The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 14, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next two weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2022 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official PBR Illinois Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2022 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Marist
Preseason Rank: No. 16
2021 Record: 32-5
Conference: East Suburban Catholic
IHSA Class: 3A
Head Coach: Kevin Sefcik

ROSTER PREVIEW

KEY PLAYERS LOST

+ OF Mark Brannigan (2021)
+ OF Jack Carney (2021; Loras College)
+ MIF Luke Sefcik (2021; Central Michigan)
+ SS Noah Smith (2021; Louisville)
+ 1B Jack Harmon (2021; John Carroll)
+ C Jonny Crowel (2021; Flagler)
+ OF Chazz Clark (2021; Xavier University, LA)
+ 3B Jimmy Rolder (2022; Michigan, football) 

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

Collin Jennings (2/21/22)

+ OF/RHP Collin Jennings (2023): Jennings made a loud statement on both sides of the ball this February at the Lockport Preseason ID. He’s a long-limbed 6-foot-4, 200-pound left-handed hitter that controlled his levers well at the plate while staying short to contact with an optimized left-handed stroke for elevating the baseball. He projects to hit for power at the next level as he fills out his frame and flashed that during BP, recording a 95.9 mph max exit velocity, 89.7 mph average exit velocity, and 343 foot max distance. Defensively, Jennings topped at 87 mph from the outfield during his defensive workout and that arm strength translated to the mound as he ran his fastball up to 85 mph. His arsenal showed advanced traits on our TrackMan, averaging 20+ inches of vertical break on his fastball and 15+ inches of horizontal movement with his changeup. Jennings’ multifaceted skill-set has our staff intrigued and he’s certainly a high upside uncommitted name-to-know in the state. He’s expected to see time in both capacities this spring for the Redhawks and could prove to be a key asset down the road. 

X-FACTOR:

Cal Sefcik (7/28/21)

+ INF/RHP Cal Sefcik (2023; Indiana commit): Sefcik, who represented Team Illinois at the Future Games this past summer and committed to the Hoosiers shortly afterwards, is expected to be an anchor for this team both offensively and on the mound. He slashed .360/.484/.590 last season with two home runs, 13 extra-base hits, and 32 RBI while walking (22) more than striking out (18) last season as a sophomore. Sefcik, statistically, was one of the Redhawks’ better arms last year, pitching to a 1.76 ERA across 35 ⅔ innings. With several senior arms that logged significant workloads for Marist gone from last year’s team, Sefcik will likely slot into a top spot in this rotation. How he performs on both sides of the ball in his second full season at the varsity level will certainly be important as to how successful this Marist team can be. 

OUTLOOK 

The Redhawks are always, on an annual basis, are a competitive bunch capable of making a deep run into the IHSA playoffs. Last year’s squad was loaded with senior talent and replacing a group led by INF Noah Smith (2021; Louisville), MIF Luke Sefcik (2021; Central Michigan), OF Mark Brannigan (2021), C Jonny Crowel (2021; Flagler College), OF Chazz Clark (2021; Xavier University of LA) and others will not be an easy task. Still, this Marist team is certainly potent and dangerous like we’ve seen from the Redhawks in years past. They’re young and there’s plenty of inexperienced players that’ll be forced to fill large shoes left behind by the aforementioned senior class that came before them. 

Despite graduating a formidable bunch, the Redhawks return multiple players that were key parts to last year’s squad and will play similar roles this spring as well. Cal Sefcik was arguably their best hitter in 2021 as an underclassmen and he’s back with an entire year of experience under his belt. Senior C Nate Voss (2022; Michigan) should be another major piece to this puzzle, serving both as a necessary component offensively and as the defensive captain behind the plate. He’s amongst the most talented seniors in the state and ensures that, on a game-to-game basis, Marist has one of the game’s most important positions locked down with a quality, experienced veteran in the lineup. OF/LHP George Bilecki (2022; Lewis) slashed .372/.431/.521 in 109 at-bats last season and can captain the outfield, while INF Jake Stefanos (2023) has shown our staff that he can hit in game in the past. Finally, OF/CIF Owen Duffy (2023) has plenty of physical strength nestled inside a 6-foot, 180-pound frame and he’ll look to do damage at the dish with more regular playing time than last year. 

Pitching and defense appear to be a strength for Marist. Their roots run deep into this rotation and it’s a talented group with several players capable of providing quality innings for them as the season progresses. Mentioned above in the ‘X-Factor’ section of this article, Cal Sefcik is certainly a name-to-note in this projected starting rotation after a strong season last year. Joining him at the top is 1B/RHP Collin Amsden (2022; Lewis), who led the Redhawks with 39 innings pitched last season and he could be in line to shoulder an even heavier workload this spring given the departures from this rotation. He’s a strike thrower with a three-pitch arsenal that put together a strong start against the potent Brother Rice offense the lone time we saw him last spring.

Collin Amsden (3/13/21)

Right behind Amsden from a workload standpoint is LHP Anthony Consiglio (2022; Aurora). The 5-foot-10, 200-pound southpaw started seven games last season and posted a 3.14 ERA across 35 ⅔ innings. LHP Cliff Mayer (2022; Dominican University), RHP Mitch Potocsnak (2022), and OF/LHP Sam Gurgone (2023) are all returners that pitched from last year’s squad. Both Bilecki and Stefanos saw limited action on the mound in 2021, but they’ll be called upon this year to occupy innings as the season progresses. It’s clear that the Redhawks have a deep pool of arms to choose from on a game-to-game basis and having one or two of these arms pop to true “stopper” status could go a long way for them. 

There are some new faces on this Marist team that are expected to slot into impact roles from the very beginning. CIF Jack Wade (2023), INF Justin Lang (2023), 3B/RHP Hunter Sefcik (2023) are three names that didn’t play at the varsity level last year that are viewed as everyday contributors to this team. Then there’s the aforementioned Jennings, who we highlighted above as the ‘Newcomer To Watch’ on this roster after a standout performance at the Lockport Preseason ID in February. These four could all see time on the mound in one form or another, making their performances even more valuable to the all-around success of the Redhawks in 2022. 

Two underclassmen are listed on this roster and may, at some point, be called upon to contribute for Marist: C John McAuliffe (2025) and LHP Aidan Flinn (2025). McAuliffe traveled to LakePoint with Team Illinois at the PBR Junior Future Games this past summer and he’s an athletic left-handed hitter with some juice in his bat and above-average arm strength behind the dish. Flinn stands at a lanky 6-foot-3, 165-pounds and caught our attention at the Illinois State Games this past summer as a projectable southpaw with upside on the mound. They may not see much varsity action this season, but these two are certainly in the future plans for the Redhawks.

John McAuliffe (7/28/21)

BOTTOM LINE 

Marist is always competitive and head coach Kevin Sefcik ensures that his Redhawks are ready to go on a game-to-game basis. They’re bringing back a formidable group from a team that won 32 games a year ago, but also have some important shoes to fill after graduating a senior class that made its mark on the program. How some of these inexperienced players, particularly in the junior class, step up to the table will ultimately steer the direction of this team, but they expect to be playing competitive baseball deep into the IHSA season. 

Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2022 season.

Find more information on the 2022 Redhawks below:

+ Team Website
+ Team Schedule
+ Team Twitter

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN