With two weeks of the regular season under our belt, the ScoutConnect staff has updated our ‘Small School’ – which includes 1A and 2A teams inside our coverage map ahead of week three.
As a reminder, teams taken into consideration are those that fall into our ‘Coverage Map’, which includes all of Southern Illinois, the Metro East area, Springfield, and up as high as Mt. Zion. This does not mean that our staff won’t provide coverage to all areas of the state, as well as Missouri, but for team rankings purposes, we will stick to all teams in 3A and 4A that fall underneath the Mt. Zion line.
We’ve detailed some movement in our top-10 below, highlighting a few teams on the rise, two teams that debut inside our rankings this update, and a few teams that are playing well, though on the outside looking in.
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THE TOP FIVE…
There’s no movement in the top five this update, with all of our original teams staying put in their original positions:
+ No. 1 Father McGivney (7-2) challenged themselves rather ostensibly, playing high level competition in their annual trip to Millington, TN. The Griffins returned home and swept a conference double-header with Alton Marquette, then scored 35 runs in two games this weekend. INF Drew Kleinheider (2025; St. Louis) and INF Justin Terhaar (2025; Missouri – St. Louis) have sparked the offense from the middle of the lineup, while INF/RHP Kannon Kamp (2025; SIUE) has been an integral part of the success Father McGivney has had on both sides of the ball.
+ No. 2 St. Anthony (4-0) remains unbeaten, picking up key wins over Harrisburg (1-0) and St. Joseph-Ogden (4-3) in the early going. RHP/INF Brock Fearday (2025; SWIC) and 1B/RHP Brady Hatton (2025; Kaskaskia JC) have gotten it done on both sides of the ball, while INF Aiden Lauritzen (2026) has been a key offensive performer.
+ No. 3 Sacred-Heart Griffin (6-1) rattled off six straight wins to start the year before dropping a non-conference matchup against 4A Hersey last Thursday. INF Carson Butler (2026) and INF Austin Rutter (2027) are two middle-of-the-order bats that have swung it well early on, with other like OF Drew Ward (2026), OF Ty Springer (2026), and RHP/INF Andy Antonacci (2025; Heartland CC) contributing as well. Antonacci, Ward, and RHP Will Pennell (2026) are this team’s three top arms – a quality trio at any level, but amplified more so at the 2A classification. The Griffins will matchup against top-ranked Edwardsville later today.
+ No. 4 Pleasant Plains (6-0) has one of the more impressive resumes on this list, beating ranked Breese Central (2-0), Harrisburg (8-2), Goreville (4-0), and previously ranked Du Quoin (3-1). Zach Ponce (2025) and Drew Green (2026) are two upperclassmen that posted at the plate, with freshman INF Landon Maisenbacher (2028) and INF Andrew Potthoff (2028) swinging it well in their early opportunities. The Cardinals are playing their brand of baseball in their first six games – they’ve swiped 10 bags, are playing quality defense, and their pitching staff has a 1.47 ERA in 43 innings thus far. Cooper Schallenberg (2025) has K’d 10 in 12 ⅔ innings without an earned run allowed, and Caleb Hatcher (2026) has thrown well over his 11 innings of work. Sean Lowder (2025) has not allowed a run or walked anyone in his eight innings, fanning eight.
+ No. 5 Teutopolis (6-1) has only lost to Columbia (6-3), who drops out of our rankings in this update but is still a plenty talented club. The Wooden Shoes have outscored their opposition 76-to-11 in their wins. INF Dawson Hoene (2025), OF Davin Worman (2026), and CIF/RHP Mick Niebrugge (2025) have spearheaded this offense. Worman, Niebrugge, RHP Gavin Addis (2026), and RHP Austin Borries (2026; Lindenwood) are key pieces on the mound.
SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT…
+ Bumping up three spots, now at No. 6 overall, is Routt Catholic (5-0), who haven’t scored less than eight runs in any of their games. OF Jace Lautemann (2025) has four extra-base hits and is hitting .684 in 19 at-bats, while OF/RHP Eli Olson (2025), Talon Thompson (2026), and LHP/1B Brady Turner (2026) are three other names who are red-hot at the plate to start the year. Olson, Turner, and RHP Brock Runyon (2025) have been the Rockets’ main three arms, forming a trio that’ll go toe-to-toe with anyone at the 1A level.
+ Nashville (4-0) rises three spots to No. 7 overall in this update. The Hornets have scored 41 runs and have pitched three shutouts, allowing only four runs on the year.
+ Breese Central (3-2) stays in the rankings at the eighth spot despite two losses, which came against Pleasant Plains (2-0) and a really talented St. Joseph-Ogden (9-5) club. We still believe in the Cougars’ talent, which has shown in their wins over Civic Memorial (6-3), Collinsville (15-8), and Staunton (20-7).
WELCOME TO THE RANKINGS…
We have two new teams jumping into the rankings at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, with Althoff Catholic (9-1) and Carterville (5-1) making their debuts.
+ The Crusaders won their spring trip in Memphis and have an offense that puts up runs in bunches early on, scoring 10+ runs in six of their 10 games. INF Bo Gomric (2025; SWIC) has been an all-around star, homering twice, driving in 14 runs, and slashing .556/.700/.963 in 27 at-bats early on.
+ The Lions are a scrappy, energetic bunch that play the game hard and have a blend of talented upperclassmen with on-the-rise youngsters. They outscored their opponents 75-to-8 in their first four games, dropped a non-conference contest to Chester late, and rallied back from that loss to beat cross-town rival Marion (5-4). RHP Parker Poole (2025; John A. Logan JC) has the power stuff to beat anyone on any given day on the mound, with names like INF/RHP Logan Ingle (2025; East Central CC), INF/OF Zach Snow (2027), OF Aidan Swallers (2026), INF/RHP Alex Lyell (2026), INF Drake Capie (2026), and 1B/RHP Haiden Lange (2028) all performing well early on.
DROPPING OUT…
+ Du Quoin (4-5) and Columbia (1-4) are out of the rankings this update. Columbia, in particular, will be a team to keep an eye on despite dropping out, as the Eagles have challenged themselves plenty in the early going. They beat Teutopolis (6-3) and their four losses have been to St. Joseph-Ogden, Normal U-High, Waterloo, and Belleville West, all of which are strong, competitive clubs.
NEXT UP…
+ Roxana (7-1-1): The Shells have won seven games – all of them rather handedly – and their strong core of upperclassmen have engineered a large part of their offensive success. INF Dalton Carriker (2026), C/RHP Mason Crump (2026), OF Sean Maberry (2026), OF Kael Hester (2025), and C Max Autery (2026) are all key parts of this offense, while Carriker, Crump, RHP Landon Sitze (2025; Danville CC), and RHP Trevor Gihring (2025) are throwing it well on the mound.
+ Zeigler-Royalton (8-1): Head Coach Page Kirkpatrick’s club has won eight of their nine games and, in those wins, haven’t allowed more than a run in any of those contests. LHP Connor DeWeerdt (2025), RHP Aidan Skropka (2025), RHP Landen Butler (2025), and RHP Connor McCoy (2025) have combined to allow four earned runs in 40 innings with 60 strikeouts.
+ Litchfield (6-2): The Purple Panthers made it to a Super-Sectional last season and are picking up right where they left off, winning six of their eight games, and scoring runs in bunches. Titan Hires (2026), Max Leitschuh (2026), and Ethan Saathoff (2026) are all off to strong starts, while the latter two are also getting it done on the mound. Mathew Bywater (2026) was Litchfield’s star last season and, while he hasn’t gotten off to a scorching hot start, is a talented, experienced bat in this lineup.
+ Altamont (4-1), North Clay (4-2), and Arcola (4-0) are three 1A teams with pedigree to keep an eye on. Altamont finished as runner-ups last season, North Clay captured the 1A state championship in 2022, and Arcola has one of the classification’s most talented duos in RHP/OF Tanner Thomas (2025; Louisville) and INF Brody Phillips (2027).
