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The Daily Chronicle is looking ahead to the 2024-25 athletic season and five Chronicle Player of the Year competitions. Today, we look at five potential baseball players of the year.
With the returning player of the year back, it wouldn’t seem like an open race for the 2025 Daily Chronicle Baseball Player of the Year.
But for all the outstanding numbers Hinckley-Big Rock’s Martin Ledbetter put up this season, it was a close call between him and DeKalb’s Jackson Kees for the award. Throw in a handful of up-and-coming dark horse candidates, and it’s a race that’s intriguing.
Martin Ledbetter, Hinckley-Big Rock, sr., 1B/C/P
For three years Ledbetter has put up eye-popping numbers and has been a mainstay on the Daily Chronicle All-Area first team, including the Player of the Year honor this year. He hit .507 with six homers and a 1.576 OPS as a freshman. His numbers dipped after launching 12 home runs with a 1.911 OPS and a .563 batting average as a sophomore, but a lot of that was because teams started walking him a lot more. This past year he hit .492 with nine home runs and a 1.774 OPS.
All that offense, and he pitches too. He had some arm issues that kept him off the hill a lot this year but was 2-0 with a 0.97 ERA in 21⅔ innings, striking out 49 and walking 16.
With a lot of midlevel NCAA Division I offers under his belt, including Cincinnati and NIU, Ledbetter is poised for a huge 2025 and a repeat nod as Player of the Year.
Jackson Kees, DeKalb, sr., P/SS
Kees is the reason this is such an intriguing battle into 2025. The DeKalb ace is a three-time All-Area selection, including the past two years on the first team. He fields a notoriously difficult position at the high school level well, finishing with a .951 fielding percentage this season. He hit .387 and drove in 31 runs while going 6-4 on the mound. He had a 2.43 ERA and struck out 78 while walking 23 in 57⅔ innings.
The Barbs were a young team this year that should only get better. And with everyone around Kees poised for bigger and better seasons, that can only mean great things for the stalwart of the DeKalb lineup the past three seasons.
Tyler Townsend, Sycamore, jr., OF/P
As the season went on for the Spartans, the role Townsend played kept growing as Sycamore made its third straight supersectional. He ended up on the All-Area second team.
He took over as the No. 2 starter, finishing 1-1 with a 1.44 ERA and a save in 34 innings pitched, third most on the team. He struck out 36 and walked 13. He also hit .250 with a pair of home runs.
With an increased role on the mound more likely, if he can make a leap offensively while the Spartans have the success on the field they’ve had the past couple seasons, he could end up having a big role in that success.
Davis Collie, Sycamore, sr., 1B
This list could contain even more Sycamore players, such as Kyle Prebil, a rising senior third baseman and outfielder, but Collie, a first-team All-Area selection, gets the nod after a productive junior campaign.
Collie had a 1.051 OPS, tops on the team among players with more than three at-bats. He hit .371, hit three homers, drove in 32 runs and scored 27 times. He’s expected to be smack dab in the middle of the Sycamore lineup with ample opportunities to produce big offensive numbers once again.
Skyler Janeski, Hinckley-Big Rock, jr., P/SS
One of the smallest schools in the area puts two players on the list. But given what Janeski did on the hill as only a sophomore, it makes him someone who could turn even more heads as a junior.
Janeski did not allow an earned run in Little Ten Conference play, even recording a no-hitter against Newark. He finished the year 6-2 with a 2.57 ERA, striking out 74 and walking 26 in 46⅓ innings.
If his offense makes a leap – he hit .272 this year – and his pitching dominance expands beyond Little Ten country, he’s got a chance to be in the mix for Player of the Year in a very qualified field.