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IHSA Top 10

Posted by Heavy D on January 9, 2026, 8:56 am

Updated my list from the fall with a top ten overall instead

1. Beecher- Top two pitchers are back including FSU commit. An effective small ball line-up returns some of its pieces.
2. Marist- The best 2027 class in the state with 5 D1 commits Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Western Michigan, and plenty of younger Bandits to back them up. Big let down if they don’t make to State
3. Carterville- 2A runner ups returns their D1 pitcher and 8 other starters, should pick up right where they left off last year.
4. St. Charles East- D1 South Carolina battery might be most effective once playoffs start. Should be tough if the defense makes plays and the offense can scrap some runs together.
5. Glenwood Chatham- Returns top two pitchers, half the line-up returns, and a bit of an easier path to get to state.
6. Dunlap- Could be the team that beats Glenwood, elite pitcher and 3 all-staters back.
7. Lockport- Deep program with tons of depth and a new ace.
8. Antioch- Might be the deepest team in 3A. 7 college commits, 6 scholarships including 4 D1 and the best 2029 class with an elite pitcher.
9. Lake Park- Elite deep young pitching keeps them in every game. Is there enough around them? Can they get through St. Charles East
10. Crystal Lake Central- 2 elite pitchers with an elite leadoff hitter could be enough to get to state, might not have the depth

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by OutWest on January 18, 2026, 10:07 am, in reply to "IHSA Top 10"

Yorkville will have a good team this year if their pitching doesn’t collapse.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Coach on January 12, 2026, 8:27 am, in reply to "IHSA Top 10"

The answer is very simple, the catholic schools that can recruit from any school district they like should not be competing in a league with school districts that have defined borders. I don't care what the sport is. Let them fight it out among themselves.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @Coach on January 12, 2026, 11:53 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

One million percent YES!

Private schools should not be in IHSA playoffs. It’s ridiculous, and look at near any sport.

How can IHSA not fix this? It’s tyranny of the minority!

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @@Coach on January 12, 2026, 1:31 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Private Schools didn't do much in softball
Marist chokes cause of poor coaching not a lack of talent, lost to Oswego
Loyola will be done when the pitcher graduates
St. Laurence had the easy path in 3A but now is in 4A but they were slaughtered by a public school down state
Providence Catholic finally got it together should get down this year.
Carmel got taken to the woodshed by Antioch
Montini was hot in the playoffs
Nazareth, St. Francis, Joliet Catholic, ACC, IC are pretty much non factors

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by And Another Thing! on January 12, 2026, 3:35 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Last year during their playoff run Oswego defeated 3 teams that would have beat Marist and all their D1 Bandits!

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @Coach on January 12, 2026, 11:38 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Aren't the catholic schools very expensive to attend?

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Coach on January 12, 2026, 1:45 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

They offer scholarships just like a college program. They are a private entity with little to no rules on recruiting. Public schools can't recruit, they get what is within their borders.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @coach on January 12, 2026, 8:20 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

The private schools certainly offer scholarships to both male and female athletes. My daughter was offered scholarships from multiple private schools for softball. It was still going cost about 40% of the total tuition, or $6,500 per year to attend the private schools.

Technically public schools can not offer any money to attend the school. I do have a hard time believing that Lincoln Way East does not offer money to a select few athletes to play football there. Jonas Hill could have transferred to any school of his choosing we he left Bolingbrook High School to attend Lincoln Way East. Those type of athletes tend to transfer to LWE too often for me to think that the parents are not being offered some type deal to play football there.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @@coach on January 16, 2026, 1:22 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Obviously, this is all hearsay, but I've heard more than a few stories about how "friends of the program" at LWE have offered housing to families to make a transfer happen.

But they're not the only ones I've heard that about, and I'm sure it's something that happens much more frequently than IHSA wants to know.

If it's your motivation, and you're talented enough, there is always a bag waiting for you...

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by And who exactly is payong? on January 13, 2026, 8:05 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Because in reality there would be a paper trail IF LWE was paying or even IF someone affiliated with the school was paying families to transfer to LWE for football or softball or any sport. I think we’ve all seen where a family has relocated to benefit a child athlete. Wasn’t there a family that sent there softball player to Atlanta some years ago?

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Re:Who is paying? on January 13, 2026, 10:04 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

I remember JJ McCarthy from Naz going to Florida to play football during the covid shutdown. My guess is he probably wasn't the only one.

Not sure about any softball player from LW East going to Atlanta, but I would send my softball player to play in IRAQ before playing at LW E. If anything, I would think softball players would try and transfer AWAY from LWE, not transfer to it. Who would want to play for that coach?

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by J.J. Mac on January 14, 2026, 8:30 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

I am well aware of the J.J. drive. A person very close to that situation related that when he was around 7 or 8 his dad told him J.J. was going to be an NFL quarterback. I guess some people just know. As for the softball player, she was never a LWE candidate that I knew of, maybe some other south burb school. I actually just saw the player once in passing as she was the lesson before us and the coach was saying goodbye, good luck. Didn’t ask for more details.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Overlooked on January 10, 2026, 10:04 am, in reply to "IHSA Top 10"

However you spell Mundelein doesn’t matter. Their team will be final 4 this season.
Also, don’t overlook St. Charles North. Their pitching is much better than you think.
Finally, Glenbard North has enough returning talent to upset top teams.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Cletus on January 10, 2026, 11:49 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

GBN lost a good chunk of talent. Should be interesting to see how they perform this season. Lp is all pitching. Stc East should do well again this year. North maybe a 500 season.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by In the know on January 10, 2026, 7:04 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Mundelien pitcher isnt where she was 2 years ago, they need a defensive catcher after marist kept stealing bases at will in the state semi finals, and they get out coached.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @overlooked on January 10, 2026, 4:57 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

SCN has two D1 pitchers, and a pretty solid line up 1-9,led by a Wis commit. They don't rebuild, they reload.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Slick Rick on January 9, 2026, 11:32 am, in reply to "IHSA Top 10"

This is great. Thank you.

Interesting that in 4A the two 2025 finalists didn't make your list, even though they returned their pitchers.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by In the know on January 9, 2026, 3:10 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Barrington lost a lot of hitting and defense, pitcher is good but not elite as others on the list doesn't create many outs

Oswego lost a lot of the supporting cast

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Agree on January 9, 2026, 4:02 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Agree 100%.

Oswego lost a couple of great players.
Barrington too, plus Barrington’s pitching is not scary.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @Heavy D on January 9, 2026, 11:27 am, in reply to "IHSA Top 10"

What about the Lincolnway schools?

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Pray Tell on January 9, 2026, 12:43 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Go ahead and make your case for the LW schools!
They have a history of under performing in playoffs.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by LW on January 9, 2026, 12:34 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

What have the Lincoln-Way schools done to even be mentioned, other than consistently underachieve?
LWC - Had far and away the best pitcher in the state for the last 3 years and never even received a state bid. They always choked when it mattered. They won't be much this year, unless there is some freshman phenom pitcher coming in. Either way, they still have no offense.
LWE - Get talked about every year. Lots of talent, but always underachieve. Terrible clueless coach. They can't even get beyond regionals every single year. They are overrated every year and always disappoint.
LWW - They might actually be the best out of the three of them this year. They have some hitters in the lineup, but we will see about the pitching

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by LW’s on January 13, 2026, 6:43 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

LWC- Done
LWE- 10 college commits, but only one pitcher
LWW- Strong core, but not as deep as LWE

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @LW's on January 13, 2026, 1:03 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

LWE has had big talent for years but can't do it. Wouldn't count a commit due to connections.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @@LW’s on January 17, 2026, 7:45 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

There certainly is a player that is “over committed” but there are probably multiple others on that roster that are under committed or not committed yet. The fact is they are stacked and you would be hard pressed to find a better roster top to bottom. It will come down to whether or not the coach gets out of the way.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by 4A on January 10, 2026, 12:43 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Barrington’s pitching is average and play a pretty soft schedule
LWE is usually more talented and always under achieving
Marist is Marist
Lake Park is a sleeper but may not hit enough and
STE has interesting commits but weak supporting cast
STN is the best coached team and could very well make things interesting

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Heavy D on January 9, 2026, 11:59 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

LWE lacks pitching for what people say.

I don't know what Central has left

LWW besides the pitcher, what do they have around her?

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @ Heavy D on January 9, 2026, 9:28 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

LWW has 7 senior starters in the lineup that are going to play in college. LWW has 4 D1 commits, and arguably the top position player in the 2026 class in Illinois. I believe there are 8 committed players on this years roster.

LWE is very talented. I believe LWE has 4 D1 commits.

LWC will see a significant dropoff from the past seasons.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by Contrarian on January 10, 2026, 9:59 am, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

The LW teams have all these Star players and will lose to Lockport anyway.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by @contrarion on January 10, 2026, 9:42 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Lockport should dominate every year. Lockport has a enrollment of 4,000 kids give or take.

You would have to combine both Lincoln Way West and Lincoln Way Central to equal the amount of kids at Lockport.

Re: IHSA Top 10

Posted by 1A ? on January 10, 2026, 2:23 pm, in reply to "Re: IHSA Top 10"

Who is in the running for the 1A Schools?

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