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

We did have some notable movement in the top-10, including two new teams jumping in, and two mainstays dropping out. Additionally, we touched on eight teams that are on the outside looking in, but are playing well with the playoffs starting next week. 

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…

+ Father McGivney (28-2) maintains the top spot they’ve held all season long after another perfect win, including an excellent come from behind 6-4 victory over another highly ranked team in St. Anthony. The Griffins also beat Altamont, a team who just missed the cut of our rankings last week, 11-0 and took a game from Mater Dei on Saturday 7-1. They will have a tough draw this week, as they’ll face ‘Large School’ ranked O’Fallon on Wednesday, as well as Pleasant Plains and Litchfield this weekend. 

+ Bumping up two spots to No. 2 are the Wooden Shoes, as Teutopolis (22-4) put together a highly impressive week. They beat North Clay (11-4) to start things off and then traveled down to Edwardsville for the 17th annual Tigers’ Classic, which they won after a 2-1 showing. The Shoes dropped their first game of the event to Highland, but turned around and beat ‘Large School’ ranked No. 5 Glenwood and they also took down No. 2 ‘Large School’ ranked Edwardsville as well. 

+ Pleasant Plains (24-5) maintains the third spot on our board after a 3-0 week. The Cardinals took down ranked Sacred-Heart Griffin to open things up, beating Springfield (5-4) and Routt Catholic (4-0) afterwards. They’ve won five games in a row and have a challenging five game slate coming up this week. 

+ St. Anthony (17-6) drops two spots, from No. 2 to No. 4, but the Bulldogs still had an impressive week. They played No. 1 Father McGivney as tough as anyone has all season and fell just short after losing a lead. Other than that, the reigning 2A state champions picked up wins over Neoga (8-0), ‘Large School’ ranked Belleville East (7-4), and they beat Newton 13-2 on Saturday. 

+ Nashville (24-1) climbs up one spot to No. 5 after winning all four of their games. They picked up a ranked win over Roxana (9-6) to start the week off, beating Highland (9-3), Okawville (16-1), and Althoff Catholic (6-5) as well. The Hornets will travel to Collinsville today to take on the Kahoks, and our staff will be in attendance. 

+ Roxana (18-8-1) is up a few spots, now at No. 6 on these updated rankings. The Shells had an impressive conference sweep over a tough Freeburg (2-0, 5-4) club. They did drop both of their non-conference games to Nashville (9-6) and Jersey (5-3). 

+ Sacred-Heart Griffin (19-8) falls two spots to the seventh spot after a 2-3 week. They lost their first three games of the week to Pleasant Plains (2-1), Jacksonville (7-2), and Glenwood (7-3), but they rallied to salvage the week with a pair of wins over the aforementioned Jacksonville (4-1) and Springfield (6-5). Things won’t get easier for the Cyclones, as they’ll travel to ‘Large School’ ranked O’Fallon later today. 

+ Breese Central (17-10) is back in our rankings after a few weeks out, now holding down the eighth spot. The Cougars went 4-1 on the week, with their only loss being a 4-3 defeat at the hands of ‘Large School’ ranked O’Fallon. Breese Central beat Metro East Lutheran (10-0), took down ‘Large School’ ranked Belleville East (6-2), and swept East Alton-Wood River (16-1, 10-0). 

+ Arcola (19-0) debuted on these rankings last week and are bumping up one spot to No. 9 after a 2-0 week. They took down Blue Ridge 16-2 on Wednesday and then turned around to take down a tough Altamont club in a 1-0 game on Saturday. 

+ The final spot on these rankings belongs to Goreville (20-6), as the Blackcats debut for the first time this spring. They’ve won seven games in a row and four of them this past week, sweeping Vienna (9-3, 2-0) while also beating Crab Orchard (7-0) and Pinckneyville (3-0). Goreville has an impressive resume on the season, as they’re a 1A school that’s beaten Salem (2-1), swept Johnston City (6-1, 4-0), split with Zeigler-Royalton/Christopher (10-0 W, 7-3 L), and also took down Marion (7-6). 

+ Zeigler-Royalton/Christopher (20-8) and Routt Catholic (15-11) drop out of the rankings in this update, as both teams went 0-4 on the week. 

NEXT UP…

+ North Clay (16-6): A week after dropping out of the rankings, the Cardinals had a 2-1 showing with a big win over Greenville (4-0). The Cardinals dropped their opening game of the week to Teutopolis (11-4) and also beat Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg 4-1. 

+ Greenville (22-3): A loss to the aforementioned North Clay kept the Comets out of the rankings this week, but Greenville still had a good week, defeating Carlinville (12-0) and Piasa  Southwestern (5-1). The Comets are undefeated in conference this season (8-0) and have a 22-3 overall record. 

+ Altamont (17-7): The Indians were knocking on the door of these rankings last week, but a 2-2 week kept them out this go around. They lost to Father McGivney 11-0 to start the week and also fell in a 1-0 contest to Arcola to end it. Between those two, however, were victories over Mulberry Grove (20-5) and Dieterich (2-1). Kade Milleville (2026) continues to make his push for one of our ‘All-Area’ teams, as the star junior struck out 17 in that loss to Arcola and walked just one. On the season, Milleville has struck out 97 batters and walked just five in 54 innings of work to the tune of a 0.65 ERA. 

+ Litchfield (19-9): Litchfield went 2-1 on the week. They lost a conference game to North Mac (5-3) to start things off, picking up a forfeit win over Bunker Hill (7-0) before beating Gillespie 3-1 on Friday afternoon. 

+ Red Bud (17-5): The Muskeeteers are in first place in their conference and went 2-1 this week, losing to Marissa (2-1) to start things off before sweeping Sparta (11-3, 7-1). They have a big matchup today against Breese Central, who we recently slotted back into the rankings at No. 8 overall. 

+ Carterville (16-10): It was a 3-2 week for the Lions, as they book-ended things with losses to Anna-Jonesboro (12-3) and Waterloo (8-2). Sandwiched between those, however, were victories over Pinckneyville (15-3), Trico (2-0), and Benton (11-1). 

+ Waltonville (12-5): The Spartans took care of business this week, winning both of their games. They did pick up a forfeit victory over Grayville on Monday, defeating Red Hill (8-1) and Woodlawn (9-0) in the games that were actually played. 

+ Du Quoin (17-12): It was a 3-1 week for the Indians, who picked up wins over Vienna (6-5), Anna-Jonesboro (12-1), and Carmi-White County (5-3). Their one loss on the week came at the hands of Waterloo (7-2), who was a team we highlighted as ‘Next Up’ on our ‘Large School’ rankings.