For the second year in a row, the Morris baseball team has produced the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association Class 3A Player of the Year.

In 2024, Cody DelFavero was honored after helping lead Morris to a Class 3A third-place finish. This season, DelFavero’s teammate Jack Wheeler was selected for the award.

During the 2025 season, Wheeler hit .377 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs, leading Morris to a 27-9 record and a berth in the Class 3A Metamora Sectional championship game, where it lost to Washington. He was also one of Morris’ mainstays on the mound, recording 92 strikeouts with a 1.33 ERA in 62 innings.

“I knew the IBCA awards came out in the fall or winter, but I had kind of forgotten about it,” Wheeler said. “I got a text from Coach [Todd] Kein congratulating me on being the Player of the Year, so that was a nice surprise.

“It’s pretty cool to be the second Morris player to win it in a row. It shows that Morris is not just a football school anymore. I have to thank Coach Kein and all the other coaches that have helped me along the way.

“But I wasn’t really thinking about it that much. I had some other things on my plate.”

Wheeler had committed to play for University of Illinois during his freshman season as Morris, but those plans changed when he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the 2025 MLB Draft as the 175th player taken overall. He signed with the Rangers and spent the fall in the Arizona Complex League.

Wheeler played third base for Morris during his high school career, but was a shortstop when he played travel ball. He was able to play both positions during his time in Arizona for the Rangers.

“I played the first eight games at third, then went to short for about 10 games and back to third for a few games,” Wheeler said. “I like shortstop more, to be honest. I get to cover more ground, and I still had a feel for it since I played it in travel. But I am confident in my ability to play third.

“I hit .304 during the fall, and I think I turned some heads. Now I will continue to work out at home and also go to the Bo Jackson Dome in Lockport to work out with some other pro players from around the area. Then in mid-to-late February I will report back to Arizona for spring training. It will depend on how I do in spring training as to what level I will start out at.”

Wheeler was drafted by the same organization that took fellow Morris graduate Kelly Dransfeldt, who played in the majors with both the Rangers and the Chicago White Sox after a successful career at University of Michigan.

“It’s pretty cool to be taken by the same team as Kelly,” Wheeler said. “Our family is good friends with his family, and we live in the same neighborhood, so I talk to him a lot. I’ve only been back in town a couple of days, but I expect either he will come to our house or we will go to his and we will have a good talk about how the fall went and what I can expect in the minor-league life.”