2025 Prep Baseball Illinois Second Team All-State

From 6/19/25: “Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 46 in the state. Projectable 6-foot-8, 205-pound frame. Started on the mound. Benson shined on Friday as he struck out six batters through five and two-thirds innings to pick up the win on the mound. The left-hander operates from an uptempo delivery with a high leg with tuck while having a drop/drive approach. Clean, full arm action from a ¾ slot. Would slow down his delivery occasionally to mess with hitters’ timing. Also, dropped down to a sidearm slot against righties on multiple occasions. His fastball sat 80-83 while topping out at 84. His length and extension allows his velocity to play up. Mixed in a slider that sat 69-72 with sweeping action. Also, flashed a mid-70s changeup. Competitor on the mound.”

From 6/19/25: “Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 46 in the state. Projectable 6-foot-8, 205-pound frame. Started on the mound. Benson shined on Friday as he struck out six batters through five and two-thirds innings to pick up the win on the mound. The left-hander operates from an uptempo delivery with a high leg with tuck while having a drop/drive approach. Clean, full arm action from a ¾ slot. Would slow down his delivery occasionally to mess with hitters’ timing. Also, dropped down to a sidearm slot against righties on multiple occasions. His fastball sat 80-83 while topping out at 84. His length and extension allows his velocity to play up. Mixed in a slider that sat 69-72 with sweeping action. Also, flashed a mid-70s changeup. Competitor on the mound.”

From 5/28/25: “Illinois-Chicago commit, currently ranked No. 75 in the state. Lean 6-foot-1, 170-pound athletic frame with room to add strength. Started on the mound and hit out of the three-hole. Terronez threw a complete game on Wednesday as he struck out 13 batters, allowing three hits, one earned run, and two walks. Terronez broke a 20-year record at Sherrard as he picked up his 131st strikeout on Wednesday to claim the single season strikeout record. The left-hander operates from a simple, easy delivery with a medium leg lift with tuck while having a drop/drive approach. Loose, clean, full arm action from a low ¾ slot. Fastball sat 87-89 while topping out at 90 with arm-side run. Mixed in a slider that sat 76-79 with depth and late actions. Also, showed a changeup that sat 82-83 and played towards the bottom of the zone. The left-hander also connected on two hits at the plate for Sherrard.” 

From 6/19/25: “Indiana commit, currently ranked No. 22 in the state. Projectable 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame. Started on the mound and hit out of the four-hole. Swartz shined Friday night as he struck out seven batters through seven and a third innings. Swartz did not allow a run until the eighth inning. The right-hander operates from a simple, controlled delivery with a high leg lift with a tall/fall approach. Long, clean arm action from a low ¾ slot. His fastball sat 90-91 in the first inning with 2300-2500 RPM. Settled down to 89-90 for the remainder of the game. Mixed in a slider that sat 79-81 with sharp, late depth that produced plenty of swings/misses. Went to it heavily the second time through the order. Also flashed a changeup that sat 83-85 that had sinking action.” 

From 6/10/25: “Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 49 in the state. Athletic 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame with room to add strength. On Friday, started on the mound and hit out of the lead-off position. Novotney threw two innings while striking out two batters. Also went 3-for-3 while driving in four runs. On the mound the right hander has a smooth delivery with a compact short arm action from a high ¾ slot. His fastball sat 85-87 mph with life through the zone. Showed two true breaking balls; A slider that sat 73-76 mph with late bite, and a curveball that sat 69-71 mph with 11/5 shape and depth. At the plate, the right-handed hitter works out of a balanced setup with a toe-tap trigger. Short, direct bat path with pull-side power, collected two doubles to left field, and also connected on a hard line drive down the third-base line for a single. On Saturday, Novotney threw three innings in relief, struck out three, walked two, allowed one run and four hits. Also tallied two hits on the day with one run scored. Uncommitted name to know.” 

From 6/19/25: “Illinois-Chicago commit, currently ranked No. 46 in the state. Lean, wiry 6-foot, 150-pound frame with room to add strength. Started on the mound and hit out of the eight-hole. The right-hander operates from a stretch-only delivery with a high leg lift while having a tall/fall approach. Long, loose arm action from a low ¾ slot. His fastball sat 84-86 with life. His slider sat in the mid-70s with 2700 RPMs having late, sharp life that produced plenty of swings/misses. Also utilized a changeup that sat 80-81 with fade.”

From 5/10/25: “Illinois State commit, currently slotted at No. 26 in the state’s junior class. Stands in a 6-foot-1, 191-pound frame with strength. Started in right field and batted third. Finished the day 2-for-3 with a home run, triple, two RBI, three runs scored and a walk. Right-handed hitter at the plate, showed easy power throughout the game, sending the home run over the right field wall and his triple to the left/center gap, quality plate discipline throughout. Also found an inning on the mound to close the game out, stretch-only delivery, quick and up-tempo mover, clean arm path with acceleration out front. Fastball sat in the upper-80s, touching 90 mph once, also mixed in a slider at 78 mph with sharp action.” 

Cody had quite the season for Richards as he dominated on the mound and at the plate. At the plate, Cody had a .452 batting average with 12 extra-base hits while driving in 19 runs and coming around to score 41 more. He also had an impressive 18 walks to two strikeouts while also stealing 34 bases on 37 attempts. On the mound, Cody had a 6-1 record through 53.2 innings with the only loss coming in the regional semifinals. He had a .652 ERA with 93 strikeouts and only 24 walks while allowing just five earned runs. Cody earned SSC Red player of the year for the second straight year. The Illinois-Chicago commit leaves behind a legacy as a leader not only on the field but also in his community.

From 6/04/25: “Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 114 nationally. Physical 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame with proportionate strength throughout. Cunningham had an impressive showing on both sides of the ball for the Crusaders. He started on the mound for the Crusaders in the 4A Reavis Sectional Semifinal, tossing six innings without allowing a single earned run and collecting seven strikeouts. The right-hander operated out of an explosive delivery, with a high leg kick that worked in-line down the mound. Showcased a compact arm action that played out of a higher ¾ slot. Kept hitters off-balance with his four pitch mix. His fastball was thrown around the zone at 86-89 mph, settling into 85-87 mph in the sixth. He also utilized a sharp 11/5 curveball at 71-73 mph, a slider at 74-77 mph that was thrown harder with tight horizontal action, and a fading changeup at 78-79 mph. At the plate, the right-handed hitter was all over the barrel, finishing 2-for-3 with two doubles to center field. Another stellar showing from Cunningham who continues to make a name for himself as one of the best two-way sophomores in the country.”

From 5/14/25: “Illinois commit, currently ranked No. 18 in the state. 6-foot-5, 190-pound frame, long limbs and lean with all sorts of room to add strength in the coming years. Premium three-sport athlete (football/basketball), set the Morris all-time scoring record for basketball this past spring. Started at third base and hit out of the three-hole for Morris, didn’t have anything to show for it at the plate but impressed with his overall knowledge of the zone with no chase. Simple load and swing, gets the knob to the catcher and showed athletic hands through the zone, used the whole field, was able to stay back on one and drive it the other way for a hard lineout to right. Will have a chance to stay on the infield at the next level, high IQ, knows where to go with the ball before each play, always thinking, soft/fluid hands and transfer, arm plays with strength and life across the diamond, showed multiple angles during IO. High-ceiling prospect to dream on, especially if he’s focused solely on baseball.”

The Louisville commit had quite the senior season as he finished with an astonishing 1.160 slugging percentage with 15 doubles and 10 home runs. The outfielder drove in 40 runs while coming around to score 44 more. Thomas finished with a .560 batting average and a .628 on-base percentage while walking 14 times and striking out only eight times. He broke the school career home run record with 25, with two of those resulting in walk-offs this season. Thomas comes away as the top player and pitcher for Arcola while also having a .2 ERA on the mound through 35 innings.