In our fourth installment of the season, the No. 1 team in the state, The Huntley Red Raiders (21-1), continue to roll. On the week, the Red Raiders went 5-0 with a late comeback win over No. 20 Naperville Central and two, two-game sweeps of Cary-Grove and McHenry. Huntley has three conference games on the docket for this week, two against Crystal Lake South and one against No. 21 Jacobs.

Marist (21-2) and Normal University (17-1) continue to stay at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, thanks to undefeated weeks as well. Marist went 4-0 with two big conference wins over St. Viator while Normal University went 2-0 on the week. The Pioneers of Normal U-High did not allow a run while Jack Swartz continued his dominance on opposing hitters. The junior Illinois commit, has yet to give up a run this season and went five innings of no-hit ball against Rochester. Swartz is currently 5-0 and in 26 innings pitched he has struck out 41 and only given up six hits. 

Four new teams entered the Power 25 this week and there are a number of others who have made worthy cases to be included as well. Manteno (19-1) and St. Joseph-Ogden (20-2) are two teams who could easily slide into the Power 25 and will be on high-alert to make an appearance if they continue their dominance this week. Manteno’s only loss on the season came to No. 12 Brother Rice and St. Joseph-Ogden is led by RHP Crayton Burnett, an Illinois commit. Burnett was recently featured in our Weekly Diamond Notes thanks to his dominating performance the previous week. “In two starts, Burnett struck out 21 batters and allowed just three hits total, aided by a no-hitter thrown against Decatur St. Teresa a week ago. He also chipped in offensively with six hits, two doubles, seven runs, and three RBIs, including the walk-off RBI single against St. Teresa.”

Below is a look at the rest of the notable Power 25 action from across the state.

CLIMBING

+ Lincoln-Way East (16-2) - Lincoln-Way East finds themselves in the No. 4 spot after going 3-0 this past week. Decisive wins over Bolingbrook (6-1), Crete-Monee (7-1) and Neuqua Valley (8-3) improved East’s record to 16-2. The only two losses on the season for East were two one-run losses to Metea Valley and Maine South. Lincoln-Way East matches up with fellow top-10 team No. 9 Lincoln-Way Central on Monday afternoon.

+ Sacred Heart-Griffin (19-1) - Sacred Heart-Griffin stayed hot by going 3-0 this past week and jumping into the top 5 for the first time this season. Their most impressive win of the week was a 9-3 victory against a tough Springfield squad, ranked No. 24 in the state at the time. Decisive wins over Jacksonville (6-3) and Glenwood (2-0) capped off their successful week. 

+ Edwardsville (23-3) - Edwardsville continues to climb the rankings after going 6-0 this past week. Two successful series sweeps against Granite City (8-1 & 16-6) and Alton (9-0 & 14-0) have them in the driver’s seat in the Southwestern Conference. The Tigers also defeated Collinsville 8-1 and Civic Memorial 12-3 on the week. 

+ Lake Park (19-3-1) - Lake Park cracks the top 10 for the second week in a row after going 3-0 this past week. The Lancers took 2-of-3 from No. 8 St. Charles North in a huge DuKane conference series thanks to a big 4-3 win on Monday afternoon. They followed up with two wins over Glenbard North to push their record to 3-0 on the week. 

+ Lincoln-Way Central (13-2-1) - Lincoln-Way Central finds themselves in the top 10 for the first time this season. An impressive three-game sweep of Lincoln-Way West (7-1, 4-3 & 8-1) as well as two wins over Normal Community (8-1 & 10-2) pushes the Knights to their highest ranking of the season. They also defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais 9-0 to cap off a 6-0 week.

+ Downers Grove South (16-1) - The Mustangs of Downers Grove South have found themselves in the top 10 for the first time this season. Defeating Addison Trail twice by scores of 10-0 and 17-1 as well as a decisive win over cross-town rival Downers Grove North 9-0, the Mustangs finish the week 3-0. The Mustangs are led on the mound by Ethan Patera who has been flat-out dominant so far this spring. The Louisville commit is coming off a shut-out performance against cross-town rival Downers Grove North where he gave up one hit in five innings while striking out 11; he also sat 90-94 mph, touching 96 in his outing.

+ Hinsdale Central (11-1) - The Red Devils find themselves in the No. 14 spot this week after two wins against Conference Rival Lyons Township 6-0 and 8-2. It is their first time in the top 15 this season. The Red Devils lost their first game of the season to Oak Park-River Forest and have won 11 straight since then. 

+ Mundelein (14-3-1) - Mundelein cracks the top 15 for the second time this season. Their most impressive win came against No. 22 Lane Tech 3-1. The Mustangs also took 2-of-3 from a quality Lake Zurich squad who has been knocking at the door of the Power 25 all spring long.

+ Jacobs (18-4) - Jacobs moves up in the rankings to the No. 21 spot after going 6-0 this past week. Jacobs swept three series this week against McHenry (11-10 & 8-6), Hampshire (3-2 & 6-5) and Grant (14-10 & 6-5) to improve their record to 18-4. The Golden Eagles are no stranger to close games as eight of their 22 games have been decided by one run. Five of their six wins on the week were decided by two runs or less.

SINKING

+ St. Charles North (18-3) - It is hard to say the North Stars are falling after a 3-1 week, which included a three-game sweep of cross-town rival, St. Charles East and sitting at 18-3 on the season. However, when you sit at the top of the Power 25, like North has all season, games and losses get magnified. A DuKane conference series loss to Lake Park, drops St. Charles North from No. 4 to No. 8. Despite them dropping four spots, the North Stars remain one of the most talented teams in the state and could easily work their way back into the top five come playoff time. A three-game set with Glenbard North and a single game against Batavia make up the four-game upcoming week for the North Stars.

+ Brother Rice (19-7) - Brother Rice finds themselves outside of the top 10 for the first time this season. The Crusaders split Chicago Catholic League matchups against Loyola and Mount Carmel and lost to a traditional Indiana powerhouse Andrean 4-0. The Crusaders will look to bounce back from the tough 2-3 week.

+ Nazareth (19-6) - Nazareth drops back 8 spots to No. 18 this week. The Roadrunners finished 3-2 on the week but had two East Suburban conference losses to Joliet Catholic by the scores of 5-3 and 2-0. They also knocked off former No. 21 Glenbrook North 10-0 and swept a two-game set against Niles Notre Dame to go 3-2 on the week. The Roadrunners will look to bounce back this coming week and re-enter the top 15, a place where they have sat comfortably for much of the year. 

+ Lane Tech (17-4) - It is hard to say Lane Tech is truly sinking after playing a tough schedule this week. However, for teams in the top 25, all losses have extra weight. Lane Tech finds themselves in the No. 22 spot after going 3-2 on the week. Two losses to Evanston (3-0) and a tough No. 15 Mundelein squad (3-1) dropped their record to a still very respectable 17-4. 

NEW TO THE TOP 25

+ No. 17 Plainfield South (12-1) - Plainfield South finds themselves in the top 25 for the first time this season. South went 3-0 on the week after sweeping Plainfield East (2-1, 2-0 & 4-2). South has scored in double digits in seven of their 12 wins on the season and their pitching staff dominated this past week limiting East to three runs over three games. 

+ No. 19 Barrington (13-2) - The Broncos ran their record to 13-2 on the season after a perfect 4-0 week, catapulting themselves into the top-20 in the Power 25. This past week the Broncos outscored opponents; Schaumburg, Hersey and Rolling Meadows by a combined score of 38-7. The only two blemishes on the Barrington record so far were losses to Lake Zurich and Prospect.

+ No. 23 Harrisburg (18-0) - Harrisburg enters the rankings for the first time this season in the No. 23 spot, being the only unbeaten team in the Power 25. Their offense out-scored their opponents 67-4 this past week, including an impressive win over Southern Illinois, Mt. Carmel 16-0. The 16-0 win was made even more impressive as it was against the No. 2 prospect in the Illinois’ 2021 Kaleb Applebey, a Wabash Valley JC commit. The only runs Harrisburg pitchers allowed all week were against Murphysboro, where they defeated them by the score of 18-4. More wins against Marion (10-0), Frankfort (10-0) and Herrin (13-0) capped off their impressive 5-0 week. Quite frankly, Harrisburg has absolutely dominated the competition they have faced this season, more than any other team in Illinois. 

+ No. 24 Chicago Christian (16-1) - The Knights of Chicago Christian jump into the Power 25 for the first time all season after a 5-0 week which included a statement 6-2 win over then No. 17 St. Rita. The only loss on the season was a 6-5 game against Indiana’s Illiana Christian. They have wins this season over Andrew, Tinley Park, Aurora Christian, Stagg, Ridgewood and a number of others. 

DROPPED OUT

+ St. Rita

+ Glenbrook North

+ Lockport

+ Mount Carmel 

JUST MISSED THE CUT

+ Manteno (19-1)

+ St. Joseph-Ogden (20-2)

+ Prospect (14-4-1)

+ Oak Park-River Forest (12-4)

+ Bartlett (14-5-1)

+ Evanston (17-6-1)

+ Lemont (17-5)

+ Plainfield North (12-4)

+ Lake Zurich (11-5)

UPDATED TOP 10

RANK	LAST WEEK	TEAM	CLASS	2021 RECORD
1	1	Huntley	4A	21-1
2	2	Marist	4A	21-2
3	3	Normal University	2A	17-1
4	6	Lincoln-Way East	4A	16-2
5	7	Sacred Heart-Griffin	2A	19-1
6	8	Edwardsville	4A	23-3
7	9	Lake Park	4A	19-3-1
8	4	St. Charles North	4A	18-3
9	13	Lincoln-Way Central	4A	13-2-1
10	15	Downers Grove South	4A	16-1

CLICK HERE to view Entire Updated Power 25 Team Rankings.

2021 SEASON

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+ Illinois Daily Roundup

+ Player of the Week

+ Diamond Notes

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