Lake Land has endured a program turnaround under head coach Julio Godinez, who is entering his seventh season as the leader of this club. In 2024, Lake Land eclipsed the 30 win mark for the first time in 25 years, which was only the entree for what would happen the next season. 

In a somewhat unprecedented run, Lake Land won their side of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference tournament and traveled to Crystal Lake, IL, to compete in the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament. There, they defeated Iowa Western twice to earn a trip to the 2025 JUCO World Series, their first since 1988. They finished the season 45-21 and had 21 sophomores move on to play at four year schools. 

POSITION PLAYERS

Replicating the success Lake Land had last year certainly won’t be easy, but if the Lakers are going to do it, their lineup is likely to be the driving force. This offense has the ability to be amongst the most potent in Illinois and offers a blend of experienced returners as well as talented newcomers. 

Expect to see Soph OF Kaiden Maurer at the top of lineup, as the do-it-all speedster returns after a freshman year where he hit .300 in 233 at-bats and walked (40) considerably more than he punched out (26). Maurer has all the makings of a true table-setter type; he doesn’t swing and miss, his at-bats are always competitive, and he can really run. Another key piece to this offense is Soph MIF Sharif Colon, who excelled for the Lakers on their run to Grand Junction last season. In 202 at-bats, Colon hit .347 with a .976 OPS, totaling 23 extra-base hits, including nine home runs. 

Sharif Colon

R-Soph INF Eduardo Letamendi is also back in 2026 and he’s a talented, tooled up right-handed hitter with one of the higher ceilings in Illinois’ JUCO baseball. Two catches – Soph Nate Stuemke and R-FR Logan Winkleman – also return. Stuemke served as the Lakers everyday backstop in 2025 and he’s a proven leader with experience captaining this pitching staff. Winkleman has huge arm strength behind the plate (T86 mph) and performed in-game for our staff this fall, including a home run at the ScoutConnect JUCO invite. Soph 1B Bryce Beyers has plenty of thump and physicality inside his left-handed barrel, swatting four home runs this fall, and Soph OF Owen Hawkins is another physical athlete with easy right-handed juice. 

Eduardo Letamendi

Turning to the newcomers, Lake Land has several welcomed additions, whether it be through the transfer route or by way of their freshman class. Soph C Kyle Hartmann and Soph OF Jalen House are a pair of Northern Illinois bouncebacks that figure to be integral parts of what the Lakers will aim to accomplish in 2026. Hartmann has the makings of a true impact catcher at the plate, showing all sorts of bat speed and strength this fall, both in game and at our scout day. If he performs how he did in our looks this fall, Hartmann has All-Region potential and could be a true impact in the middle of this Lake Land lineup. House is a double-plus runner that can flat-out go get it in the outfield, and his left-handed swing has made improvements, both from a mechanical standpoint and from sheer batted ball strength. 

Kyle Hartmann

Another fresh face is R-FR INF/OF Isaac Flowers, who heads to Mattoon byway of Toledo. A left-handed hitter, Flowers is known for his polish and pure bat-to-ball skills, showing the ability to work on the barrel to all fields in our looks this past fall. He’ll likely serve as a top-of-the-lineup bat for this Lakers’ club and he has the ability to move around defensively, both on the infield and in the outfield. 

Isaac Flowers

Turning to their class of new recruits, Lake Land has a multitude of freshmen that can be positive contributors from the get-go. CIF Jimmy Downs, a Chicago native, has huge raw bat strength from the right side. At our scout day with the Lakers this past fall, Downs produced a peak exit velocity of 105 mph – 98.8 mph average – and he evaporated his furthest batted ball 417 feet, per TrackMan. CIF Dylan Nagle, C Ben Mitchell, and OF Jonathan Trotter are three more highly physical freshmen with easy right-handed bat strength that can produce extra-base slug in any given at-bat. 

Jimmy Downs

Then there’s INF/RHP Madden Johnson, a local product from Mattoon that’ll serve as a true swiss army knife for the Lakers. His left-handed swing is polished with added barrel strength from his high school days, and he also brings a clean, sure-handed presence on the infield. Additionally, Johnson’s arm works clean and loose on the mound, working his fastball in the mid-to-upper-80s with feel to spin a sharp breaking ball, and there’s a real chance he plays a key role on the mound for Lake Land in 2026. 

Madden Johnson

PITCHERS

As we mentioned above, the Lakers’ bats appear to be a strength for this club, but the production they receive from several new faces on the mound may ultimately end up being just as important for Lake Land this upcoming spring. A large majority of this pitching staff is made up of new faces, whether they be additions through the transfer market or as freshmen newcomers.

One highly important figure that does return is Soph LHP Lucas Bixby, an Austin Peay commit who earned co-conference Pitcher of the Year honors last year as a freshman. Bixby shouldered an extensive workload, hurling 78 ⅓ innings to the tune of a 2.53 ERA, punching out 85 while walking 27. His fastball plays anywhere from 84-88 mph and he spins a big, sweeping slider off it, while showing/developing a harder, tumbling splitter this fall. 

Lucas Bixby

Likely lined up next to their star southpaw in this rotation is Soph RHP Skyler Lhamon, a Bellarmine commit who transfers in from fellow GRAC foe Olney Central. Lhamon is a lean, wiry right-hander with a quick arm that’s fastball ranges anywhere from 87-91, touching 92 mph, and he’ll show a hard, downer slider with sharp spin at times. If he’s in the zone consistently, Lhamon has swing-and-miss stuff that can profile nicely as a top-of-the-rotation arm for this pitching staff. 

Skyler Lhamon

Soph RHP Teague Hallahan and Soph RHP Carson Bantz are two hard-throwing right-handers of note on this staff. Hallahan has been up to 93 with his fastball, pitching in the upper-80s to low-90s, and Bantz ran his heater up to 92 mph at the ScoutConnect JUCO Invite this past fall. Soph RHP Will Knapp, a Northern Illinois commit, missed a majority of last season due to an injury, but is working his way back up to full strength and has reportedly already been up to 90 mph this fall. 

Carson Bantz

Soph RHP Ethan Loffer threw 40 innings at NIACC last year and transferred in as another piece to deepen this group. He is your prototypical starter type, throwing four pitches, and working in the strike zone often. Loffer throws a four-seam fastball and sinker, both of which play in the mid/upper-80s. He’ll spin a true gyro slider in the upper-70s, and show a changeup that also plays in the upper-70s. Soph RHP Carter Orner is a 6-foot-7, 225-pound transfer from Purdue Fort Wayne that was 86-87 mph when we saw him this fall and spun a big top-to-bottom CB at 75-76 mph. Soph LHP Colin McCarty is a mid/upper-80s southpaw that is in line to shoulder a heavier workload this season. 

Ethan Loffer

As for their freshman class, the Lakers have a handful of arms that can come in right away and get important outs. RHP Martin Villagomez has one of the higher ceilings of the JUCO arms we saw this fall. He’s an easy, low-effort mover down the mound with premium arm speed and a clean, athletic arm stroke that produces an upper-80s fastball, touching 90 mph. The upside is obvious and he will be an impactful arm for this club if he’s in the zone consistently throughout the spring. 

Martin Villagomez

Two other arms of note are RHP Obed Lopez and RHP Matt Murphy. Lopez owns a lively upper-80s fastball, which can climb into the low-90s, that he’s not afraid to challenge anyone with. Murphy is a clean, athletic mover that pounds the strike zone with four pitches, including a mid/upper-80s fastball. 

Obed Lopez