Monday, April 29, 2013

Crunch Time


Class of 2015 Power Ratings

        I re-evaluated some teams and conferences this week and updated my class of 2015 power rankings.  These rankings are based upon various factors which include the strength of conferences, won and lost record.  I also consider the effort placed in non-conference games.

1.       Providence
2.       Nequa Valley
3.       Batavia
4.       Sandberg
5.       Benet Academy
6.       York
7.       Lockport
8.       St. Laurence
9.       Bradley
10.   Lyons
11.   Wheaton Academy
12.   St. Rita
13.   Oak Park
14.   St. Frances
15.   Downers Grove South
16.   Mount Carmel
17.   Lincoln Way North
18.   Edwardsville
19.   Willowbrook
20.   Lincoln Way West
21.   Libertyville
22.   Glenbrook North
23.   Brother Rice
24.   Deerfield
25.   Jacobs

Crunch Time

        The stage is set for a West Suburban Athletic Conference showdown between the York Dukes and Lyons Township.  Each team enters today’s game with two losses.  York lost a 6 – 5 game to Downers Grove North and then swept Proviso West and Glenbard West.  They took an old fashion tail beating against Oak Park River Forest  when Ryan Fish put ice on the Dukes’ hot bats.  In an 11 – 0 rout by the former year Freshman A team WSC champs, the Dukes could only hope that they would not slip to third place in their division as they did during their  freshmen year. They bounced back and won the next two games against the Huskies, but they found themselves one game behind Lyons. 

       This weekend, however, gave hope to the Dukes when the Oak Park River Forest Huskies split the double header with Lyons.  In what seemed like a one man show, Jack Stannard pitched and hit his way to a 3 – 1 victory in the second game of the double header.  After losing the first game 7 – 4, the Huskies hopes of a championship became bleak.  They needed a win just to have a mathematical chance.  Lyons nearly crushed all hopes for the Huskies during the first game when they broke a 4 – 4 tie in the sixth inning with three runs. 

        Oak Park River Forest is all but guaranteed a third place finish getting help from an unlikely rival in Glenbard West.  After a home-run to left field by Arno Curtis, the Hilltoppers’ motivation inspired them to a remarkable seventh inning win as Freshman Jake Rosely scored on an error for the game winning run and upset.  The score was tied in the bottom of the seventh inning when Rosely singled and was pushed over by a sacrifice bunt from Lunkins.  Then Curtis had another timely hit with a single to left that pushed Rosely to third.  An untimely error by the pitcher cost the Trojans the game. 

        But it was the Downers Grove North Trjans that helped the York Dukes by defeating Lyons in the third and final game of their series.  Unfortunately, the Trojans do not have enough pitching for them to have consistent play and they have invariably lost games that were well within their reach to win. 

        Just as dramatic as the West Suburban Athletic Conference is, the South Suburban Conference had surprising games as well.  Bradley solidified its dominance over Lincoln Way West with great pitching in a 5 – 1 victory.  This second lost to Bradley all but knocks the Warriors out of contention for a conference championship.  The Lockport sophomore team had a 10 – 2 record entering the game against Oak Lawn.  With a strong pitching staff, it seemed as if the game would be in control for them from start to finish and that was the case until the fourth inning.  Lockport took a two run lead into the fourth gave up four.  Ironically enough it was Oak Lawn’s pitching that stole the spot light and defeated the first place Porters.  Now just one game ahead of Sandberg, Lockport has no more room for error.  Their big date with Providence is approaching quickly.  They are battle tested now they must go on to glory.

Other games to note

Barrington
Harlem
8
9
Benet Academy
Marist
12   6
3     9
Grant
Antioch
12
0
Batavia
St. Charles E.
4
5
Loyola
Brother Rice
5
3
Bloom
Argo
7
6
Carmel
Nazareth
4
5
Glenbard East
Naperville North
3   3
4   1
Glenbrook North
Evanston
1  0
3  1
Elk Grove
Libertyville
4  5
8  3
Bradley
Lincoln Way W.
5
1
Lake Park
Matea Valley
3  12
6  5
New Trier
Deerfield
2  5
4  7
Brother Rice
Stagg
5
7
Buffalo Grove
Schaumburg
5
1

Batting Leader Board
(Must have a minimum of 25 at bats)
Name                                        AB        AVG        School
Chris Johnson
29
655
Wheaton Academy
Jabari Morris
25
560
York
Dan Petrou
27
519
Lincoln Way West
Dan Minik
31
484
Benet Academy
Tanner Phillips
32
469
Wheaton Academy
Nolan Spencer
44
455
York
Josh Crosby
25
440
Benet Academy
Evan Plonis
30
433
Benet Academy
Garrett Acton
63
429
Brother Rice
Ryan Fish
35
429
Oak Park River Forest
Brian Peterson
35
429
York
Mat Fitzgerald
26
429
Matea Valley
Ben Manski
41
415
Libertyville

Train and Improve your skills
Lou Collier is a former professional baseball player living in the Southern Chicago Suburbs.  He trains and mentors many young baseball players.  Follow this link to learn more.  www.Loucollierbaseball.com
Larry Cicchiello’s training books and CDs are great training tools for coaches and players.  www.Larrybaseball.com

BARNSTORMERS baseball camps contact Karl at
Karl@barnstormersbaseball


13th Annual New England Catching Camp Summer Camp

Jason Weaver
Director of Operations
New England Catching Camp, LLC
Jay@catchingcamp.com

Player recruiting links

Jabari Morris: www.jabaribaseball.com


INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL
Play baseball in The Dominica Republic or in Japan with Caliendo Sports International. 

Amateur Baseball Report conducts scouting camps and creates teams for games in Italy.  Contact Brian Wabick 708-675-1500 X 113

Portions of this blog received information from Game Changer summaries. "Powered by Narrative Science and GameChanger Media. Copyright 2013. All rights reserved."


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