Today marks the seventh Power 25 update of the season after another busy week of games. 

One team outside of the Power 25 who made some noise last week was Teutopolis. The Wooden Shoes currently sit at 18-8 on the season after a 4-1 week, which included wins over then No. 1 Edwardsville (4-2) and No. 20 Glenwood (1-0). Keep an eye on one of the traditional power houses in 2A with the playoffs on the horizon.

Another team from Southern Illinois who continues to add quality wins to their resume is Mascoutah. The Indians have wins over Breese Central, Triad and Belleville East on the year but six losses, including a 1-0 loss to Jersey, has Mascoutah on the bubble for now. Given the number of quality wins the Indians should be a scary matchup come playoff time.

Check out the rest of the movement in the Power 25 below.

CLIMBING

+ No. 1 Saint Viator (24-1) - The Lions of Saint Viator sit at the top of the state for the first time this year after another impressive undefeated week. They went 3-0 to push their record to 24-1, picking up wins against Prairie Ridge (6-4), York (6-2) and Joliet Catholic (9-0). Senior Arizona commits, RHP’s Casey Hintz and Tony Pluta have been leading the way on the mound as well as at the plate. Coach Manno has a lot of depth and talent at his disposal that could keep the Lions at the top heading into their playoff run. 

+ No. 2 Brother Rice (23-4) , No. 3 St. Laurence (22-4) and No. 5 Lockport (21-3) all jumped two spots on the week and sit in the Top-5 in the state. The Crusaders of Brother Rice picked up a two-game sweep of conference-foe St. Rita and knocked off Loyola 14-3. St. Laurence went 2-0 with convincing wins over St. Rita and Loyola. The Porters of Lockport went 2-0 on the week with a 7-3 win over Sandburg and a 16-6 win over Minooka who was ranked No. 12 at the time. 

+ No. 7 Mundelein (18-3) - Two big wins over conference-foe Warren (6-3 and 8-2), have the Mustangs trending in the right direction, up two spots to No. 7 in the state. The Mustangs are led on the mound by two high-level 2023 RHP’s Ryan Geraghty (Wichita State) and Bennett Musser (Uncommitted). 

+ No. 8 Lincoln-Way West (15-2-1) and No. 9 Yorkville (22-3) - Both squads went undefeated on the week and climbed two spots as a result. The Warriors of Lincoln-Way West took two games from Stagg while Yorkville collected a clean, three-game sweep of conference opponent Oswego East. The Yorkville pitching staff allowed a total of three runs over the three games. 

+ No. 11 O’Fallon (21-4) - After finishing this past week with a perfect 3-0 record, O’Fallon now finds themselves up three spots from No. 14 to No. 11. A series sweep over Collinsville (6-3 & 4-3) and a 9-4 win over Nashville improves the Panthers overall record to 21-4 on the year, while they’re also boasting an eight game winning streak.

+ No. 13 Libertyville (20-6) - The Wildcats jump up four spots from No. 17 last week after finishing this week with a clean 3-0 record. Two dominant wins over Zion-Benton (19-0 & 7-0) and a 10-0 win over Grayslake North has the Wildcats rolling in the right direction with only two more weeks left of regular season play. 

+ No. 17 Naperville Central (16-4) - After a couple of tough weeks which included some conference-series losses, the Redhawks have gotten back on track winning seven games in a row. This past week they rattled off three wins, taking down DeKalb twice and Romeoville once. The RedHawk offense seems to be getting hot at the right time, putting up 29 runs in their three games last week. They are up seven spots to No. 17 in the Power 25. 

+ No. 19 St. Joseph-Ogden (26-2) - The Spartans continue to roll, going 4-0 on the week and sliding up three spots to No. 19. The Champaign-area 2A powerhouse has now rattled off 18 straight wins and are dismantling most opponents in relatively easy fashion. This past week the Spartans outscored opponents 27-3. St. Joseph-Ogden looks poised to make another run at getting to the 2A State Finals in Peoria. 

SINKING

+ No. 4 Edwardsville (24-3) - The Tigers finally had their first bump in the road this past week, going 3-3, with their first loss of the season coming at the hands of Belleville East by a score of 2-0 on Tuesday. They took down Belleville East 9-5 the following day but two more losses; one to Glenwood (6-3) and one to Teutopolis (4-2) have Edwardsville down three spots to No. 4 in the Power 25. Edwardsville still sports an impressive 24-3 record and have one of the more complete rosters in all of the state. They’ll look to bounce back this week with three games on the schedule, the first coming against Freeburg, the reigning 2A state champs, on Tuesday afternoon.

+ No. 6 Belleville East (22-4) - The Lancers made a statement this past week handing Edwardsville their first loss of the season behind the strong pitching of Zander Mueth (Ole Miss) and Kannon Walker (Lake Land JC). However they lost the next day 9-5 to Edwadrsville and followed up with a 10-0 loss to Mascoutah to put them at 1-2 on the week. As a result they slid three spots to No. 6 in the Power 25. The good news is Mueth, the No. 1 2023 in Illinois, is continuing to work his pitch limit up and when he toes the rubber they may be the toughest team in the state to beat.

+ No. 10 Huntley (19-4) - Following a loss to Burlington Central on Wednesday, the Red Raiders fell two more spots in this week’s update and now sit at No. 10 overall. They did take home three wins in Fox Valley play last week, however, blanking Burlington Central in an 8-0 win, defeating Hampshire 11-1 in five innings, and capping the week off with a 7-4 home win over Dundee Crown. OF Brayden Bakes (2023; Wichita State) and INF Ryan Quinlan (2023) appear to be heating up at the right time for the Red Raiders, as they’ll play four more conference games this upcoming week, including a double-header with rival Crystal Lake South. 

+ No. 12 St. Charles East (15-3-1) - The Saints went 1-2 on the week after splitting a two-game set with cross-town, conference-rival, St. Charles North this past week and losing a 2-1 game to Geneva. As a result they dropped six spots and now come in at No. 12 in the state. The Saints are still a team to be reckoned with thanks to a strong 1-2 senior combination of RHP Nathan Hayes (North Dakota State; football) and LHP Gavin Sitarz (Michigan State) at the top of the rotation, along with INF Jake Zitella (Illinois), who features one of the more dynamic bats in the 2023 class. 

+ No. 16 Minooka (19-6) - Two losses last week has Minooka sliding four spots down our board, not sitting at 16th overall. They fell to Plainfield North to start the week after a four-run fifth inning and couldn’t keep up with Lockport’s potent offense, dropping Saturday’s night time affair with the Porters 16-6. They’ll continue to be battle tested this week, as they’ll play Yorkville three times and travel to Plainfield North again on Wednesday. 

+ No. 22 Normal University (18-6) - An early week 2-1 loss to a competitive Springfield team has the Pioneers dropping a few spots in this update, but not too far down our board. They failed to overcome an early two-run deficit in that game, largely due to a masterful pitching performance from Springfield’s C/RHP Seth Impson (2024). Still, RHP Matt Sauser (2023; Iowa) appears to be absolutely dialed in for U-High, as he punched out 14 batters in six innings, despite the loss. The Pioneers handled defeat well, exploding for 31 runs over their next two games played to finish the week out on a high note. OF/RHP Evan Jones (2022; Western Kentucky) struck out 10 in a one-hitter on Saturday against Lincoln-Way Central, while also launching a home run and driving in four runs. Jones continued his potent week in Saturday’s 19-5 win over Normal West, while LHP/OF Chase Adams (2022; Southern Miss) threw six scoreless innings, striking out 11. The sheer amount of talent that U-High has scattered across their roster is enough to make them a threat at any given time, and they’ll finish the regular season off with games against Lanphier and Springfield this week. 

+ No. 25 Mount Carmel (18-8-1) - The Caravan find themselves slotted in the No. 25 position after a tough 0-2 week, seeing losses to Joliet Catholic (10-4) and Marmion (11-6). Despite having the most losses in the Power 25, it would be foolish to ignore the Caravan’s strength of schedule and not take that into account. The Caravan still possess one of the most potent starting rotations in the state, headlined by LHP Julien Hachem (Oklahoma, 2022), RHP Elias Hachem (Edawrdsville, 2022), LHP Shane Curtin (Creighton, 2022) and LHP Michael Kelly (Western Michigan, 2022). With four starters of this caliber, it will be very difficult for teams to match up with them in playoff format.

NEW TO POWER 25

+ No. 18 McHenry (18-5) - The Warriors enter this week’s Power 25 in the No. 18 spot; coming off an impressive 4-0 week where they saw wins over Crystal Lake South (5-2), Crystal Lake Central (7-1), Richmond-Burton (10-0) and Johnsburg (10-3). McHenry has been making noise after a tough 2-4 start to their season, playing to a 16-1 record in their last 17 games and looking like one of the hottest teams in the state.

+ No. 20 Riverside-Brookfield (20-2) - The Bulldogs make their first appearance in the Power 25 this spring at No. 20 thanks to a couple dominant wins over Ridgewood (10-0 and 9-0) this past week. The Bulldogs have been clawing at the rankings for a few weeks now, recording an impressive 3-0 win over Joliet Catholic two weeks ago and seemingly never losing when their ace is on the mound. Notre Dame commit Owen Murphy gives the Bulldogs not only perhaps the best right-arm in the state but also one of the better right-handed in all of Illinois as well. Coming off his second Illinois Player of the Week honor and eyeing the PBR Player of the Year award, Murphy will look to continue his dominance on both sides of the ball and lead the Bulldogs into the playoffs and a potential deep run.

+ No. 24 Breese Central (25-3) - Breese Central surges back into the Power 25 after pulling off a perfect 3-0 week. After dropping a game to Columbia the week prior, Central rattled off wins against Freeburg (6-1), North Clay (3-2) and Wesclin (2-0) to bring their overall record up to 25-3 on the year.

DROPPED OUT

+ Barrington
+ Hononegah
+ Maroa-Forsyth

JUST MISSED THE CUT

+ Mahomet-Seymour (18-3)
+ Willowbrook (18-3)
+ Champaign Central (21-5)
+ South Elgin (15-3)
+ Triad (22-4)
+ Stevenson (20-6)
+ Mascoutah (19-6)
+ Paris (23-2)
+ Dixon (16-1)
+ Springfield (16-7)
+ Nazareth Academy (18-7)
+ North Clay (23-5)
+ Morton (22-5)
+ Teutopolis (18-8)
+ Grayslake Central (20-4)
+ Richmond-Burton (23-5)
+ Nashville (23-5)

UPDATED TOP 10 RANKINGS

RANK	LAST WEEK	TEAM	CLASS	RECORD (5/8)
1	2	Saint Viator	3A	24-1
2	4	Brother Rice	4A	23-4
3	5	St. Laurence	3A	22-4
4	1	Edwardsville	4A	24-3
5	7	Lockport	4A	21-3
6	3	Belleville East	4A	22-4
7	9	Mundelein	4A	18-3
8	10	Lincoln-Way West	4A	15-2-1
9	11	Yorkville	4A	22-3
10	8	Huntley	4A	19-4

+ CLICK HERE to view entire Power 25 Team Rankings

2022 SEASON

+ Scout Blog

+ Daily Roundup

+ Player of the Week

+ Diamond Notes

RELATED CONTENT