The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 11, 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 2024 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official Prep Baseball 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 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Edwardsville Tigers
Preseason Rank: No. 1
Head Coach: Tim Funkhouser
Classification: 4A
Conference: Southwestern
2023 Record (Finish): 33-9 (State Champions)
Key Players Lost: 1B Riley Iffrig (2023; Indiana State), OF Caeleb Copeland (2023; St. Charles CC), LHP Logan Geggus (2023; SLU), INF Cole Funkhouser (2023; Central Missouri), INF Kayden Jennings (2023; Northern Illinois), INF/RHP Andrew Hendrickson (2023; Lincoln Land CC). 

ROSTER PREVIEW

No. of Returning Starters: Three
No. of Returning Pitchers: Seven
Team Strengths: Run prevention. 

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STAT RAT

803 - The total number of wins that Tim Funkhouser has amassed throughout his tenure as a high school head coach. Entering his 26th year at Edwardsville, and 29th overall, Funkhouser has shaped Edwardsville into the textbook definition of consistency throughout his tenure. They’ve won the state championship in three of the last four regular seasons (2019, 2022, 2023), finished runner-ups in 2002 and 2017, and have appeared in 11 Elite Eights as well. 

X-FACTOR 

RHP/OF Joseph Chiarodo (2025; Alabama commit) has now played a key role in two state champion runs. He was absolutely dominant throughout the postseason stretch last year on the mound, including a stellar outing in the state semifinal against York. Now a junior, Chiarodo will slot into the top spot in Edwardsville’s rotation and gives the Tigers one of the premier frontline arms in the entire state. He’ll live in the zone with four pitches, starting with an upper-80s to low-90s fastball that he’ll paint on the corners consistently. He throws two different breaking balls; a low-70s curveball with bend and depth, as well as a tight high-70s slider that has swing-and-miss spin at times. To left-handed bats, Chiarodo turns over a low-80s changeup with fade, completing an arsenal that’s able to get hitters out from either side of the plate. Moving away from the mound, Chiarodo’s also expected to be the engine of this offense as a real top-of-the-order right-handed bat that hit over .330 last season. Expect Chiarodo to be a candidate for the Prep Baseball Illinois ‘Player of the Year’ award and a guiding factor to Edwardsville’s success in 2024. 

Joseph Chiarodo

OUTLOOK

Edwardsville’s grasp on the Illinois’ baseball scene as a whole has been fairly well documented throughout head coach Tim Funkhouser’s tenure at the program’s helm. Documented above, the Tigers have consistently been one of the top programs in the state under Funkhouser’s leadership. They enter this year as the defending back-to-back 4A state champions, a memorable feat in the state’s highest classification. 

There’s a large contingent of Edwardsville’s core that’s gone from last year’s team, however. The Tigers will, essentially, be without their entire starting infield from 2023 - more than 600 plate appearances in total - a premier left-handed hitting outfielder in Caeleb Copeland, and staff ace Logan Geggus. A lot of talent and experience departs, but there’s still an exuberant amount of it on the roster returning from their championship run. 

Edwardsville strength lies on the mound with a deep pitching staff, most of which have experience at the varsity level. Chiarodo should anchor them on the mound but several others will contribute, like RHP Alec Marchetto (2024; Kaskaskia JC). The strong-bodied 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior closed out last year’s state championship game and has power stuff at peak, honing an upper-80s fastball and swing-and-miss breaking ball at his best. Marchetto’s been a member of this staff since his freshman year and the two-time state champion should play a key role in the Tiger's quest for a third state title. 

Alec Marchetto

There’s a few more upperclassmen that will impact this staff in various roles throughout the spring. Expect OF/RHP Evan Moore (2024; Kaskaskia JC) to be a strong two-way contributor, pumping three pitches for strikes on the mound and comfortably roaming the outfield grass as an everyday asset when he’s not doing so. RHP/CIF Tyler Powell (2025) fits that mold as well. He’s a candidate to draw starts for Edwardsville as an arm, featuring a mid-to-high-80s fastball and feel to spin two differing breaking balls, while also adding a physical right-handed swing to the lineup at a corner infield spot. 

Tyler Powell

LHP Dax Dunnill (2025) was a big winner from our winter circuit and could be a dynamic asset for the Tigers to turn to. At 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, Dunnill’s comfort on the mound and polish has greatly improved over the last calendar year. He’s starting to work in the zone more consistently, featuring an upper-80s to low-90s fastball with late sweep on a 75-77 mph slider. RHP Eric Herman (2025) is another uncommitted junior arm that’ll fill up the strike zone with a low-80s fastball and low-70s breaking ball. 

Dax Dunnill

INF/RHP Hunter Baugh (2026), RHP Tony Eberlin (2026; TCU commit), and RHP Chase Milburn (2026) are three sophomore arms that all have high-end impact potential for this club: 

+ Look for Baugh to be a real impact on both sides of the ball and how he continues to develop his game could be a major key to the Tigers’ season. He saw success in a 10-game sample last spring, pitching to 1.75 ERA over 16 innings of work. Baugh’s plenty reliable, filling up the strike zone with four pitches; a low-80s fastball, two different breaking balls at 71-73 mph, and a fading 74-75 mph changeup. Aside from his talents on the mound, Baugh figures to be an everyday regular on the Edwardsville infield. He can really defend and also swings a polished right-handed barrel that’s proven itself in-game to our staff. 

INF/RHP Hunter Baugh (Edwardsville, 2026) is another top sophomore from @PBRIllinois that we saw at yesterday’s event.

Polished with barrel feel to the LCF gap, was 88 across the infield.

Clean/easy arm on the mound, FB played at 83-4 mph & landed BB for strikes. pic.twitter.com/khg0cuhHkp

— Diego (@DeegsBaseball) February 12, 2024

+ Eberlin is one of the more talented arms in the state’s current sophomore class. The 6-foot, 175-pound right-hander should be a major asset in his second year of varsity action, holding mid-to-upper-80s heat with his fastball and flashing swing-and-miss spin on a mid-70s slider. Consistency will be key for Eberlin, but the Tigers will add another dynamic arm to their armada if he’s in the zone often. 

RHP Anthony Eberlin (Edwardsville, 2026; TCU commit) is one of the top sophomore arms in @PBRIllinois.

▫️FB 87-88 mph
▫️CH 78-79 mph
▫️SL 75-76 mph

Added strength onto a 6-foot, 175-pound frame. pic.twitter.com/NLr4Lq73Lh

— Diego (@DeegsBaseball) February 12, 2024

+ There’s no shortage of strength and physicality with the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Milburn. His arm strength and polish were on display at the GBA Scout Day this winter, where Milburn threw three pitches for strikes in his ‘pen, starting with a fastball at 85-86 mph. He consistently landed a bendy breaking ball for strikes in the low-70s and turned over a fading changeup at 75-78 mph, giving him three quality pitches to turn to against both handed hitters. Milburn also swings a strong right-handed bat that deepens this Edwardsville lineup even moreso. 

Chase Milburn

Replacing the offensive contributions that graduated from last year’s club won’t be easy, but this Tigers’ team has the talent capable of doing so. Chiarodo should be the engine that jumpstarts this lineup, but INF Lucas Krebs (2025) and OF Greyson Rathgeb (2025) are two other names to watch: 

+ Krebs bounced around the diamond last spring, seeing time at third base and left field throughout his sophomore season. While doing so, Krebs hit .309 and reached base at a .472 clip over 125 plate appearances, and he clutched up in a key moment during the state championship game as well. Now a junior, Krebs added strength and physicality to his game this winter, boosting his tools as a result. He figures to play up the middle everyday in 2024 and should be a key middle-of-the-order piece of this lineup as well where his fast, physical right-handed swing will be relied upon often. 

Lucas Krebs

+ All Rathgeb has done over the last calendar year is improve, adding strength and polish to his game each time we’ve seen him in that time frame. He saw consistent playing time for Edwardsville last spring, logging more than 70 plate appearances, and is ready to slot into an everyday outfield role as a junior. The physicality that Rathgeb tacked on this winter should enhance his offensive game as a whole and he, like Krebs, should take on a bigger role at the plate in 2024. 

Greyson Rathgeb

C/RHP Lucas Huebner (2024; SWIC) returns a .327 batting average and a simple, polished right-handed swing with experience at the plate, as well as behind the plate defensively. C Max Waltenberger (2025), C Augustus Johnes (2025), and C Sean Murphy (2026) are three strong right-handed bats that are all candidates to see time behind the plate as well. 

There’s even more depth on this roster. 1B Bryce Beyers (2024) and 1B Chase Alwardt (2024; Indianapolis) are two senior left-handed bats with bat strength to pair. INF Logan Porter (2025) adds versatility across the infield with the glove, he can play shortstop, second base, and third base adequately, with names like INF Kolton Wright (2024) and OF Danny Story (2025) deepening this position player crop even more. 

BOTTOM LINE 

Edwardsville’s winning pedigree extends more than two decades now and the Tigers enter the season as the top club on our rankings. They’re the back-to-back 4A state champions and, while a handful of key pieces did depart, Edwardsville’s roster is more than capable of securing a three-peat in 2024. 

Find more information on the 2024 Edwardsville program below:
+ Follow them on X: @EVilleTigerBB

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