By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 75 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage:

Team: St. Francis
Preseason Rank: 63
2013 Record: 25-12
Conference: Suburban Christian Conference
IHSA Class: 3A
Head Coach: Rich Janor
Playoff Run: 3A runner-up
2013 Final Rank: 21

Returning Starters: 4
Returning Pitchers: 4

TOP PLAYERS
Name, Position, Class (College Commitment)
Jason Sullivan, SS/RHP, 2015
Jack Ciombor, 2B, 2014 (St. Joseph’s College)
Jake Radel, RHP/INF, 2015
Matt Kelly, RHP, 2014
T.J. Jackson, OF, 2015
Dan Zurawski, RHP, 2014
Ryan Hodgett, RHP, 2016

X-FACTOR
Jason Sullivan. The 5-foot-10, 182-pound two-way talent did it all for the Spartans as a sophomore last spring. Although his future is as a position player, Sullivan served as the team’s ace, posting an 8-1 record with a 1.75 ERA. He also batted .317 with 3 doubles, 1 homer and 24 runs at the plate.

NEWCOMER TO WATCH
Ryan Hodgett, RHP, 2016. The 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore is one of the more promising prospects in Illinois’ 2016 class. In the winter, he was up 88 mph with his fastball at a PBR event.

KEY PLAYER LOST
Jack Petrando, OF/P

OUTLOOK
The Spartans were one of last season’s biggest surprises, as they advanced to the Class 3A championship game before falling to Joliet Catholic, 5-0. St. Francis returns several key contributors from last year’s historical season, which yielded the Wheaton school’s first state trophy. Junior Jason Sullivan, who’s a top-level 2015 prospect in the state, will need to carry much of the load once again if the team is to match last year’s finish. The team, which hit only 6 home runs last spring, graduated a lot of its offensive production. The strength of St. Francis is its pitching. Along with Sullivan, Jake Radel, Matt Kelly and Dan Zurawski return to the mound, and look for hard-throwing sophomore Ryan Hodgett to make an immediate impact.

BOTTOM LINE
No one foresaw the Spartans’ playoff run last year. Indeed, it was a season to remember for the school, and one that will be difficult to replicate this spring.

Season Countdown

+ Preseason Team Rankings

+ Updated Illinois 2014 Player Rankings

+ June Event Schedule

Make sure you follow @PBRillinois on Twitter for complete Illinois high school baseball coverage throughout the season.