Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 10 New Trier

The Trevians won 30 games in 2017 en route to a fourth place finish at 4A state. They were eliminated from championship contention by the eventual winners Crystal Lake South but still wound up taking home some hardware, ending their season with a fourth-place trophy. Coach Mike Napoleon is rostering a similar squad to last year’s, led by some impact position players, namely seniors Calarco, Cam Redding (St. Louis), and Payton Burch (Denison).

New Trier’s strength is in its defense. The strong, switch-hitting Calarco will probably man first base again, where he’s very athletic for the position. Redding is going to shift from designated hitter back into his natural home behind the plate where he’ll fit well, taking over for the graduated and talented Dylan Horvitz. And Burch will return as the team’s starting second baseman. Senior third baseman-turned shortstop Nathan Shapiro will attempt to fill the void left by last year’s heartbeat of the team, Kevin Donahue, who graduated. Donahue was voted team MVP, as well as a two-time selection to the all-CSL South team, and the Class-4A all-state team. He was ranked as the 18th-best shortstop of his class by our measure, so Shapiro has big shoes to fill but it’s a pair he can comfortably grow into.

Joining Donahue on that 4A all-state team from New Trier was Thomas Nugent, who also graduated after the 2017 season. Douaire, one of the team’s go-to relievers, left, too, leaving the Trevians’ pitching staff with quite a bit of turnover.

Calarco will be called upon to help the rotation, senior Spencer Beacom is prepared to step into a larger role, and Joe Bullard, the senior lefty, will grab some key innings, too. Henry Pelinski is a junior who will help the team in the outfield and at plate, as well as a lefty on the mound. Andrew Kost and Peter Burnside are two more juniors who are both in the running to aid on the Trevians inexperienced pitching staff. Many of these arms are untested in big games but their talent is capable of superseding this inexperience.