With another week of the Illinois’ high school baseball season behind us, it’s time to update our ‘Small School’ rankings again. At ScoutConnect, we break our IHSA rankings into two different categories, grouping the 3A and 4A into a ‘Large’ school bucket, while doing the same for the 1A and 2A programs as ‘Small’ schools.

 

To see our rankings from a week ago, click HERE. 

 

It’s important to note that these rankings do not cover the entire state. Our coverage map extends from Peoria on down, and only teams that fall underneath the Peoria line on the state map will be included within our rankings all season long. It’s also important to note that these are just initial rankings, and they will fluctuate throughout as the season rolls on and gameplay starts.

 

It’s a pretty quiet week from a rankings standpoint – we’ve broken down our update, as well as some teams that just missed the cut, below. 

 

AT THE TOP…

+ The top three teams from last week’s update all remain in the same order with No. 1 St. Joseph-Ogden (22-1), No. 2 Freeburg (19-5), and No. 3 Teutopolis (19-5). As far as the area that we cover, these are the teams that fall into ‘Tier 1’ in our eyes and have a high chance to make the 2A state playoffs. 

 

+ Nashville (19-2) bumps up a spot to their highest ranking of the spring, now at No. 4 in this week’s update. The Hornets had a strong 3-0 week, beating a tough DuQuoin 2-0 to kick things off, while also beating Woodlawn (11-1) and Herrin (4-2). 

 

+ Father McGivney (17-5) is down one spot after a 2-1 week. They beat Calhoun (8-0) and Maryville Christian (17-6), dropping a game to Breese Mater Dei (7-6). 

 

ON THE RISE…

+ St. Anthony (15-5) rebounded nicely after a previously tough week, putting together an impressive 4-0 stretch, and jumping back up to No. 6. The Bulldogs started their week off by beating Tolono Unity 5-2, rattling off three wins over Stewardson-Strasburg (8-7), ranked Carterville (7-6), and Breese Mater Dei (2-1). The return of RHP Charley Spour (2027) adds a premium arm back into this St. Anthony pitching staff with the postseason not too far away. 

 

+ It’s important to note that while, technically, Tolono Unity (17-3), Monticello (24-1), and Tremont (22-2) are all dropping a spot in this update, they’re only falling because St. Anthony (15-5) is rising upward, as opposed to those teams “falling” in our eyes. All three are strong teams in central Illinois that had productive weeks. 

 

STAYING PUT…

The next four teams on our board are the same from a week ago: 

 

+ No. 10 Harrisburg (18-3): The Bulldogs went 1-1 on the week, beating Carbondale 4-0 and dropping an out-of-state matchup to Kentucky’s Paducah Tilghman. In our eyes, Harrisburg continues to look like one of the top 2A teams in southern Illinois. 

 

+ No. 11 Carterville (18-6): Like their conference counterparts, Carterville split their week as well. They took down Frankfort 12-2, but dropped a Friday contest to St. Anthony 7-6. 

 

+ No. 12 Effingham (13-8): The Hearts swept their Apollo Conference series with Taylorville (6-2, 8-5), with a cross-state loss to Terre Haute 4-2 to end their week.

 

+ No. 13 Roxana (15-5): A split with Salem (2-1 W, 7-6 L) is the reason why the Shells aren’t climbing in this update. They did add a win over Marquette Catholic (4-0) on the week and have arguably their toughest challenge of the season coming up – two games with Freeburg, and a home matchup with Nashville. 

 

DROPPING DOWN…

+ Breese Central (18-7) is down two spots in this update, occupying the 15th and final spot in this update. The Cougars didn’t win a game this week, getting swept by Columbia (5-3, 8-5) in conference play and dropping their in-between game to Gillespie (6-5) as well. 

 

+ Newton (18-4) drops out of the rankings after spending a few weeks on them. The Eagles played a tough schedule this week and went 1-2, beating Sullivan 10-0, but dropping games to Teutopolis (7-1) and Robinson (4-3). 

 

WELCOME BACK…

+ DuQuoin (18-5) jumps back into the rankings after more than a month off our board. A team we ranked in the preseason, the Indians went 2-1 this week, falling 2-0 to Nashville, while beating Waltonville (10-2) and Vienna (12-2). 

 

NEXT UP…

+ Red Bud (16-4): The Musketeers lost one game in the month of April, and have won 11 of their last 12 games, taking both of their conference games over Wesclin (13-6, 3-0) this past week. 

 

+ Columbia (10-11): Their overall record isn’t the prettiest, but the Eagles had a real shot to jump back into our rankings this past week. On April 11th, Columbia had a 2-9 record, and head coach Neal O’Donnell’s squad has gone 8-2 in that span, picking up wins over Roxana, Belleville East, O’Fallon, and a two-game sweep of Breese Central. They continue to be a team we’re monitoring closely and should not be judged based on their record. 

 

+ Rochester (9-8): Another preseason rank for us, the Rockets were scuffling out the jump, but have been much more competitive as of late. They lost a close game to Glenwood this past week, picking up two quality wins over Springfield (11-4) and Mahomet-Seymour (5-3). 

 

+ Goreville (15-2): The Blackcats won their only game of the week, taking down Woodlawn 7-3 on Friday afternoon. Like they’ve been every year for some time now, Goreville is a 1A state championship contender in our eyes.