The Illinois high school baseball season kicks off on March 17, opening day for regular season action under IHSA regulations. Over the next two weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2025 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a preseason questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Minooka High School Indians
Preseason Rank: 9
Head Coach: Jeff Petrovic
Classification: 4A
Conference: 11-4
2024 Record (Finish): 24-11 (Lost first round of Regionals)
Key Players Lost: Nate George (Baltimore Orioles), Noah Munson, Ryan Anderson (Heartland CC), Tyler DeLuca (St. Xavier), Ben Muhich (North Central)

 

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ROSTER PREVIEW

No. of Returning Positional Starters: 6
No. of Returning Starting Pitchers: 2
No. of Returning Relief Pitchers: 1
Team Strengths: Starting pitching and defense.

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X-FACTOR

3B CJ Deckinga (2025; Michigan State commit) is coming off a monster winter in which he put on impressive showings at both our Preseason ProCase and the Super 60, undoubtedly raising his draft stock before heading into the spring. With the loss of Nate George, Minooka will be looking for a new cornerstone in the lineup, and Deckinga could be the perfect match. He has all sorts of upside in his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame, and he has premier athleticism to pair with a 6.77 in the 60 and vertical jump that can reach over 30”. He creates effortless loud contact from his right-handed swing with EVs north of 100 mph, providing the ability to change the game in one swing. He will also be relied on to eat up some innings on the mound with a fastball that can get near the 90 mph mark.

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TEAM OUTLOOK

Pitching is definitely a strong suit for this Minooka squad, headlined by Illinois State commit Brayden Zilis (2025), LHP Zane Caves (2026; Michigan State) and the aforementioned Deckinga.

We expect Zilis to repeat his success from a season ago, in which he was named to the Prep Baseball Illinois All-State First-Team after twirling 48 innings with a minuscule 0.58 ERA, 7-1 record and 66 strikeouts. The right-hander was about as dominant as anyone in the state in 2024, and he will be a key piece yet again for the Indians.

Southpaw Zane Caves will be looking to carve out a significant role for himself, coming off a helium summer with multiple loud showings in front of our staff. He has wipeout stuff with a fastball up to 87 mph and devastating slider, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see that fastball up a couple ticks during the spring.

Deckinga will likely fill out the third spot in rotation, followed by LHP Sean Sample (2026), RHP Cam Rujawicz (2026) and RHP Isaac Goddard (2025; Aurora) coming out of the ‘pen.

Their offense will be led by a few names previously mentioned, such as Zilis, Deckinga and Goddard.

If you thought what Zilis did on the mound was impressive last spring, what he did at the plate is arguably just as eye-opening - turning in a .407 average with 12 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 33 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He will surely look to repeat his success and be the heartbeat of this lineup in 2025.

INF Jason Duy (2026) is a name our staff has liked in previous looks and he saw some time on varsity as only a sophomore last spring. He provides reliable defense on the infield, and his compact right-handed swing should be a nice depth piece in the lineup.

Manning the pitching staff from behind the plate will be C Carter Lennington (2025; Lincoln-Land commit), and he’s a long-levered right-handed hitter that will be a power threat in the heart of the lineup.

Goddard is also a valuable piece coming back to the lineup, looking to be an athletic right-handed hitter with feel for the barrel.

1B Rhett Harris is a physical right-handed hitter ranked No. 136 in the state, and he has shown impressive power in his stroke with loud results, looking to be yet another power threat for the Indians.

A couple more names to know that could play important roles for Minooka this spring are C Mario Jimenez (2025), OF Brady Kozlowski (2026) and OF Kooper Fisher (2026).

BOTTOM LINE & DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Minooka looks to have one of the best pitching rotations in the state, with names that have already had proven success paired with some exciting new faces that we believe will play large roles. Their offense also has top-end talent that can go head-to-head with anyone, along with depth and quality players coming off the bench. Look for the Indians to be able to pitch and defend well, and if their offense pops they could easily jolt up the rankings.

"Coach Petrovic has some talented seniors that will look to build on their 24-win 2024 campaign. The Indians should be led by two-way star, Brayden Zilis (Illinois State), CJ Deckinga (Michigan State) and one of the higher ceiling arms in the 2026 class, Zane Caves (Michigan State). Minooka should be one of the more competitive squads in the Chicagoland area." Drew Locascio

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Find more information on the 2025 Minooka High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @MinookaBaseball
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Illinois Preseason Power 25 homepage

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