By Illinois Scouting Staff

A lot has happened since the initial Class of 2020 rankings were rolled out in April. The end of the high school season turned into an extremely busy summer with a countless number of games, tournaments and showcases taking place. With all of that taking place, a number of players have emerged as rising sophomores in Illinois and have made an impact in the rankings update.

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The biggest mover of them all is the new No. 1 in the class, RHP/INF Jack Mahoney (St. Viator). Mahoney started at shortstop for 3A state champion St. Viator this past spring. He then opened eyes and put himself on the map as one of the top 2020 arms in the Midwest in his one-inning stint on the mound at the PBR Future Games in August. Mahoney consistently pounded the bottom of the strike zone with his fastball that sat 86-88 mph, touching 89.

Jack Mahoney 8.2.17

OF Briar Stinson (Rushville-Industry) who joined Mahoney as the two 2020 position players on Team Illinois at the Future Games finds himself once again at No. 2 in Illinois. Stinson, a highly-athletic, wide-shouldered, 6-foot-2, 185-pounds, features an advanced right-handed bat. He creates explosive bat speed for his age and has middle-of-the-order potential at the next level. Stinson also has improved his tools across the board, recently running a 6.78 60 and was clocked at 89 mph from the outfield. Stinson put himself on the National radar at the Future Games and is one of the highest sought after 2020’s in the Midwest.

Behind Stinson at No. 3 is SS Ed Howard (Mt. Carmel), who like many others in the top 10, made an impact on varsity as a freshman. While on varsity Howard split time on the infield with the likes of Division I commits Zion Pettigrew, Diego Munoz and Malik Peters as well as Christian Lucio a top 35 player in the 2018 class. Howard is a gifted defender who plays with supreme confidence and poise. Howard looks to be the future on the left-side of the diamond for the Caravan.

Ed Howard 7.24.17

LHP Noah DeLuga (Lake Zurich) made the biggest jump of the new top ten and makes the second Lake Zurich product in the top ten, joining left-handed hitting infielder Anthony Mangano. The 6-foot, 175-pound southpaw was nearly unhittable at the 2020 Underclass Games earlier this summer. DeLuga struck out all four batters he faced, topping out at 86 mph which looks even harder coming out of a short over the top window, tough for hitters to pick up.

Just behind DeLuga comes a pair of hard hitting left-handed bats with contrasting defensive profiles. At No. 8 Trevor Davis (Danville) is a strong bodied left-handed hitting catcher with a high end defensive profile. His arm carries well at 78 mph out of the crouch with a 2.0 pop time and soft receiver. Behind Davis is OF Marquis Jackson (Brother Rice) who possesses arguably the biggest left-handed pop in the state after No. 4 Drake Westcott (Edwardsville). Jackson has a compact left-handed stroke that works slightly uphill and primed for pull side power, a young Kyle Schwarber comp is not out of the question for Jackson who also profiles at a corner outfield position.

RANK	NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POS	COMMITMENT
1	Jack Mahoney	IL	St. Viator	2020	SS
2	Briar Stinson	IL	Rushville-Industry	2020	OF
3	Edward Howard IV	IL	Mount Carmel	2020	SS
4	Drake Westcott	IL	Edwardsville	2020	1B	Louisville
5	Christian Knapczyk	IL	Joliet Catholic	2020	SS	Louisville
6	Ben Wiegman	IL	Carmel Catholic	2020	RHP	Louisville
7	Noah DeLuga	IL	Lake Zurich	2020	LHP
8	Trevor Davis	IL	Danville	2020	C
9	Marquis Jackson	IL	Brother Rice	2020	OF
10	Anthony Mangano	IL	Lake Zurich	2020	SS

 

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