The Monticello Sages baseball team has always had a tradition of winning. The teams are filled with great competitors who love to play for the purple and gold. Coming off of a historic 31-5 season and winning their first 22 games, the Sages were once again Illini Prairie Conference champions, and IHSA Regional Champions. The Sages also beat Westville in the Sectional Semi-final, setting them up for a tough matchup against Maroa Forsyth that they would lose. Coming into the 2025 season, the team is more than ready to get back on the turf.
The Sages have been working all off-season with pitching coach Connor Gross, by doing morning practices and utilizing the new weight room in the evenings. These workouts and practices have sparked excitement within the guys on the team and they are more than ready to play. Forrest Rawdin had an outstanding season as a freshman, and is looking to improve even further this year. He stated, “I’m very excited and ready to go as soon as possible.”
Senior Ike Young, who committed to the Illini in the off-season, stated, “Obviously we had a great season last year and I feel like as an individual I’m motivated to build off what we had last year and keep up the good work.”
As the Sages look to build off their past success, they continue to bond and grow together as a team. Young stated “My expectations are high for this season. We have great senior leadership so therefore we should have great mentors and motivation.”
Rawdin added on, “I think it’ll be an amazing group to play with and get to be around. We have a lot of chemistry and I know that’s going to benefit us in games. I think we will be just about as good as we were last season.”
The Sages are back in action this March and the rest of the spring! Come on out to Dwight B. Wilkey sports complex on March 28th for the home opener against the Oakwood Comets.
Andrew Neef, Staff Writer
neean25@sages.us
The Sage Informer 
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