Season Finals

Congratulations to all of the sophomore conference champs.  Wheaton Academy, St. Laurence, Batavia, Lockport, York, Glenbrook North, Naperville Central are future powerhouse teams who have players that will be major contributors to their varsity teams in the 2014 season.

                                                    YORK
     York High School Sophomore team finished with 7 of their starting players batting 400 or more.  They scored 282 runs (8.8 per game) while surrendering 128 (4.0 per game).  They had impressive wins over Lyons, Willowbrook and Oak Park, but as always, good pitching neutralizes good batting.  As a result, they fell to Benet Academy early in the season, and was totally embarrassed by Ryan Fish of Oak Park when he shut out the Dukes.

                                                   WHEATON ACADEMY
     The team with the best runs per game ratio was Wheaton Academy averaging 9.5 per game while surrendering 2.8.  Lead by the incredible bat of Chris Johnson who batted over 600, Wheaton Academy posted a 20 - 3 season.  They had impressive wins against Nazareth, St. Frances and Glenbard West.  They will clearly contribute to the varsity team next season and Wheaton Academy will be one of the top schools for a run at the 3A state championship.
                                                     LOCKPORT
     The Statsandblogs number one rated sophomore team is the Lockport Porters.  With key victories over St. Laurence, Providence, Sanburg, and Bradley, Lockport shut down teams with dominate pitching.  With a 23-3 record, they scored 7.4 runs per game while surrendering just 74 runs (2.8 per game).  This accomplishment is no small task as Lockport also had the toughest schedule in the state.  They rolled through Catholic league competition and dominated their conference.  Coupled with a well oiled varsity machine, this school will cut players next year who could be starters on most any school in the state.  Having a state contending varsity team that will go deep into the playoffs, Lockport looks to be a favorite next year as well.
                                                     BATAVIA
     Batavia may not have had the tough schedule as York or Lockport, but they gave no reason for me to rank them lower than second.  This sophomore team won 23 of 26 games and scored 233 runs (8.0 per game) while fielding a pitching staff that may be comparable to Lockport.  This fascinating powerhouse gave up 71 runs on the season (2.4 per game).   Their quality victories came against Willowbrook, Nequa Valley, and Geneva.
                                                    LYONS TOWNSHIP
     The Lions of Lyons Township is a common name in discussions related to championships.  They have no remarkable pitcher or power hitter driving the ball over the field.  This sophomore team even had one of the more shaky defensive line up.  They won 21 of 28 games and placed second in their conference behind York, however, when these kids put on their game faces, they can execute with precision.  Lead by a great baseball mind and field general, the coaching staff of Lyons Township is on of if not the best in the state.  Lyons scored 231 runs (8.2 per game) while surrendering 88 (3.1 per game).  What was impressive about their win over York was that they succeeded by strategy and not by skill.  Placing slower junk ball pitchers in against a hard hitting and powerful offence, Lyons neutralized their opponent's hitting as their coach called a brilliant game in the rubber match between the two schools.  What casts doubts about this team is their seven slips to teams that they should have beat.  With losses to Hinsdale Central, Willowbrook and Naperville Central it is very difficult to rank the Lyons above the Dukes although they won the season series.  It would be interesting to see how York may have approached the three game series if they needed to win two of the three games in order to win conference.  As it was, the Dukes came out sluggish and with little enthusiasm in game three after they learned that the outcome did not matter.

Final Power Ratings

1.       Lockport

2.       Batavia

3.       York

4.       Lyons

5.       St. Laurence

6.       Sandburg

7.       Providence

8.       Nequa Valley

9.       Lincoln Way North

10.   Wheaton Academy

11.   Glenbrook North

12.   Benet Academy

13.   Willowbrook

14.   St. Rita

15.   Oak Park

16.   St Frances

17.   Naperville Central

18.   Lincoln Way West

19.  Geneva

20.   Downers Grove South

21.    Lake Park

22.   Edwardsville

23.   Deerfeild

24.   Jacobs

25.   New Trier

26.   St. Charles North

27.   Andrew

28.   Mount Carmel

29.   Oak Lawn

30.   Nazareth

31.   Lane Tech

32.   Joliet Catholic

33.   Main South

34.   Crystal Lake  

35.   Libertyville

Glenbard East West Aurora	13 3	St. Charles North York	3 4	Evanston Lake Zurich	5 6	York Addison Trail	11 4
Glenbard South Glenbard East	0 18	Carmel Marian Central	5 0	Batavia Morris	2  9 1  2	Reavis Stagg	1 12
Lane Tech Whitney Young	6 3	Joliet Catholic Nazareth	2 6	Payton Lane Tech	1 11	Bartlet Matea Valley	2 12
Buffalo Grove Schaumburg	11 6	Wheeling Schaumburg	4 5	Round Lake Libertyville	1 20	Streamwood Batavia	3 13
Providence Lockport	1  4 2  5	Brother Rice Lockport	3 3	Nazareth Fenwick	13 2	Antioch Lake Forest	6 10
Glenbard West Huntley	10 5	Stagg Lemont	7  12 1   6	Lane Hersey	9 6	Lincoln Way W Lincoln Way N	3 13
Highland Park Main West	3 2	Mundeline Highland Park	3  8 3  0	Glenbard West Lake Park	6 3	Lincoln Way W Minooka	6 1
Wheaton Academy Chicago Christian	5 6	New Trier Mount Carmel	8  5 2  0	Guerin Wheaton Academy	2 10	Oak Park Hinsdale Central	9 4

In my next blog, I will use the Billy Beane Moneyball formula to predict how these Sophomore teams will impact the Varsity and discuss the 2014 State Champion contenders.