Fall Recruiting Roundup: Division I Edition
December 9, 2021
Today, we begin an in-depth look at Illinois prospects who have committed to play at the next level this fall. We began taking a look at all of the fall commitments, starting on September 22nd through today, December 8th.
There were a total of 26 Division 1 commits over this period, four of which were members of Team Illinois this past summer at the PBR Future Games; SS Jaden Correa, 1B Riley Iffrig, OF Brenden Stressler and RHP Jarron Thompson. In total, 11 players have committed so far from the 2021 Future Games roster.
The PBR Fall Championship contained a number of standout performances as well, with players such as RHP Sean Episcope (Latin School of Chicago, 2022) and RHP/OF Tanner Thomas (Arcola, 2025) in attendance, committing shortly after. Episcope was one of the biggest winners of the entire fall, showing well at the aforementioned Fall Championship and once again at the PBR At The Rock - Fall Championship.
RHP @SeanEpiscope (Latin School of Chicago) commits to @PUTigerBaseball.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) October 6, 2021
A huge winner after multiple strong showings throughout the fall, Episcope continues to climb up the state’s ‘22 rankings.
? PROFILE: https://t.co/EVN26HAEi2 https://t.co/nbNdeXGnJ3
Thomas, a recent Louisville commit, was yet another one who stood out multiple times over the fall and looks to be one of the top prospects in the Illinois' 2025 class, currently ranked at No. 79 nationally. Thomas is already polished on the mound and sat 82-85 in Shooter Hunt's look at the Fall Championship and then showed off his high-level athleticism at a Scout Day later in the fall where he ran a 6.55, took a noteworthy round of BP and was 87 mph from the outfield.
‘25 RHP Tanner Thomas (IL) comes in pounding the zone at 83-85 with an athletic delivery and quick zone.
— Shooter Hunt (@ShooterHunt) September 11, 2021
Breaking ball is highly advanced with tight spin & sharp, later break at 70-72.
Ball jumps out of the hand. Impressive. #PBRFallChamp || @PBRIllinois pic.twitter.com/8FZgYPcGwa
The inaugural Battle For the Arch in September was yet another event that contained a number of high-level players, most notably from this list is INF Tony Konopiots (Downers Grove North, 2023). Konopiots is a talented defender with the ability to stick on the left-side of the diamond and he has a polished right-handed swing with much more power to tap into down the road. Konopiots has a balanced swing with a gap-to-gap approach, feel for the barrel and he showed multiple times throughout 2021 that his swing is built to handle velocity. Konopiots is currently ranked No. 39 in the Illinois' 2023 class.
INF Tony Konopiots (@DGN_Baseball, 2023) took one of the more polished rounds of BP at the #BattlefortheArch.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) September 30, 2021
▪️ 6-foot-1, 185-pounds.
▪️ Repeatable, balanced swing and drove balls to both gaps throughout. Smooth defender as well. @23TonyK23
? Profile: https://t.co/zu1DxIcBrn pic.twitter.com/Rduj3gwWu3
For a look at the rest of the Division I commits to come out of Illinois since the end of September, take a look below:
fall DIVISION-I COMMITMENTS
NAME | HIGH SCHOOL | POS. | CLASS | COMMITMENT |
Chase Adams |
Normal University | OF/LHP | 2022 | Southern Mississippi |
Max Babich |
Benet Academy | LHP | 2022 | Saint Louis |
Tyler Bell |
Lincoln-Way East | INF | 2024 | University of Pittsburgh |
Jaden Correa |
De La Salle | MIF | 2023 | University of Nebraska |
Ean Czech | Downers Grove North | INF | 2023 | University of Texas at Austin |
Sean Episcope | Latin School of Chicago | RHP | 2022 | Princeton University |
John Hughes | Nazareth Academy | LHP | 2024 | University of North Carolina |
Riley Iffrig | Edwardsville | 1B/LHP | 2023 | Indiana State University |
Michael Kelly |
Mount Carmel | LHP/OF | 2022 | Western Michigan University |
Tony Konopiots |
Downers Grove North | INF | 2023 | University of West Virginia |
LeBaron Lee Jr. | Yorkville | LHP | 2023 | Illinois State |
Colin Lewandowski | Neuqua Valley | MIF | 2022 | University of St. Thomas |
Cooper Malamazian | Nazareth Academy | MIF/RHP | 2024 | Indiana University |
Graham Mastros | New Trier | CIF | 2023 | Saint Louis University |
Scott Newman | Glenbrook South | OF/LHP | 2022 | Wichita State University |
Tony Pluta | Saint Viator | RHP/C | 2022 | University of Arizona |
Calvin Proskey | Oak Park River Forest | RHP | 2023 | University of California Santa Barbara |
Randy Seymour | Lincoln-Way East | MIF/RHP | 2022 | Michigan State University |
Gavin Sitarz | St. Charles East | LHP | 2022 | Michigan State University |
Kyle Smith | Warren Township | C/1B | 2022 | Northern Illinois University |
Lucas Smith | Nazareth Academy | OF | 2023 | University of Illinois-Chicago |
Brenden Stressler | New Trier | OF | 2023 | Saint Louis University |
Jack Taczy | Cary-Grove | LHP | 2022 | University of Evansville |
Tanner Thomas | Arcola | RHP/OF | 2025 | University of Louisville |
Jarron Thompson | Waubonsie Valley | RHP/OF | 2023 | University of Missouri |
Blake Wolters | Mahomet-Seymour | RHP | 2023 | Purdue University |
Adison Worthman |
Bloomington | OF/3B | 2023 | University of Missouri |
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