The junior college regular season in Illinois has concluded with the playoffs for the Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) set to start this coming Wednesday, May 6th. 

 

Eight teams from the GRAC qualified for postseason play and were dispersed into two different hosting sites. This year, John A. Logan in Carterville, IL, will be a host, as well as Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, IL. The highest remaining seed between the two host sites once the first round of playoffs conclude will host district play. 

 

We’ve previewed the first side of the GRAC bracket below, which includes John A. Logan, Wabash Valley, Frontier, and Kaskaskia. 

 

JOHN A. LOGAN

The Volunteers are the top seed on this side of the GRAC bracket and will serve as the weekend’s host. Entering the postseason, John A. Logan is 44-11 on the year, and won the GRAC regular season title. 

 

It’s hard to start anywhere with this team without talking about the ridiculous projection that sophomore OF Kameron Yearsley (Missouri State) has put together this spring. Yearsley has hit an absurd 37 home runs, one off the single season record, and has 18 other extra-base hits, with 97 RBI, and 61 free passes to 26 strikeouts. In 180 at-bats, Yearsley is hitting .489 with 1.828 OPS and has some of the most advanced raw bat strength we’ve seen in our time covering junior college baseball. Yearsley is the engine that drives one of the top offenses, and teams, in the Midwest JUCO scene, and he’ll look to continue his torrid pace deep into the playoffs for John A. Logan. 

 

Kam Yearsley

 

Surrounding their left-handed slugger is a lineup that doesn’t lack any talent whatsoever. MIF Justin Lang (Memphis) has been the Volunteers everyday regular at shortstop while slashing .421/.502/.546 from the top of their lineup. OF/INF Jonah Weathers (Louisville) has 20 doubles, 14 home runs, and 65 RBI of his own. 

 

Jonah Weathers

 

If it wasn’t for Yearsley’s success, many would be talking about the power production that OF Bryce Nevils (McNease State) has brought to the Volunteers. On the season, over 192 at-bats, Nevils has a .443 batting average with a 1.362 OPS, including 20 home runs, 13 doubles, and 86 RBI. Freshman OF Hayden Bernreuter has acclimated to the college game quickly, as the left-handed slugger has homered 15 times, with 15 doubles, and he’s also driven in 66 runs. Other talented regulars that deepen this lineup include INF Bryer Arview, INF Hayden Bates (Austin Peay), and 1B Davis Collie. 

 

Bryce Nevils

 

How far the Volunteers are able to play into the postseason may come down to the production they get on the mound from their arms. They’re a highly talented group, but consistency has come in waves at times throughout this spring season, and if they can pitch to their potential, this team has a chance to punch their ticket to Grand Junction quickly. 

 

We’ll start with RHP Logan Bingham (Pittsburgh), who’s been their most reliable arm on a week to week basis. He’s a highly physical 6-foot-8, 250-pound arm with a heavy upper-80s fastball that lives on the ground, pounds the strike zone, and leads their team with 60 ⅔ innings pitched. 

 

Logan Bingham

 

Another arm of note is RHP Miller Green, a Murray State commit who’s made 10 starts this spring, tossing 43 ⅔ innings with 14 walks, 38 strikeouts, and a 5.56 ERA. Green is an athletic right-hander with a short, quick arm stroke that can run his fastball into the low-90s and has a feel for a short, tight cutter, as well as a bigger, sharper breaking ball. RHP Carter McKinney (Southern Indiana) has made eight starts for the Logan Vols this spring. The long, lanky right-hander has a mid-to-upper-80s sinker and shorter, tighter slider, working in the zone often. In 31 ⅓ innings this spring, he’s walked only seven batters and punched out 26. 

 

Miller Green

 

Looking through their bullpen, John A. Logan has multiple quality power arms they can roll out. RHP Mason Beno has a turbo upper-80s sinker and spins one of the sharper, tighter breaking balls on staff, reaching upwards of 3000+ RPM on the pitch. RHP Brady Davis (Jacksonville State) is a true power, shut-down reliever type, working out of the ‘pen with a high carry low-90s fastball and hard, downer slider. RHP Nehemiah Goodman (New Orleans) is another low-90s arm that’s been reliable in a relief role this spring, striking out 31 with 11 walks in 26 innings of work. 

 

Brady Davis

 

Three freshman arms that have thrown well thus far for John A. Logan are RHP Trent Kulig, RHP Joe Glander, and RHP Parker Poole. Kulig has worked as a starter and out of the ‘pen, making 11 total appearances with a 3.73 ERA over 31 ⅓ innings, punching out 33 with only 10 walks. Glander, like his counterpart, has also seen plenty of success, pitching to a 3.63 ERA over 17 ⅓ innings, walking six while striking out 15. Rounding out this trio is Poole, a highly physical right-hander with a low-90s fastball and sharp slider that he’s shown the ability to throw for strikes in our looks. 

 

Joe Glander

 

Two more talented arms on this Volunteers’ pitching staff are RHP Dylan Mannino (NC State) and RHP Gabe Smith (Louisville). Mannino has one of the livelier, more high-octane arms in the Illinois’ JUCO scene, capable of running his fastball up to 95-96 mph at peak. Smith is a strong, physical right-hander that’s been in the low-90s when we’ve seen him as well and has 26 strikeouts over 21 ⅔ innings this season. 

 

WABASH VALLEY

Head coach Aaron Biddle’s squad will head to Carbondale on Wednesday to kick off postseason play. Wabash Valley enters the playoffs with a 37-19 record overall, with a 19-11 record in the GRAC. 

 

If there’s an offense that rivals that of the team we just broke down, it’s this Wabash Valley group. Their lineup, from top to bottom, is absolutely dynamic and has the potential to tear down any opposing arm on any given day. As a team, the Warriors are slashing .393/.512/.651 with 96 home runs. 

 

Setting the tone from the top spot of the lineup is SS Enrico Veach (Louisville), who’s one of the top all-around players in the GRAC. Veach’s ability to create offense is impressive; he’s scored 78 runs, swiped 26 bags, gets on base at a .539 clip, and has also driven in a team-high 70 runs. He’s hitting .437 on the year with a 1.301 OPS and has 22 doubles, homering 13 times as well. Another top performer worth a mention for this club is Bryce Adams. A redshirt freshman who’s still uncommitted, Adams has nine home runs and 23 extra-base hits in total, driving in 37 runs while slashing .453/.561/.781 in 128 at bats. 

 

Enrico Veach

 

Two freshmen that have been absolutely stellar for ‘Bash are OF Leandro Hernandez and OF Brady Schallmoser. In 109 at-bats, Hernandez has a .440 batting average with 15 doubles, five home runs, and 37 RBI. Schallmoser is as polished, and professional, of an at-bat as they come, and his production from the middle of this order has been excellent. In his 189 at-bats, the left-handed hitter is slashing .413/.527/.746 with more walks (45) than strikeouts (41) and he’s totaled 31 extra-base hits, 15 of them home runs, while driving in 68. 

 

Brady Schallmoser

 

The production that the Warriors are able to get from their infield stands out as well. INF Connor Christenson is batting .385 with a 1.035 OPS and has driven in 48 runs, while INF/RHP Drake DeFreitas has nine home runs, 52 RBI, and a 1.162 OPS. A left-handed bat, INF Konner Brown has been a welcomed contributor in his opportunities, slashing .375/.528/.561 in 139 at-bats with six home runs and 50 RBI. Slugging 1B Owen Cornett is third on the team with 11 home runs and has a 1.246 OPS in 121 trips to the plate this spring. 

 

Konner Brown

 

Three other freshmen worth highlighting are 1B Andrew Dixon, OF Tyler Peller, and C Cameron Dube. Dixon has been the most productive of the bunch at the plate, hitting .415 with 12 doubles and 33 RBI in 106 at-bats. Peller is a physical right-handed bat that really carries the ball off his barrel, totaling 11 doubles with a .351 average in 97 at-bats. Dube has been a regular behind the plate for this group and enters the playoffs slashing .373/.458/.539 in 102 at-bats with eight extra-base hits and 22 RBI. 

 

 

Turning to the mound, the Warriors have a pair of left-handed sophomore starters in Hayden Alexander (Western Kentucky) and Dylan Thompson that will give them a chance to win when they’re on the mound. Alexander has been one of the top arms in the conference, punching out 89 over 67 ⅓ innings with a 4.54 ERA. He can really pitch, combining next-level stuff with the ability to be in the zone with three pitches, including an upper-80s fastball, fading changeup, and sharp, tight breaking ball. Thompson is cut from a similar cloth as his counterpart, working in the zone often with three pitches, including a fastball that can creep into the low-90s, while sitting in the upper-80s. On the year, Thompson has struck out 67 batters and walked 27 over 58 innings, making 14 starts. 

 

Hayden Alexander

 

Looking at their bullpen, the Warriors have mostly relied on four arms to handle a bulk of the relief duties this spring. RHP Matt Helms leads the team with 18 appearances and has thrown well in his opportunities, punching out 41 over 30 ⅔ innings. He’s a physically built right-hander with an upper-80s fastball that has shown a feel for a SL/CH mix in our looks this spring. A tall, lanky right-hander, Larsen Burch has made 16 appearances, tossing 23 innings with only seven walks and 16 strikeouts. RHP Brendan Mullin, a Murray State commit, is one of their more impactful bullpen arms, fanning 37 over 34 innings of work, while walking 16. Rounding out this group is RHP Brody Zielinski, a talented freshman that has walked seven batters in 31 innings, striking out 38. RHP Michael Furmanek, RHP Ben Mazur, and RHP Preston Barr are three other arms worth highlighting on this staff. 

 

Matt Helms

 

FRONTIER 

It’s been an excellent year for head coach Matt McCue and the Bobcats’ program, entering these playoffs with a 35-18 record overall and 18-12 mark in conference play. 

 

Offensively, this is a group with a few middle of the order bats that can thump it surrounded by a fast, athletic lineup that loves to run. The engine for it all is INF Gael Salinas (UTRGV), a redshirt sophomore that’s batting .382 with 16 doubles, nine home runs, 61 RBI, and a 1.146 OPS. Salinas has walked plenty more (34) than he’s punched out (14) and he’s one of the more polished, productive right-handed bats in the conference. 

 

Gael Salinas

 

R-FR C Kasey Lowe has enjoyed a productive season at the plate, batting .362 while reaching base at a .544 clip. He’s created 65 free passes on the year, including a team record 32 hit by pitches, and has scored the second most runs on the team with 61. Sophomore SS Cam Napier is one of the cleaner, more sure-handed defenders in the conference, and he’s been more productive at the plate this year than in the past. He’s hitting for more power, totaling 23 extra-base hits on the season, five of them leaving the yard. Mayes Gosser and Justin Early are two strong right-handed bats that find themselves near the middle of this order and are both hitting over .300. 

 

Kasey Lowe

 

From a speed perspective, two freshmen have led the way in OF Jordan Carter and MIF Josh French. Carter has swiped 22 bags on the year and is batting .317 with a .473 OBP, while French recently broke the school’s single season stolen base record with 43. He’s hitting .303 with 13 doubles and has walked (28) nearly as much as he’s punched out (30). OF Asa Dunlevey is a physical right-handed bat that can provide in the power/speed department, homering five times this year while swiping 19 bags. C Sean McConachie (Eastern Illinois) is the captain of this pitching staff behind the plate with above-average catch/throw and has produced in the running game as well, going 15-for-16 on the year in stolen base attempts. 

 

Josh French

 

Run prevention has been a success for the Bobcats this spring and they bring a group to Carterville that has the ability to quiet some of the potent offenses they’ll face. 

 

Three of the Bobcats top arms this spring, from a bulk and productive standpoint, are freshman. RHP Drake Buffington has been absolutely brilliant, pitching to a 1.96 ERA over 41 ⅓ innings, striking out 46. RHP Johnny Lee has been dynamic out of the ‘pen, punching out 54 in 44 ⅓ innings with a mid-80s fastball and frisbee sweeping slider. From a workload standpoint, RHP Landon Davis (Eastern Kentucky) leads Frontier’s staff with 59 ⅓ innings. He’s a strike thrower with three pitches, including an upper-80s fastball that can creep into the low-90s, and has struck out 59 batters while walking only 16. 

 

Landon Davis

 

Three sophomore arms that have thrown well for the Bobcats are LHP Nate Stivers, RHP Ian-Oliver Beaulieu (Southern Nazarene), and LHP Braxton Mathews. Stivers leads the team with 20 appearances and has filled up the strike zone, walking 15 with 42 punchouts over 30 innings of work. Beaulieu and Mathews have been reliable as well, combining for 85 innings with 85 strikeouts between the two of them. RHP Bailey Collins (Central Michigan) is another arm of note as a highly physical right-hander that showed a fastball capable of playing into the low-90s when we saw him this fall. 

 

KASKASKIA 

Rounding out this group of teams are the Blue Devils, who travel to Carterville tomorrow with a 20-26 overall record and 11-19 showing in conference play.

 

Leading the charge for the Kaskaskia offense is SS Jayden Bazile, one of the more talented and intriguing freshman prospects in the GRAC. On the year, Bazile leads the Blue Devils with a .386 batting average and has a 1.137 OPS with 13 doubles, 10 triples, five home runs, and 49 RBI. He’s highly athletic at the plate with bat speed and more impact to come, and is a fluid up-the-middle defender at shortstop, too. 

 

Jayden Bazile

 

Two sophomore outfielders that are having strong springs are Zayn Giles and Michael O’Brien (St. Edward’s). Giles has been one of Kaskaskia’s most consistent hitters, slashing .383/.422/.557 in 115 at-bats with 12 extra-base hits. A switch-hitter, O’Brien has more walks (26) than strikeouts (19) to pair with a .318 batting average and 17 stolen bases. 

 

Zayn Giles

 

Freshman INF Hayden Bugger has been a regular this spring with a .307 batting average over 137 at-bats. Three physical bats with notable raw power are OF Brady Hatton, C Michael Oates, and 1B Wade Pauley (Ashland). Freshman OF Benny Lehman can really run and has hit for power in his opportunities this spring, swatting three home runs with a near 1.000 OPS in 67 at-bats. C Austin Gray, INF Mason Glennon, INF Conner Freeze, and INF Chase Lewis all have more than 70 at-bats this spring. 

 

On the mound, RHP Brendan Ealy (Tennessee Tech) has been one of the more consistent starters in the conference and leads this Kaskaskia pitching staff. In 56 ⅓ innings, Ealy has punched out 78 and walked just 25 with a 5.59 ERA over 14 appearances. His fastball plays in the upper-80s to low-90s, and he’s showed our staff advanced feel for a diving changeup in the past, while spinning two breaking balls as well. Another physical right-handed arm on this staff is RHP Daniel Shuta, who’s made 11 starts and has 52 strikeouts over 52 ⅓ innings, walking 23. Like Ealy, Shuta’s fastball also plays in the upper-80s to low-90s, but his calling card is his ability to spin a sharp, hard low-80s slider at upwards of 2600+ RPM. 

 

Brendan Ealy

 

Sophomore LHP Brady Phillips is a mid-to-upper-80s southpaw with a carry fastball that leads the Blue Devils with a 5.40 ERA in 36 ⅔ innings. RHP Nathan Evans, RHP Jack Hendrix, LHP Kaden Nichols, and RHP Carter Harrington are all names to keep an eye out for this weekend out of the ‘pen.