Led by Morton College's first two-time NJCAA All-America in Miguel Cantu, now at Indiana State, the Panthers won a program-record 37 games before getting ousted by Madison in the sectional tournament.

Those back for the 100th baseball team at Morton College play with a sense of wanting to make a deeper run in the postseason.

"The returning sophomores are very focused," said Morton College baseball coach Chris Wido, the author of three 30-plus win seasons and 104-64 overall in his first three seasons on the job. "They know what they want to achieve and the rest of the guys have bought into it."

In addition to bashing 53 home runs, Morton College was top 10 nationally across five offensive categories – doubles (139 – 3rd), extra-base hits (206 – 7th), batting average (.353 – 7th), slugging percentage (.546 – 9th) and hits (598 – 10th). The Panthers need to replace three-quarters of the infield and two-thirds of the outfield, but Wido likes the mix of newcomers, transfers and returning personnel to keep the ball rolling at 38th and Central.

"There's a lot of new faces," Wido admits. "We've got a good mix of some returning guys, transfers and freshmen. We jelled well from the start of fall ball."

Wido notes every team has its own DNA.

"The biggest thing that stands is our athleticism and versatility," Wido stated. "I think we'll be more well-rounded offensively. There's definitely more speed. We'll make the running game a bigger part of the offense. We've got a lot of guys who can run well. We want to put the ball in play and put the pressure on the other team's defense."

Depth is another word Wido frequently uses when talking about the Panthers in general. 

"We've got a lot of guys who can play multiple positions," Wido said. "We're able to rotate guys in case of injuries and slumps. I don't think we'll miss a beat. It's something good to have the over the course of a 60-game season."

Here's a breakdown of the 2025 Panthers by position:

Catching
All-conference catcher Joey Russo returns. He hit .327 with 6 home runs and 29 RBI in 50 games to go along with a fielding percentage of 1.000 earned by handling 180 chances successfully. Triton transfer Aiden Knipper and freshman Dasaan Lee will also work their way into the lineup.

Knipper, who led the Trojans with a .373 batting average last year, was one of Morton College's top hitters this fall. Lee's bat also is too good to keep out of the lineup – look for him to play in the infield.

Pitching
Jack McGlynn (6-5, 5.53 ERA, 47 strikeouts in 57 innings) is ready to take reigns as the Panthers' No. 1 pitcher. Sophomores Joshua Quezada, Austin Zernia, a converted third baseman, and redshirt freshman Connor Jendraszak figure to be part of the starting rotation as are freshmen Merrick Hill, Parker Brown and Lukas Brniak, a Morton West product. 

Joe Zietara looks to be the closer with Danny Basalone getting the nod in high-leverage situations. Ethan Jordan (3-1, 7.59 ERA), Jake Tyler (0-0, 10.38 ERA), Drew Clemmer (1-0, 3.86 ERA), Grainger Yurevich (2-1, 6.16 ERA), Jack Roessler, Kevin Mallo, Will Lewis, Aidan Aguilera and Clayton Cawley form the bullpen.

Max Woodward is working his way back into playing form after an injury.

Wido also believes the Panthers have more depth in the pitching category. A good 1-2 punch can be enough to contend for a Skyway Conference title. But additional arms are needed to contend with those all-important midweek games that can make or break teams in the Region IV tournament seeding process. 

"I think we have a lot of good depth," said Wido of the Panthers' pitching prospects. "It's something we haven't had before. We can go six, seven deep. It will allow to compete better in the region and be more competitive in these midweek games. Our region is a tough one with the likes of Madison, McHenry, South Suburban, Rock Valley and Kankakee."

How tough is Region IV? Morton College's 32-win team in 2022 was left looking on the inside out of the playoffs. The Panthers were in a tie for fifth with Lake County for wins by a Region IV team.

Infield
Familiar faces from the past two seasons in first baseman Miguel Cantu (.451, 13 HR, 70 RBI), second baseman Luke Brabham (.399, 2 HR, 42 RBI) and third baseman J.D. Swarbrick (.342, 5 HR, 52 RBI) are gone. They combined for both 38 percent of Morton College's home runs and RBI last season.

All-Region IV shortstop Joey Smith (.369, 2 HR, 27 RBI) is a good cornerstone to build around. Taylor Voorhees (.333, 7 HR, 28 RBI) is moving from third base to first.

"Taylor's done a good job of learning to play first defensively in a short time," Wido said. 

David Garza, a redshirt freshman, is a candidate at first base and for a corner outfield slot.

Aidan Brokaw's defense may be good enough to get the nod at second base, but the freshman also will back up Smith at shortstop.

Omar Alday and Brandon Juska, who swung the bat well during the fall season, are in running to play second base. Third base will fall to either Hayden Mosley or Zietara.

Outfield
The outfield is in the same situation as the infield with the graduation losses of Ryan Jenkins (.335, 1 HR, 32 RBI, 11 SB) and Angelo Luna (.391, 12 HR, 66 RBI).

Sophomore Ayham Salah is going to hit lead off and play center field. He hit .333 and stole a team-high 31 bases in 32 attempts last season.

"He's made big strides coming off last season," Wido noted. 

A pair of transfers – Ethan Lopez from Moraine Valley and Denham Kozy from John A. Logan – will the man the corner outfield slots. Lopez hit .299 with 1 HR and 21 RBI in 33 games at Moraine, while Kozy batted .364 in 11 contests for a 46-12 Logan outfit.

Canadian Coulson Reidel, a redshirt freshman by way of USC Sumter, figures to be the designated hitter as well as see time in left field.

"He came in and can really hit," Wido observed. "Again, this will give us a few different options to keep everyone fresh."

Schedule
Morton College journeys to southern Indiana to start the 2025 season at the Vincennes Invitational February 21st to 23rd. The Panthers also will go to Myrtle Beach and Moberly for preseason competition.

"We'll see Parkland at Vincennes – they're ranked 13th in the preseason," Wido said. "Vincennes and Joliet also are good teams. We'll see good competition during our five games in Myrtle Beach. We split four games in Missouri against Moberly."

McHenry is the Skyway favorite. The Panthers head to Crystal Lake April 12th. In Skyway play, Morton College hosts Elgin, Prairie State, Waubonsee and Oakton and are on the road at Lake County and Moraine Valley in addition to McHenry.

Two Region IV teams are in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll – Madison (8) and Kankakee (19). And a pair of Region IV squads are ranked in the NJCAA Division III preseason rankings with DuPage (10) and Joliet (15).

Other interesting tidbits…
Morton College's stock has been on the uptick in Wido's first three seasons. The Panthers have gone from 32 to 35 to 37 wins in that time. His 104-64 record makes Wido the third overall winningest coach in Morton College history behind the late Stan Pace and Wally Reynolds.  

The Panthers are 34-7 at home the past two years. They played all road games in 2022 when Morton College's home field was being rebuilt.

Morton College sent 12 players from last year's team to four-year schools, including three at the NCAA Division I level.
Miguel Cantu - Indiana State University
Sebastian Gutierrez - Northern Illinois University
Ryan Jenkins - Purdue University Fort Wayne
Angelo Luna - Georgia Gwinnett College
Jeremy Fox - Ave Maria University
Jimmy McCarthy - New College of Florida
J.D. Swarbrick - Warner University
Luke Brabham - St. Ambrose University
Noah Chase - St. Ambrose University
Joe Evans - St. Ambrose University
Brandon Bonin - Calumet College St. Joseph
Hector Mendoza - Trinity Christian College