By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

With the conclusion of this past weekend’s Class 3A and 4A State Tournament, we’ve compiled our Illinois Power 25 Final Team Rankings. It’s important to note that our rankings are not necessarily a final reflection of what happened during the playoffs, but rather take into account the entire season, including conference races.

That being said, winning a state title can take precedence. No. 1 Crystal Lake South ran the table in the postseason and won their first baseball state title in school history. Three of the teams who finished in the Top 10 were unranked to begin the season, including No. 1 Crystal Lake South.

Below we take a look at the Top 5 teams in Illinois come season’s end.

+ No. 1: Crystal Lake South (36-5) - The Gators weren’t ranked heading into the season, and slowly belly-crawled up on the competition, all the way through the playoffs, knocking off highly ranked teams like No. 8 Mundelein, No. 4 New Trier and finally No. 2 Edwardsville in the season’s final game. The Gators made their playoff run look pretty easy, knocking off every opponent by four or more runs. The Gators pitching staff was led by senior Andrew Engelking who finished the season 9-0 and spun a complete game, five hitter with eight strikeouts in the championship game. Offensively, Brian Fuentes led the way hitting .448 with 20 doubles, six homeruns and 48 RBI entering the final weekend. Coach Brian Bogda has now won 24 or more games for three years in a row.

+ No. 2: Edwardsville (33-8) - The Tigers lost to Crystal Lake South in the Class 4A championship game and finished the year with 33 wins. Edwardsville, our preseason No. 14, worked their way into the top 10 for 10 weeks in a row during the season. The offense was led by senior Dylan Burris and freshman Drake Westcott. Burris ended the season, hitting over .400 with 14 triples. The 14 triples tied the IHSA record for most triples in a season. Westcott, a power hitting first baseman, also hit over .400 and hit double digit homeruns, including a solo shot to right field in the championship game. On the mound, Kade Burns turned into an unlikely ace of the staff and entered the state finals with a 10-1 record and a 1.11 ERA.

+ No. 3: St. Laurence (36-6) - The Vikings ended the season where they began, No. 3 in the Power 25. St. Laurence spent six weeks in a row at No. 1 and worked their way through arguably the toughest sectional in the state to make it to Class 4A state. Coach Pete Lotus’ team knocked off No. 6 Brother Rice in the Sectional Final and then No. 1 Neuqua Valley in the Super-Sectional to punch their ticket to state. Angel Sandoval emerged as the ace of arguably the deepest pitching staff in the staff. The senior right-hander entered the state finals with an 11-0 record and a 0.88 ERA. Sophomore standout Matt McCormick once again had a big season at the plate hitting .456 with 11 doubles, seven homeruns and 47 RBI entering the final weekend. St. Laurence finished with the Class 4A third place trophy, their first state trophy since 1993.

+ No. 4: New Trier (30-6) - The Trevians and coach Mike Napoleon, no stranger to the 4A state tournament, made it back for the first time since they won it all in 2009. New Trier lost to eventual champion Crystal Lake South in the state semi-final and took home the 2017 Class 4A fourth place trophy. The Trevians pitching staff was strong throughout their playoff run, allowing a total of nine runs in the five games leading up to state. Thomas Nugent emerged as the ace, entering state with a 12-1 record and a 0.74 ERA. Offensively, senior Kevin Donahue and junior Cam Redding both hit over .400 on the year. Donahue also hit 15 doubles and scored 41 runs while Redding added 10 doubles.

+ No. 5: Neuqua Valley (35-2-1) - The Wildcats began the year unranked and by the time the playoffs began were No. 1 in the Power 25. Neuqua navigated their way through the playoffs before eventually getting beat by St. Laurence in the Class 4A Super-Sectional. Neuqua won  the Dupage Valley Conference regular season title with their only loss in the regular season coming at the hands of Wheaton North by a score of 1-0. Entering the playoffs they were led by junior Noah Herdman and senior James Gargano at the plate. Herdman hit .441 with with 12 doubles and 9 homeruns while Gargano hit .417 with 18 doubles. On the mound, the Wildcats were led by left-handed pitchers Justin Hicks and James Kulak. Hicks, a senior, went 7-0 with a 0.97 ERA while Kulak emerged as one of the top junior pitchers in the state.

Click Here to View the Illinois Power 25 Final Team Rankings

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