Baseball: 5 storylines to watch in McHenry County in 2023

The Northwest Herald baseball preview will appear in print on Wednesday, March 15, with information on every local team. Until then, here are five storylines for the upcoming season.

Will this be Huntley’s year?

Huntley’s jerseys might as well have targets on the back to go with the numbers.

The Red Raiders spent a good deal of time in 2022 as Prep Baseball Report’s No. 1-ranked team in Illinois, and likely will be in or near the top spot again this season. They have three position players and three pitchers signed or committed to NCAA Division I programs.

Huntley’s stacked roster makes it the overwhelming choice to win its fifth consecutive Fox Valley Conference title. Plus, the Raiders are coming off two combined seasons in which they went 63-8, but did not win a Class 4A sectional title.

So, for a team with a .926 winning percentage over the last two seasons, there is still unfinished business.

The Red Raiders have Brayden and Ryan Bakes, twin brothers who are weight room warriors and both committed to NCAA Division I schools. Brayden (Indiana) was a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team selection; Ryan (South Carolina) would have been first team, but suffered a left shoulder injury that ended his season after 11 games.

Huntley is loaded with talent along with the Bakeses. Second baseman Ryan Quinlan (Eastern Illinois University), pitcher Parker Schuring (Northern Illinois University) and pitcher Andrew Ressler (SIU-Edwardsville) also signed with D-I schools. Junior pitcher Malachi Paplanus is committed to D-I Wright State.

McHenry beat Huntley 4-3 in the Jacobs Sectional championship. Hononegah ended the Raiders’ 2021 season, also in a sectional title game.

What do Crystal Lake South and McHenry do for encores?

McHenry finished its best season in school history with a thrilling run to its first Class 4A State Tournament, where it took fourth. The Warriors return ace Lleyton Grubich, who beat Huntley in the sectional championship, and catcher Cooper Cohn, but lost most of the lineup to graduation.

South returns most of its lineup, led by third baseman Ryan Skwarek and shortstop Dayton Murphy (a Michigan State commit). The Gators must replace their top two pitchers, Mark DeCicco and Ysen Useni, who both were standouts in the postseason run to fourth in the Class 3A State Tournament.

Which surprise FVC team will make a playoff run?

The FVC has sent at least one team to the Class 3A or 4A State Tournament every year since 2013 except for 2016.

Grayslake Central (Class 3A, 2013), Prairie Ridge (4A, 2014), Jacobs (4A, 2015), Crystal Lake South (4A state champion, 2017), Huntley (4A runner-up, 2018), Hampshire (4A, 2019), Prairie Ridge (3A runner-up, 2021) and South and McHenry last season. The 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not always one of the FVC’s best teams in the regular season. South tied for sixth last year, Prairie Ridge was fourth the year before and lost in the Class 3A state championship game to Springfield 8-7. Hampshire was sixth in 2019 and took fourth in state.

That many teams making it establishes a trend, which further drives home the quality of the conference overall in baseball.

Does some team other than Richmond-Burton win the Kishwaukee River Conference?

The last two seasons, Richmond-Burton is 27-3 in KRC games with two conference titles. The Rockets were 15-0 last year and finished 32-6 as Class 2A state runners-up to Joliet Catholic.

Rockets coach Mike Giese has an established program – the Rockets were a close second to Burlington Central in 2019 and won the KRC in 2018. R-B should still be competitive in a conference that looks more wide open this season, since the Rockets were hit hard by graduation.

R-B lost its top two pitchers and most of its lineup gone, including two-time Northwest Herald Player of the Year Hayden Christiansen, who batted .553 last season and hit 23 homers and knocked in 97 runs over the last two seasons while playing catcher.

Teams like Johnsburg, Marengo or Woodstock North could make a run for the title.

Johnsburg has an ace in lefty Ian Boal and strong senior leadership. Marengo is led by Caden Vogt, who led the area with 122 strikeouts last season, and Andrew Johnson, who set the Indians’ school record with 41 RBIs. North has three top pitchers (Rylen Given, Blake Herrmann and Jay Zinnen) returning, along with catcher Tyler Fink.

What will Tyler Vasey do this spring for Prairie Ridge?

Vasey joined R-B graduate Brock Wood as two athletes who have played in a state championship in football and baseball.

Wood won the 2019 Class 4A football state title and was a Class 2A runner-up last season in baseball. Vasey played for the Wolves’ 2021 Class 4A baseball runner-up and a 2022 Class 6A runner-up in football.

Vasey, an All-Area first-team selection in baseball, was the Northwest Herald Football Player of the Year last season after setting the IHSA single-season rushing mark at 3,887 yards.

Vasey enjoys football and baseball so much he will play both sports at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater next year. This spring, he will hit near the top of the Wolves’ order and play shortstop, as well as pitch. He hit .413 with 26 RBIs, 35 runs scored and was 30 of 33 in stolen-base attempts last season.