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3A State Finals: Preview

June 12, 2025
By: Dane Poe, Clayton Hopfinger & Coby Miller
Illinois Scouting Staff

This year’s 3A IHSA State Finals are set for this weekend at Slammers Stadium in Joliet, IL, and it looks like it will be a talented field.

To kickstart the state playoff, St. Laurence and Triad will face off at 10 am, and directly following, Benet Academy and Cary-Grove will play at 1 pm. The third place game will take place Saturday at 10 am with the State Championship set to begin at 1 pm.

With extensive coverage of all these games and the 3A State playoff games, you won’t want to miss the action. You can find the coverage on our X @PrepBaseballIL.

Below, you can learn more about the four teams that will be competing for the 2025 3A State championship.

ST. LAURENCE (35-5)

St. Laurence comes into the weekend looking for their first State Championship in school history. The Vikings have made five appearances at state, with their best finish coming in 2019, when they secured 2nd place. They enter the weekend having outscored their opponents 54-6 in the postseason.

The Vikings are led by 2B Mickey Lotus (2026) and LHP Jimmy Benson (2027). Lotus is a switch-hitting second baseman who sprays the ball around the field. He comes into the weekend with an impressive .514 batting average, 54 hits, 54 runs, and nine XBH. Lotus is the table-setter for the Vikings. Benson is the ace of the team. He stands at 6-8 as just a sophomore. On the year, he has a 10-1 record while throwing 52 innings, striking out 65, allowing 28 hits, and only six earned runs, accounting for a 0.81 ERA. He will get the ball this weekend and look to continue his dominance.

DH/1b Connor Marino (2025; Wisconsin-Stout) leads off the order for the Vikings. Marino and Lotus have become a great one-two punch for the order. Marino is hitting .388 with 47 hits and 51 runs scored. CF/RHP Cory Les (2026; Louisville), 3B Daniel Coyle (2026), and 1B Adrian Perez (2026) hold down the middle of the order. Les is the power bat of the lineup. He has a team-best 16 doubles, five triples, and four home runs. Coyle hits out of the three-hole and leads the team in RBIs with 41. He also has three home runs. Perez is an all-around hitter, batting .373 with 40 RBI and 12 XBH. Shortstop is anchored by Ben Greary (2025; South Suburban), who has added 7 XBH with 32 RBI. RF Danny Donovan (2026) turns over the order. He has a .354 batting average with 30 RBI and seven doubles.

The Pitching staff has three other arms to look out for. Starting with RHP John Strezchowski (2026) and LHP Samuel Chin (2026), who are two other starters for the Vikings. Both have made significant starts throughout the postseason. Strezchowski has 59 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched, including a 3.30 ERA. Chin has pitched to a 4-2 record, tossing 45 innings while striking out 53. RHP Cory Les will be called on out of the bullpen. Les earned the win out of the bullpen on Monday against Simeon in the Super-Sectional to send the team to state. He has been a reliable option out of the bullpen all year with nine appearances, a 3-0 record, two earned runs, and a 0.84 ERA.

The Vikings will look to use their star power, depth, and reliable pitching to claim their first State Title in School history.

TRIAD (34-6)

This will be the third time in program history that Triad has made it to the State Finals, with the previous two times ending in fourth place finishes. This season, the Knights head into Joliet winning 10 of their last 11 and a fire inside them to bring home their first title in school history.

The Knights will head into the State Semifinals with a lineup that has scored 35 runs in their five postseason games thus far. Leading the Knights at the plate is OF Hayden Bernreuter (2025; John A. Logan) who has put up a monstrous season at the plate, ranking first on the team in batting average (.455), runs scored (51), hits (61), RBIs (53) and more extra base hits than singles (32), which included nine triples and five home runs. OF Gabe Deaver (2025; McKendree) put up a strong year at the plate atop the order, hitting .391 on the season with four home runs to go with it. 1B Keegan Seipp (2027) was tied with Bernreuter with 5 home runs on the season, and was second on the team in RBI with 41.  INF Hayden Bugger (2025; Kaskaskia) put together a strong season at the plate with a .347 batting average. C Landon Loomis flexed the power at the plate, coming into Joliet tied for second in home runs with 4. INF Braxton Yates (2026), 3B Nolan Keller (2026), and INF Kannon Seipp (2027) all made contributions to the Knights offense as well to round out a deep Triad lineup.

There are plenty of arms for head coach Jesse Bugger to go to heading into Joliet. RHP Nolan Keller (2026) has been a workhorse and lights out all season long for Triad, registering a 1.11 ERA in a team-leading 56.2 innings pitched. Previously mentioned LHP Hayden Bernreuter has been nothing short of dominant, posting a 0.59 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched and is also tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 69. The player he is tied with is RHP Sawyer Brunson (2025), who has also put up a strong season with 69 Ks in 38 innings pitched, mostly working out of the bullpen for the Knights. RHP Drew Winslow (2025; Oklahoma State) offers a unique look for hitters and has been strong in his 39.1 innings of work, collecting 50 strikeouts on the season. RHP Nathan Klucker (2027), RHP Brody Hasquin (2027), and RHP Matt Morris (2028) are all other arms that Coach Bugger could go to in the State Finals to round out a deep Triad pitching staff. 

Triad has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball and are poised to make some noise here in the State Finals. They have an ability to shut you down on the mound and wear you down at the plate, and have a strong chance to win their first title in their program’s history.

BENET ACADEMY (26-12)

For the second time in school history and first time since 1989, the Redwings are heading to the State Semifinals. Benet is headed to Joliet on a seven game winning streak while only surrendering seven runs in postseason play. Behind a talented squad, they’re looking to add on to that streak.

Benet is rolling behind a strong pitching corps. The staff has recorded 300 strikeouts through over 243 innings while allowing only 73 earned runs. LHP Jake Rifenburg (2025; Northwestern) leads the team in several pitching categories including strikeouts (80) and innings pitched (55) while having a 0.89 ERA, allowing only 29 hits and 20 walks. RHP Gino Zagorac (2025; Wichita State) comes in second in innings pitched (45) while having a 2.49 ERA and 64 strikeouts with a 5-2 record. RHP Jonathon Rossi (2025; Webster) follows up closely to Zagorac with 43 innings pitched and a 2.28 ERA while having a perfect 5-0 record. RHP Tristan Lakis (2025; Webster) and LHP Lucas Kohlmeyer (2026) provide more depth to a loaded pitching staff. Lakis heads into the weekend with 30 strikeouts across 31 innings across nine appearances. Kohlmeyer provides another lefty option as he is tied for the lead in appearances (13) with a 1.81 ERA while striking out 31 batters across 27 innings.

The Redwings don’t just have a strong pitching staff. They also have an explosive offense that has scored double digit runs in 11 games so far this year. INF Merrick Sullivan (2025; Ithaca) leads Benet at the plate as he is entering the weekend with a .364 batting average and 21 extra-base hits while driving in 33 runs. OF Josh Gugora (2025; Illinois Wesleyan) follows behind with a .358 batting average while driving in 28 runs and coming around to score 31 more. 1B Quinn Rooney (2027) provides a lefty power bat to the lineup as he has 12 extra-base hits with a .382 batting average while driving in 23 runs. INF Ethan Mendez (2025; Roosevelt) comes in with 11 extra-base hits while driving in 28 runs with a .358 batting average. UTL Nathan Cerocke (2026) rounds out the offense, providing a lefty bat. Cerocke leads the team with 35 runs while having a .306 batting average. 

The Redwings head to Joliet with a loaded squad looking to make school history. With one of the top pitching staffs in the state and an offense that can fire on all cylinders, Benet is poised to make an impression.

CARY-GROVE (25-12)

Cary-Grove returns to the State Tournament for the first time since 2009. Senior leadership, strong pitching, and timely hitting have been the recipe for success in getting Cary-Grove back to Joliet. Their pitching staff has allowed just eight earned runs across five postseason games. They enter with 14 seniors on the roster, with seven of them consistently in the lineup.

Illinois-Chicago commit RHP Charlie Taczy (2025) headlines the senior class. Taczy is one of the top arms in the state and the ace of the Trojans. He has accounted for 103 strikeouts while pitching 73 innings with a 9-2 record and gave up only 13 earned runs, accounting for a 1.25 ERA. 

1B Brock Iverson (2025) is another senior who is one of the top bats for the Trojans. Iverson has a team-leading 44 hits, 31 RBI, a .400 batting average, 14 doubles, and tied for the team lead with three home runs. He is an uncommitted bat to keep an eye on this weekend. C/OF Keenan Krysh (2025), C/OF Francis Panko (2025), CF Jacob Duvall (2025; McHenry County), and SS Peyton Seaburg (2025; Mesa) are four more seniors who play critical roles for Cary-Grove. Krysh and Panko split time behind the plate while the other covers Left field. At the plate, Krysh is second on the team with a .361 batting average and 39 hits. Panko adds a .311 batting average with nine XBH. Duvall hits lead-off and patrols Center field. He has stood out in the lead-off spot with a team-best 47 runs, three triples, and three home runs. Also hitting .348 with 12 doubles. Seaburg locks down the shortstop position. Added 34 hits at the plate, with 13 of them being for extra bases. Finally, DH Oskar Freund (2026) has been a consistent bat for the team. He adds a .344 batting average to this deep lineup.

RHP Kaden Norman (2026) is the other starter who will get the ball this weekend. He has yet to earn a loss this year with a 4-0 record. He has 12 appearances on the mound, tossing 46 innings while striking out 37, and posted a 2.28 ERA.

The Trojans will look to earn their first State Title this weekend in Joliet. They will rely heavily on their senior class, pitching, and timely hitting to get the job done.

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