By Sean Duncan

The end of the year is here, which means it’s time for a look back at the year that was. Here’s our take on the top 2011 stories in Illinois high school baseball:

10. Coonrod brothers dominate Class 1A field
Behind the Coonrod brothers, Sammy and Joey, Carrollton crushed the Class 1A field to win the school’s first state championship. The school of 211 students finished the season 31-1 after hammering Eastland 8-1 in the championship game at O’Brien Field in Peoria.

Sammy Coonrod (11-0), now a freshman at Southern Illinois University, was probably the biggest sleeper in the Class of 2011 and should be a solid draft in a few years.  Sammy’s younger brother, Joey, posted an 12-0 record, including a victory in the championship game in which he struck out 11, walked none and allowed one run. Joey is currently a senior. The two brothers combined to go 23-0 last spring with 235 strikeouts.

9. Ryan Koziol transfers to Providence Catholic
Ryan Koziol, who’s one of the top players in the country, transferred from Brother Rice HS to Providence Catholic HS in July for his senior year. The 6-foot-3, 165-pound Koziol had been an impact two-way player at Brother Rice since his freshman year.

Koziol’s eligibility at Providence Catholic is still under review by the IHSA.

Koziol, who's signed at the University of Arizona, is the best two-way prospect in the state. This summer, the right-handed pitcher and left-handed hitting shortstop was one of the final cuts to make USA Baseball’s 18-U national team.

With Koziol, Providence Catholic will once again be one of the best teams in the state. The Celtics finished runner-up in Class 4A after falling to Lyons Township in the 2011 championship game.

On the mound, Koziol features an easy 87-91 mph fastball and command of three pitches. At the plate, Koziol is a pure left-handed hitter.

8. Matt Schultz returns stronger than ever
Heading into his sophomore year, Oswego East right-hander Matt Schultz was one of the top prospects in the state. Then Schultz suffered a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, which required Tommy John surgery. Off the grid for a year, the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder carefully - at times against his own competitive instincts - eased his way back onto the mound in the spring of his junior year.

Then, this summer, Schultz dropped jaws when he touched 95 mph on the gun – significantly harder than he ever threw before. A week later, Schultz continued to impress at the Prep Baseball Report Top Prospect Showcase when he earned top prospect honors after he sat 91-93 with his fastball, and flashed a hard-biting slider.

Now Schultz is back on the fast track after making a verbal commitment in September to pitch for Auburn University.

With so many arm injuries these days, Schultz’s story should serve as an inspiration to players all over the country.

7. Kaneland? Yes, Kaneland
Kaneland’s Class 3A state championship embodies everything that is right about high school sports.  After all, where else but in high school competition can a team that wasn’t even an afterthought to make any sort of run catch fire and win the whole thing? A team whose goal before the season was to merely win its first regional championship, to take its first baby-step before achieving something greater?

To say the Knights’ championship was improbable would be a significant understatement. But Kaneland put it all together at the state tournament, culminating with an emphatic 11-3 victory over Oak Forest in the Class 3A championship game at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. 

“We had a lot of things go our way,” said senior third baseman and right-handed pitcher Bobby Thorson, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, including a check-swing, run-scoring double. “I tried to keep karma on our side throughout the entire playoffs, and it paid off, I guess.”

Kaneland (26-10) had more than karma going its way. The Knights pounded out 13 hits, six coming from the bottom three hitters in the lineup, against four Oak Forest pitchers.

Kaneland, located in Maple Park, was a streaky club to say the least. It finished the season on a 13-game winning streak. Prior to their 13-game win streak, the Knights had lost six of seven games, which caused them to share the Northern Illinois Big 12 championship with Morris.

In all, the Knights don’t even have a Division I prospect on their roster. No matter, because in the end, Kaneland was the best team in Class 3A.

6. Tilson signs with the Cardinals
It came down to the final hours, but New Trier outfielder Charlie Tilson and the St. Louis Cardinals finally came to an agreement on August 15. Tilson, selected 79^th overall in the second round, signed for $1.275 million about seven hours before the deadline.

“It’s an exciting finish to a long spring and summer,” said Tilson at the time. “It’s very relieving, but at the same time, I’ve got to get back at it. I’m very excited to get going.”

As a senior, the left-handed hitting leadoff man earned Prep Baseball Report first team All-State honors and Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year after he batted .406 with 42 runs, 29 stolen bases, 22 RBI and 30 walks. Tilson was the crown jewel to the University of Illinois’ 2011 recruiting class.

Tilson was the highest drafted player in Illinois. The next prep player selected was Waterloo OF/1B Garret Schlecht, by the Cubs, in the eighth round.

5. The end of the Golden Era of offense

The spring weather was, for the most part, unbearable – certainly the worst playing conditions in recent memory – which made the 2011 season impossible to cherish. This wintery spring, however, should be earmarked as a critical footnote in the history of Illinois high school baseball.

After all, when Lyons Township hoisted the Class 4A state championship trophy at Joliet’s Silver Cross Field on June 11, it officially marked the end of an era, perhaps, when we look back, the golden era of prep baseball in Illinois.

Next season, high school players will begin using BBCOR bats. The new bat regulations are designed to significantly decrease the trampoline effect of the aluminum, which will slow the exit speeds of batted balls, and therefore make the game safer – in theory, that is. Essentially, it’s like hitting with a broken bat, completely dead, and with a smaller sweet spot.

The long ball will be a thing of the past. With a deadened barrel and a smaller sweet spot, players now have to strike the ball perfectly. In the past, good hitters could get fooled on an off-speed pitch, but keep their hands back long enough to drive the ball the other way for extra bases. The middle-of-the-lineup guys could even take it out of the park despite committing their weight. Bloop, handle-shot singles won’t make it out of infield; decreased exit speeds will make it easier for outfielders to track down balls in the gap, and there will be fewer singles through the infield.

You get the point.

College baseball began using BBCOR bats last year and it completely changed the complexion of the game. The college game, which was once buoyed by the long ball, is a different animal now. Which means college coaches’ recruiting preferences will change. For the above-average high school power hitter, it will likely be a difficult recruiting process.

One player’s loss, however, is another player’s gain. A heightened premium will be placed on speed and athletes. The shift in recruiting indicates that the entire face of Illinois high school baseball will change dramatically. If we agree that college players are bigger, stronger and more polished, then you don’t need Tim Burton’s macabre imagination to project what the high school game will look like. 

Assuming that pitchers can throw strikes and defenses can pick up the ball, high-scoring, three-hour games will be a distant memory. Which is a good thing. Then again, average high school hitters, which constitute most of a team’s lineup, won’t have a chance. Which isn’t a good thing – for them, at least.

4. Thompson’s dominance leads T-Town to two
With each passing pitch in the later innings of the Class 2A state championship game, Teutopolis ace Derek Thompson solidified - no, earned - two impressive distinctions.

One: He was on the brink of leading Teutopolis (33-2) to its second consecutive state championship, in which he was the winning pitcher in both games.

And two: He established himself as the best overall prospect in the Class of 2011.

The two points culminated in the seventh inning, when Thompson struck out the side in nine pitches, the final one registering at 91 mph, to properly punctuate his remarkable season and No. 3 Teutopolis’ 4-0 victory over Walther Lutheran at O’Brien Field in Peoria.

“It feels really good to win two state championships, and I have been fortunate enough to pitch in both championship games,” said Thompson after the game.

Last year in the title game, Thompson did what no other pitcher could do: shut down Harrisburg’s offense in the Wooden Shoes’ surprising title run. This year, Teutopolis was the unquestionable favorite to win it, and once again Thompson rose to the occasion.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Thompson shut out a Walther Lutheran team that tagged DuQuoin for 15 runs in the semifinals. He allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked two to finish his amazing senior year at 11-0. He opened the game at 88-91 mph with his fluid, two-seam fastball, and finished the game 90-91 mph.

For the season, the John A. Logan JC recruit allowed only one earned run, finishing with an incredible 112 strikeouts to seven walks in 60.1 innings. Thompson, drafted in the 29^th round by the Twins, earned PBR first-team All-State honors and finished runner-up for Player of the Year. Thompson is now a freshman at John A. Logan JC.

3. Sam Travis
Providence Catholic third baseman Sam Travis opened the season by going 9-for-9 with three homers, four doubles and 11 RBI. And the 6-foot, 195-pound Indiana University recruit didn’t stop hitting until he completed one of the more statistically impressive offensive seasons in Illinois high school history.

Travis finished his senior season with a .504 batting average, 17 home runs, 17 doubles, three triples and 75 RBI. He also tallied 53 runs, 68 hits and a 1.023 slugging percentage. Perhaps his most impressive statistic – and the reason he drove in 75 runs – was his .542 batting average with runners in scoring position.

 “It always helps when you have guys around you who get on base,” said Travis, who was selected in the 40^th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Reds. “I just try to feed off the guys and do I what I can do. I guess as far as the numbers are concerned, I couldn’t ask for more. Guys are getting on base and giving me opportunities to drive them in.”

Only 11 players in state history produced more homers in a season than Travis, and his 75 RBI ranks third, according to the IHSA website. Travis’ incredible season earned him Prep Baseball Report 2011 Player of the Year honors.

Travis’ offensive prowess reached legendary levels at the Class 4A state tournament at Joliet’s Silver Cross Field in June. In the first inning of the state semifinal against Prospect, Travis unleashed a two-out taper-shot homer to left-field that propelled the Celtics to a 9-1 victory and into the championship game. Then again, in the championship game against Lyons Township, Travis uncorked a similar moon-shot in the top of the first inning.

2. Tim Barry breaks state’s power records
Oak Forest outfielder Tim Barry officially became Illinois’ most prodigious hitter in history when he broke the all-time home run and RBI records in early May.

During his record-breaking week, the 6-foot, 205-pound slugger went on a home run binge, blasting seven round-trippers in five days to claim the state’s power records. In one powerful swing - a sixth-inning, two-run blast against Bremen - Barry became the home run and RBI king.

“It?s a big relief,”  said Barry after the record-breaking homer. “Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Now I can just keep going and make sure no one breaks it.”

The homer against Bremen gave him 50 for his decorated four-year varsity career, eclipsing Odin’s Curtis Parish’s previous mark of 49. The two-run blast also marked his 194 RBI, breaking the previous record by one. The four-time PBR All-State selection finished his career with 53 round-trippers.

Coming into his senior season, Barry needed only nine home runs to break the record - a modest number for him given his previous totals. Only one problem: no one would pitch to him. At one point he was walked eight straight plate appearances, plus games were getting rained out on a daily basis.

Since his freshman year, it was clear that Barry was a special hitter. As a freshman, he racked up 78 RBI, which ranked second all-time in a single season. He finished with 13 home runs, 15 doubles and batted .495. As his reputation grew, he began seeing fewer pitches to hit. That didn’t prevent Barry from launching 17 bombs as a junior to go along with a .578 batting average.

1. Lyons Township
Zach Remijas stands 5-foot-11, weighs 150 pounds – not exactly the profile you’d imagine fitting his perfect 11-0 record and sub-one ERA. The right-hander can certainly pitch at the college level next year. But he won’t, choosing instead to be a student at the University of Wisconsin.

Mike Pett, Lyons Township’s 160-pound right-fielder who drove in 31 runs, will attend the University of Colorado on full scholarship as an Evans Scholars Foundation winner for caddying and academics.

Tom Walsh, who patrolled center field as well as anyone this season, will be a student at the University of Illinois this fall.

Remijas, Pett and Walsh are not your high-profile prospects, but they served critical roles in Lyons Township’s impressive Class 4A championship run, one which was culminated by knocking off a loaded Providence Catholic club that featured 15 college-bound players.

Don’t misunderstand. Lyons’ roster also had its share of higher-profile talent. From Valparaiso-bound shortstop Spencer Mahoney, to Illinois State-bound first baseman Brian Rodemoyer, to highly ranked sophomore Keith Lehmann and junior Steve Heilenbach, the Lions had plenty of horses.

And of course there was Connor Cuff, Lyons’ ace right-hander who refused to bend against Providence’s high-scoring offense in the championship game; the winning pitcher who improved his record to 11-0 this spring and 19-0 in two varsity seasons.

In a classic championship battle between the two top teams in the state, Cuff led Lyons (37-4) to a convincing 8-3 victory over Providence (37-4) before a packed house at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. The victory marked the LaGrange school’s third state championship, and the first since 2003.

“I pride myself on always trying to give the team a chance to win,” said Cuff, a University of Pennsylvania recruit who earned Prep Baseball Report first-team All-State honors.  “It’s amazing. We pride ourselves in having quiet confidence. As the playoffs progressed, we got more and more confident.”

The title game didn’t start off exactly how Cuff had imagined.  After getting the first two outs in the top of the first, Providence third baseman Sam Travis launched a mammoth home run to left field to give Providence a quick 1-0 advantage, which sent the large Celtic contingent into a frenzy. The distance of Travis’ home run was enough to confetti the nerves of most teenagers.

Not Cuff.

“It was a bad pitch, a very bad pitch,” said Cuff, who allowed five hits, three runs, walked two and struck out six in his complete-game victory. “He took advantage of it like all great hitters do. They have so much power on their team that I just had to forget about it.”

Cuff retired the seventh inning in order, which ignited a wild celebration on the field as the fireworks blasted in the dimming Joliet sky.

In all, Lyons pounded out 11 hits by seven different players. And the Lions’ offense didn’t waste any time getting after Providence starter Brandon Magallones (8-3), a Northwestern recruit who was working an 86-90 mph fastball and an often sharp breaking ball and changeup.

Mahoney served as the Lions’ offensive catalyst in the leadoff spot, as the left-handed hitter tallied 21 doubles, 61 hits and scored 50 runs. Brian Rodemoyer was the team’s big power source, finishing with 10 homers, 12 doubles and 45 RBI. But in the end, Lyons’ state championship and No. 1 overall ranking was a complete team effort, one through nine.

“This was what we worked for since March,” said Pett after the title game. “Everyone in our lineup is a dangerous hitter, and throughout the year we all came through with big hits.”