has received stellar pitching in its first two playoff games and subsequently moves up four spots.

+ No. 20 Teutopolis is hitting its postseason stride once again and should be the heavy favorite to bring home another state trophy in Class 2A.

New to the Top 25

+ Maine South
+ Peoria Notre Dame
+ Sandburg

Dropped Out

+ Mahomet-Seymour
+ Benet
+ Oak Forest

CLICK HERE to view complete Top 25 team rankings