Dundee-Crown grad Romano off to hot start at Miami

When things aren't going right in the batter's box, Dundee-Crown graduate Jake Romano has been working hard to make sure he comes out on top.

Romano, now a sophomore center fielder on the Division I Miami-Ohio baseball team, has made it a point to embrace the team's focus on improving 2-strike hitting.

"I'm seeing the ball really well," said the left-handed hitting and throwing Romano. "We've had a lot of practice with two-strike hitting and that's helped me. A lot of my hits have come with two strikes. Our whole team is doing a really good job of hitting with two strikes. We're eliminating strikeouts as a team. We've been working on it since Day 1 and it's worked for us so far."

Romano has enjoyed a strong start to the 2014 season. To start the week, Romano was hitting .342 in nine starts. He had 13 hits in 38 at-bats to go with 8 runs scored, 4 doubles, 3 RBI and 5 walks. He had a .400 on-base percentage.

Romano recently was named the co-winner of Miami's athlete of the week award for the period Feb. 17-23. During that span he hit a team-best .538 and doubled in all 3 games he played in, while also stealing 4 bases. He reached base at least three times in each of the 3 games (. 625 on-base percentage during the run). He was part of a RedHawks lineup that averaged 6.7 runs per game during that span.

He started the season batting third, but has since moved to a more comfortable leadoff spot.

"The first three games I was hitting third, which is weird for me," he said. "I did it in high school, but it's a little different in college. I got moved up to first and I like that better. I'm seeing more fastballs and I'm reacting more to the first pitch. If I see a good fastball, I'm going to hit it."

Romano is cognizant he may need to work a count into his team's favor from that leadoff spot.

"It really depends on the situation," he said. "If I get a fastball, I am going to hit a fastball. If it's off-speed on the first pitch, I might take it and work the count and see as many pitches as can. It all depends on what's happening in the game. That's where the two-strike approach really helps. If I can foul off some pitches and put one in play, I'm helping my team. If I can put it in play and have a good at-bat, I'm helping the team because everybody saw what the pitcher had so far."

Romano also has excelled on the base paths. He was a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen-base attempts to start the week.

"For me it's really a confidence thing and being able to do it," he said of stealing bases. "Last year coming out of high school I was a little nervous about stealing bases. I worked on it over the summer. It comes down to a confidence thing and wanting to do it. Some people are afraid they are going to get thrown out. That will happen - it's part of the game of baseball. I want to go out there and create havoc for the other team and force them to make errors and put pressure on their defense. Hopefully that will get us in a better position to score some runs."

Romano noted stealing bases isn't a new thing for him. He set a school record for career steals at D-C. He cautioned running on catchers at the Division I college level is a whole new ballgame.

"Every catcher is good. Every one of them has a good arm and they can get good runners out," he said. "You have to read the pitcher and get good jumps. Our coaches also help with telling us times the catcher and pitcher has. Knowing how fast the pitcher goes to the plate helps a lot."

Romano said there's easier ways to steal bases at the collegiate level.

"Delayed steals work," he said. "If the shortstop or second baseman doesn't cover the base after a pitch, it's easy to steal if you do it the right way. I haven't done it yet, but a couple guys on the team have."

Romano also is enjoying a strong season in center field.

"I had a pretty good catch (last Saturday)," he remembered. "It was the last inning and we were up three and they had two men on. This kid hit one and off the bat I thought it was going to be a homer. I tracked it down and didn't' give up. It was close to the wall. I crashed into the wall and caught it and threw in to hold the runners. I'm seeing the ball well off the bat."

Romano and Miami opened the season away from the vile weather that has plagued a decent part of the country.

"We started out in Arkansas and then went to Tennessee and North Carolina," he said. "We have some good potential this year. We're hitting the ball well and our pitching is doing pretty well."

Romano, who is studying sports management and leadership, still can't believe he is playing Division I college baseball.

"What I'm doing is awesome," he said. "I'm so happy I have the opportunity to play. I'm really trying to make the most of it because these could be my last few years playing baseball. I'm not taking anything for granted. I'm extremely honored. I still can't believe I have the opportunity to do this. Playing college baseball is the best thing so far I've done in my life. I love every second of it."

Hernandez earns freshman honor: Bartlett graduate Alyssa Hernandez recently was named to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference all-freshman team. Hernandez is in her first year at Dominican University. This past season, she averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in 19 league contests. Her 36 blocks ranked second in the conference. She scored in double figures 18 times, including a season-high 26 points in a win over Concordia Chicago to wrap up the season. In that game she shot 12-for-17 from the field and hauled in 11 rebounds, earning her first collegiate double-double. Hernandez was second among freshmen in the league in scoring and third in rebounding.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.