Preseason Bubble Teams: Mundelein
March 3, 2019
The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 11, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2019 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, leading into a countdown through the official PBR 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 2019 preseason coverage continues today.
Team: Mundelein
Preseason Rank: On The Bubble
2018 Record: 23-9
Conference: North Suburban
IHSA Class: 4A
Head Coach: Randy Lerner
Playoff Run: Regional Final
2018 Final Rank: 23
Returning Starters: 3
Returning Pitchers: 3
TOP PLAYERS
NAME | STATE | SCHOOL | CLASS | POSITION | COMMITMENT |
Justin Binz | IL | Mundelein | 2019 | OF | Hope College |
Rahul Champaneri | IL | Mundelein | 2019 | LHP | Concordia (IL) |
Jake Devine | IL | Mundelein | 2019 | RHP | Augustana College (IL) |
Jared Dorfman | IL | Mundelein | 2019 | OF | Illinois College |
Tyler Yakimisky | IL | Mundelein | 2019 | 3B | Illinois-Springfield |
Austin Greco | IL | Mundelein | 2020 | RHP | Miami (OH) |
Jonathon Hanscom | IL | Mundelein | 2020 | RHP | - |
Andrew Schroeder | IL | Mundelein | 2020 | SS | - |
KEY LOSSES
NAME | STATE | SCHOOL | CLASS | POSITION | COMMITMENT |
Drew Breitenreiter | IL | Mundelein | 2018 | SS | - |
Jeff Morton | IL | Mundelein | 2018 | OF | Triton JC |
Ryan Patel | IL | Mundelein | 2018 | SS | St. Louis |
Steven Sanchez | IL | Mundelein | 2018 | LHP | Arkansas |
Mason Schaller | IL | Mundelein | 2018 | C | Triton JC |
OUTLOOK
Mundelein, a perrenial North Suburban power, will be looking to replace a number of key contributors from last spring's 23-win club. The most notable holes to fill were left by the graduation of LHP/1B Steven Sanchez (Arkansas commit) and SS/RHP Ryan Patel (St. Louis commit). The 6-foot-7, 240-pound, Sanchez, was a do-it-all player for the Mustangs. Sanchez served as the ace of the staff and was a middle-of-the-order bat with big power in his bat. Patel was the everyday shortstop and came out of the bullpen with a upper-80's fastball and feel for his secondary. Both will be tough to replace in 2019.
On the bright side, the Mustangs return three quality arms; Junior RHP's Austin Greco (Miami, OH commit), Jonathon Hanscom and senior LHP Rahul Champaneri (Concordia-Chicago commit), all of whom could be aces on most high school teams across the state. Greco has a lively fastball that touches 91 mph and a hard slider to go along with it. When not toeing the rubber, Greco should be the top hitter in the Mustangs lineup. Greco, has a knack for finding the barrel and coming through with big hits in crunch time. Hanscom, emerged last year as a high-follow 2020 arm thanks to a loose, live arm and fastball that sits comfortably in the mid-80's with hard arm-side-run. Champaneri, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound, loose, easy left-hander has a three-pitch repertoire and sits in the mid-80's.
An unproven offense is the biggest weakness when looking at Mundelein on paper. Besides Greco, the mustangs will look for senior's 3B T.J. Yakimisky, OF Jared Dorfman and junior Andrew Schroeder to step up and take a bigger role. Ultimately, if the offense can find a way to score runs, Mundelein will once again be one of the top teams in the North Suburban Conference.
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT
Austin Greco (8.2.18)
Make sure to follow @PBRIllinois on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2019 season.
Find more information on the 2019 Mustangs below:
+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website
+ GameChanger
+ Team Twitter
PRESEASON BUBBLE TEAMS
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Galesburg 3/04/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Glenwood 3/04/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Mundelein 3/03/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Normal West 3/03/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Lemont 3/03/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Morton 3/02/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Champaign Central 3/02/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Loyola Academy 3/02/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Aurora Christian 3/02/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Rochester 3/01/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Notre Dame 3/01/19
- IL Preseason Bubble Teams: Nazareth Academy 3/01/19