The ScoutConnect staff is once again updating our IHSA ‘Small School’ – 1A & 2A – team rankings with the sixth week of Illinois high school baseball season under our belt. 

There’s some movement in the top-10 this week, mostly from a re-ordering standpoint, though a large chunk of these teams, especially at the top, are all similar to each other. Continue reading below to learn more about our top-10, with one new team debuting, and 10 teams who are ‘Next Up’ on our board. 

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 1A and 2A that fall underneath the Mt. Zion line.

THE TOP 10…

+ A spot they’ve held all season, Father McGivney (24-2) enters this week as the clear-cut No. 1 team on our rankings. The Griffins have won 23 games in a row, including five wins last week in which they threw three shutouts and allowed just two runs in total, scoring 57 runs of their own. This team continues to look like an absolute juggernaut with no signs of slowing down. 

+ Up a handful of spots in this update is St. Anthony (14-5), who’s won five in a row and jumped up to No. 2, which is the spot they held in our initial preseason rankings. The reigning 2A state champions have won five in a row with wins over Dieterich (14-0) and Tolono Unity (12-3) this past week. The Bulldogs have a challenging set of games on the horizon, as they play ranked North Clay, No. 1 Father McGivney, and ‘Large School’ ranked Belleville East this upcoming week. 

+ Pleasant Plains (21-5) is up two spots, now at No. 3 overall. The Cardinals had a bit of a perplexing week, dropping a pair of games to two really tough opponents in St. Joseph Ogden (7-3) and ‘Large School’ ranked Mt. Zion (8-2). The reason they are climbing, however, is a 3-1 win over Teutopolis, who was the No. 2 team on our rankings last week. On top of that, Pleasant Plains also beat New Berlin (3-0) and Williamsville (6-2). 

+ Teutopolis (19-3) falls one spot to No. 4 after a 2-1 week. They beat Farina South Central (12-2) and Mattoon (4-3) before dropping a game to Pleasant Plains (3-1) on Saturday morning. The Wooden Shoes are still, in our eyes, one of the top 2A teams in the state, though there’s a challenging slate ahead this week: Effingham, ranked North Clay, Highland, ranked Glenwood, and ranked Edwardsville. 

+ Sacred-Heart Griffin (17-5) and Nashville (20-1) are the No. 5 and No. 6 teams, respectively, in this update. The Cyclones beat Lanphier (16-1) to start the week before falling 3-1 on Friday to the top-ranked team on our ‘Large School’ rankings in Triad. The Hornets finally lost their first game of the season, falling to ‘Large School’ ranked Belleville West 12-2, but they picked up two quality wins against Du Quoin (5-2) and Carterville (5-1). 

+ Routt Catholic (15-7) climbs one spot, up to No. 7, after a 2-1 week. The Rockets beat Triopia (12-4) and Jacksonville (8-0) with a 1-0 extra-innings walk-off loss to Mt. Pulaski sandwiched between. Zeigler-Royalton/Christopher (20-4) played one game last week, losing to Vienna (3-1) and dropped one spot as a result, now at No. 8. 

+ The final two spots belong to Roxana (16-6-1) and newcomer Arcola (17-0), with North Clay (14-5) dropping out. The Shells split their week, beating Alton Marquette (2-1) and losing to Salem (3-1). Arcola hasn’t lost this season and they’ve dominated all of their opponents, except for Sullivan, who they beat 3-2 in extra-innings this past Friday. The Purple Riders have a double-header against Altamont this Saturday, which will be their toughest test to date. 

NEXT UP…

+ Altamont (15-5): The Indians split their week, beating Nokomis (4-1) and Robinson (5-4) with losses to Charleston (9-0) and Farina South Central (2-1). Things won’t get easier for the Indians, as they’ll play five games this week, with matchups against No. 1 Father McGivney, No. 10 Arcola, and a Greenville team that is 20-2. 

+ Columbia (12-9): A split with conference foe Breese Central (16-5 W, 8-6 L) kept the Eagles out of the rankings, but this is still a more than formidable club who’s capable of making some noise in the 2A playoffs. 

+ Du Quoin (14-11): Du Quoin split their week, falling to ranked Nashville (5-2) before picking up a win over Sparta (9-5) on Friday afternoon. 

+ Greenville (20-2): Winners of five straight, and 17 of their last 18, Greenville is rolling. They played two games this past week and won both, defeating Litchfield (5-4) and Pana (15-0). 

+ Litchfield (17-8): The Purple Panthers went 2-1 this past week with wins over Carlinville (6-5) and Hillsboro (4-2) with a loss to Greenville (5-4) sandwiched between. 

+ Red Bud (15-4): The Musketeers only played twice last week, sweeping a Saturday double-header over Wesclin (2-1, 7-0). At one point, Red Bud went on a nine game winning streak this season, with victories over Columbia, Waterloo, and Du Quoin this season. 

+ Goreville (16-7): A perennial powerhouse at the 1A classification, the Black Cats won all three of their games last week, beating Marion (7-6), Hamilton County (9-3), and Murray (7-0). 

+ Breese Central (13-9): The Cougars spent a large majority of the season in our rankings, dropping out a few weeks ago after a four-game skid. They split their series with Columbia this past week, defeating the Eagles 8-6 with a 16-5 loss. 

+ Carterville (13-8): Another team that was in our rankings for a few weeks, the Lions had a nice week, beating Murphysboro (9-1) and Herrin (5-2) in conference play before falling to ranked Nashville 5-1 on Friday. 

+ Waltonville (10-5): Keep an eye on the Spartans, who beat previously ranked North Clay last week. They have one of the top arms in the state in RHP Brandon Menser (2025; Cincinnati), who’s capable of beating anyone on any given day, as evidenced by his dominant performance over No. 2 St. Anthony in a win earlier this spring. 

Author: Diego