JOLIET – The Joliet Catholic Academy baseball team has no less than nine future Division I players on its roster.

And that does not include junior outfielder Nick Iannantone, who is weighing D-I offers, and senior catcher/designated hitter Simon Grashoff, who could play at a high level if he decides to continue after high school.

Given that talent level, it is no wonder the Hilltoppers were ranked 42nd in the nation in Perfect Game’s preseason rankings of the top 50. No other Illinois school was on the list.

However, as veteran coach Jared Voss and his staff are aware, one game can spoil everything. Exhibit A came courtesy of Lemont’s Ryan Sublette, who beat the Hilltoppers, 3-0, in last year’s Class 3A Lemont Regional final with what some in the JCA camp say was the best game they have seen a high school kid pitch. Now toiling at Texas Tech, Sublette threw a one-hitter, striking out 10 and walking one.

In Voss’ 19 seasons as the JCA coach, the Hilltoppers have a 487-207-3 record. So his 500th victory in 20 seasons likely is to happen sometime in mid-season.

JCA has won two state titles, most recently in 2013, and has finished second twice, third once and fourth once under Voss. Barring running into another Sublette-like performance in the postseason, this may be a good time to add to the state hardware.

“We’re talking about 90 percent of the roster having varsity experience, whether it’s 10 or 12 at-bats or 80 at-bats,” Voss said. “Some juniors are in their third year with the varsity. There won’t be anybody in the lineup who does not have varsity innings or at-bats.”

The D-I cast includes pitchers Aidan Tyrell (Notre Dame), Mike Gurka (Minnesota), Greg Ziegler (Missouri State), Alex Vera (Illinois), Zak Gould (Memphis) and Ryan Surin (St. Louis), plus infielder Justin Conant (Ball State), infielder Jared Cushing (Texas Tech) and sophomore infielder/outfielder Christian Knapczyk (Louisville). Tyrell, Vera and Surin, who has recovered from Tommy John surgery, are lefties. Gurka, a transfer from Hinsdale Central, is a junior, as are Cushing, Vera, Ziegler and Gould.

“Our pitching starts with Aidan, of course,” Voss said of Tyrell, the East Suburban Catholic Conference Pitcher of the Year last spring. “[Mike] Gurka, has a high upside. He throws hard. Ryan Arnold, Kyle Winkle, Dan Dominguez and Alex Runge got varsity innings last year.”

Jake Jaworski, the JCA football coach, has stepped down as Voss’ pitching coach. Former Hilltoppers right-hander Ryan Quigley takes over.

“I’m lucky,” Voss said. “I went from Leo [Michalak] to Jake to Ryan for a pitching coach. Ryan is someone I coached and I’ve been friends with a long time.”

The regular lineup will feature varsity veterans Tyrell, Grashoff, Ziegler, Conant, Cushing, Matt Bebar, Iannantone and Knapczyk, among others.

“We have just about everybody returning, so we don’t have to teach much,” Grashoff said. “We can get to the next step right away. Everybody has been working hard.

“It’s cool that we’re the only Illinois team ranked in the top 50. But we haven’t played yet. We have to show everybody that we belong on top.”

Tyrell recalled the slow start the Hilltoppers endured last season, when they were 6-9 at one point before finishing 23-12-1. JCA opens the 2018 schedule this weekend at the O’Fallon Tournament.

“We don’t want to repeat that start we had last year,” Tyrell said. “Our hitting was lacking early. Everything else was fine. I’m looking forward to this season, and getting off to a good start.”

At the beginning last year, there were games we were physically outmatched,” Voss said. “We won’t be physically outmatched this year.”

Grashoff said the Hilltoppers’ lineup will be difficult for opposing pitchers to negotiate regardless of who is hitting where.

“We have a tough lineup to make,” he said. “We have a lot of speed. Pitchers may not want to throw many curves to our 3 and 4 hitters just because of all the speed that will be on base.”

But even the 3 and 4 hitters are more than sluggers.

“We don’t take traditional B.P. [batting practice],” said Grashoff, whose backups behind the plate include sophomore Joe Batusich. “It’s all situational hitting. We saw that pay off last year.”

Tyrell and Grashoff have been together on the baseball diamond and the football field for four years, and the big prize, a state championship, has eluded them so far.

“It’s about time JCA got another state championship,” Grashoff said. “A.T. [Tyrell] and I have had that as an objective since freshman year.”

Tyrell and Grashoff are in position to help lead the charge.

“It’s big that A.T. and I help everyone keep their heads,” Grashoff said. “We look good on paper, but we have to go out and look good as a team.”

“Like they say, it’s one game at a time,” Tyrell said. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”