Diggle’s Diamonds

Ep. 20: Brothers Don’t Shake Hands

Diggs reunites with a long lost fraternity brother whose son, Lake Park’s Gavin O’Neil, is having quite the season for the Lancers! Also joining us are Illinois Valley Central’s Gabe Perez and Max Gregory, who each started games that ended with the Grey Ghosts giving up just 1 hit in regulation. And somehow Gregory took a no-decision and Perez took a loss!
Join us!

Ep. 19: Talking Turnarounds and 2-Ways

We are talking to 2 of the more surprising Class 2A teams in the state:  Tremont and Farmington. Tremont was 13-12 a year ago. Now, under the leadership of HC Eddie Betson, the Turks are 19-4. Betson is joined by 2025 C Blaine Williams (No.77 in PBR’s ranks), 2025 SS/RHP Brady Booth (North Central College commit), 2026 IF/RHP Griffin Meeker (No. 142 in PBR’s ranks) and IF/RHP Andrew Dawson (No. 54 in PBR’s ranks).
Farmington was 14-15 a year ago and now, with largely the same roster, the Farmers are 16-4. Head Coach Justin Begner and 2025 P/OF’s Ben Marvel and Bronson Atchley, 2025 SS/RHP Lane Wheelwright (North Central College football commit) and 2026 1B/LHP Landon Crawford about what a difference being a year older has made.
Finally, Michigan State recruit Davis Weeks of Dunlap HS (No. 45 in PBR’s ranks) and 2027 RHP Cooper Johnson (No. 44 in PBR’s ranks) join us to talk about their stellar outings in rivalry games this week, being a 2-way player and being mentored by 2 of the best HS pitching coaches in the state!

Ep. 17-Welcome to Duncheon’s Dungeon

2026 LHP Jameson Rapichuk (Elgin Harvest Christian Academy; ranked No. 53 in the lates PBR-IL rankings) and 2026 Illinois State commit RJ Duncheon (East Peoria; No. 26 in PBR-IL 2026 ranks) join the show!

Ep. 16: (T)winning

The Nolan teams — Caden & Nolan — join us as they have powered Tinley Park Andrew to a 10-0 start. And Morton’s Ryan Schaffnit has owned PBR’s Pitcher of the Week despite some high-level draft arms in the state. Plus we shout out some great early performances!

Ep. 15-Looking back at Week 1 in IHSA Baseball

Dunlap Sr. OF/LHP Owen Shissler (an Illinois Wesleyan recruit) and Canton Soph. SS/RHP Kash VanHouten join us to talk about their exploits over the first week.

Ep. 14-Happy St. Pat’s & Happy Opening Day

Ben Diggle and David Bentley couldn’t wait to see what the 2025 season holds so they jumped on the pod yesterday to make some fearless predictions!

Ep. 13-Story Time with Bryan Stortz

Bryan Stortz was a 3-sport athlete at Dunlap HS! On the baseball field he was a darn good CF, LHP, 2-hole hitter and — according to him —  a pretty good left-handed catcher. He joins us to tell some stories about his time with the Eagles and how the tutelage of former Dunlap football and baseball coaches Tom Wooden and Jack Esterdahl helped him become one of the best football coaches in Illinois!

Ep. 12-Telling stories with Jake Smith

Our good friend — and great catcher — Jake Smith joins us to reminisce about…
His path from East Peoria HS to Illinois Central College to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and pro ball
His wild entrance into pro ball (note: Jimmy Gonzales still very much alive. The man who sadly passed away was Brian Wilson)
Catching Pat Mahome Sr. in indy ball and babysitting his kid…whoever that is.
Hitting a ground-rule triple
Coaching youth baseball today.

Ep. 11: Super Sophs To Watch

Diggs & DB highlight more than a dozen names to know in Illinois’ Class of 2027, including:
Canton SS/RHP Kash VanHoutenMt. Vernon SS/RHP Trevor McClureGeneva SS/RHP Noah HallahanDu Quoin RHP Cy CraftFreeburg RHP Liam ScaiefeMascoutah RHP Darren KleinLisle RHP/SS Hunter McGrathSt. Charles RHP Matt RitchieProspect OF Matthew DonnellyGibson City-Melvin-Sibley SS/RHP Graydon Leonard joins us to talkNormal West LHP Chase Reinhart joins us to talkMorton C/RHP Hudson Lovell joins us to talkGeneseo OF Keaton Ariano joins us to talkMt. Zion SS/CF/RHP Connor Fox
 

Ep. 10: Pitchers & Catchers Report

With MLB teams getting into the swing of Spring Training, we thought we should catch up with some pros headed to AZ & FL! Joining us are:
RHP Reid Birlingmair:  graduate of Normal West HS; 28th round pick out of the University of Illinois-Chicago in the 2018 draft. Reached Triple A with the Rangers last season
RHP McCade Brown:  graduate of Normal West HS; 3rd round pick out of Indiana University in 2021 by the Rockies, who he is still with
SS Mason McCoy:  graduate of Washington Community HS; 6th round pick of the Orioles out of the University of Iowa in 2017. He made his MLB debut with Toronto in 2023 and was up again with the Padres in 2024!