IHSBCA announces 2024 All-State team with 14 Herald-News area players selected

Death, taxes and the Herald-News zone producing a ton of baseball talent – the real certainties of life.

You don’t believe us on that last thing? The Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association would disagree.

The IHSBCA has announced its All-State teams for each classification, and the Herald-News area has many athletes on the list. Fourteen area baseball players had their names pop up, eight of whom were in 4A’s highest classification.

It’s no surprise that the Herald-News area has produced so many All-Staters at the 3A/4A level. After all, 4A state champions, two MLB draft prospects and a host of Division I commits play here.

The first name appearing on the IHSBCA list for 4A was Jimmy Anderson of Joliet West. A two-way star, Anderson went 5-0 on the mound with a 2.18 ERA and hit .473 in 131 at bats with a .550 on-base percentage. He had 52 hits and 48 RBIs to start.

Following Anderson, in alphabetical order, was Tyler Bell of Lincoln-Way East. This isn’t shocking, as Bell is a Kentucky commit and a nationally recognized MLB talent. ESPN recently ranked him among its top 100 prospects for next month’s MLB draft and he is believed to be selected in the first three rounds. He hit .391 with a .591 OBP, 25 RBIs and stole 30 bases for the Griffins this year.

Conor Essenburg of Lincoln-Way West was next. As a junior, Essenburg committed to Kansas State as a two-way player. He broke the school record for wins in a single season with a 10-2 record and set the single-season strikeout mark at 102. He hit .388, was walked 38 times with 38 hits and had an OBP of .550.

MLB draft prospect Nate George of Minooka followed. A former Eastern Illinois commit, George hopes to hear his name called at some point next month after hitting .404 with 40 RBIs, 48 hits, 41 runs scored and collecting 22 stolen bases in 24 attempts.

After that, Providence’s Nate O’Donnell was the first state champion on the list, who hit .430 this season with a 1.337 OPS with 11 home runs, 55 RBIs and 43 runs scored. He also had a 3.15 ERA on the mound.

Blake Phommanhanhom was a handful at the plate and in the field for Plainfield South. He hit .442 with a .520 OBP, a .750 slugging percentage, and 30 RBIs.

The second state champion on the list followed the arrival of Jackson Smith from the Celtics. The Bradley commit finished his senior season at Providence with 48 RBIs, 51 runs scored, six home runs and a .416 batting average.

Brayden Zilis of Minooka was the last local on the 4A list. Illinois State’s commitment has been outstanding all year. He hit .407 with a 1.25 OPS, a .763 slugging percentage and had 48 hits and 33 RBIs. On the mound, he was 7-1 with just four earned runs allowed all season and a 0.58 ERA.

4A schools were well represented, but 3A schools weren’t far behind as three residents saw their names etched onto the list.

The first was Jacob Parr of Lemont. That’s no surprise since he helped them advance to the 3A state championship game as a junior. He hit .407 with 35 RBIs and 37 runs at the plate while finishing with a 3.19 ERA on the mound.

The other two selections both came from Morris. First up was Cody DelFavero, who hit .370 this season with 36 RBIs, 33 runs scored and a .670 slugging percentage. On the mound, he went 14-0 with 93 strikeouts, 1.28 ERA and 0.861 WHIP.

Second was AJ Zweeres, who hit .394 with a .507 OBP, 43 hits, 28 RBIs and 44 runs.

There were two locals on the 2A list, both from Wilmington. Kyle Farrell earned the call-up after going 10-0 with 97 strikeouts, a 1.08 ERA on the mound and 25 RBIs at the plate. Lucas Rink was the other going 10-2 with 96 strikeouts and an 0.826 ERA while hitting .400 at the plate.

At the 1A level, Dwight’s Luke Gallet made the team after hitting .423 with 47 hits, 42 RBIs and 37 runs scored to go with a 2.88 ERA on the mound.