St. Charles North star has Wright stuff
It's not much of a stretch to say that Cory Wright was born to be a star.
Not just any star, a St. Charles North North Star.
His first taste of the St. Charles North baseball program came as a bat boy when his older brother KC was on the team, and in addition to the normal duties Cory got a few turns in the cages with the older kids who became his role models.
"I would be like, 'Wow, look at that swing of his,'" St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said of the fifth-grader. "He was a great kid to have around."
Wright remembers those days fondly. The cages were nothing new to him, not with a dad who played Division I baseball, coached 2 state championship teams in Arizona and coaches Cory in travel baseball.
The experience of seeing that North Star team up close and how they carried themselves left quite an impression.
"It's always been St. Charles North for me," Wright said. "It's been a dream of mine to play there and it's been an unbelievable experience to play for North.
"That was my first taste of St. Charles North baseball and got me to love the game and St. Charles North because I got to be around guys like Zach Hirsch and Ryan Richardson."
Now there's a new crop of young baseball players in St. Charles who want to be the next Cory Wright. The left-hander, the Upstate Eight Conference River Division's unanimous Player of the Year this spring among many other accolades, went 9-0 in 9 starts, striking out 61 in 56 innings with a 0.50 ERA.
Wright led St. Charles North to a big season, a 32-5 record with conference and regional championships, and he's this year's Captain of the Daily Herald Tri-Cities All-Area Baseball Team.
Headed to Kansas State for the next stop on his baseball journey, Wright left his mark in St. Charles.
"The culture at North baseball has always been to help the next guy," Wright said. "The older guys have been really good to me and the alumni have been helpful. It's been fun progressing to being one of the guys who helps the younger guys."
Wright played football - he was a wide receiver - as a freshman in high school before focusing on baseball. A fixture in the varsity lineup, Wright made the All-Area team the past two years.
Wright's success on the mound came in large part because of his command. He also has an elite pickoff move - including a memorable game as a junior when he picked off a runner in each of the first 4 innings against Neuqua Valley.
"They didn't even have a lead and he was still picking them off," Genke said. "His ability to control the running game was just phenomenal. Best kid I've ever had and I've had some good ones. His ability to change his delivery - speed up, slow down. One of the best pickoff moves you have ever seen."
As a junior Wright went 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA. He led off and batted .358 with 28 runs.
Wright moved into the second spot in the lineup this year and hit .463 with 17 doubles, 4 triples and 2 home runs. He finished with a 1.278 OPS, 26 RBI and 33 runs.
On the mound Wright threw a stretch of 30 scoreless innings while allowing just 22 hits and 11 walks for a 0.589 WHIP.
"He never walks anybody," Genke said. "He would challenge guys. He was able to throw three pitches at any time for strikes. He would make them put the ball in play so your defense plays so much better behind him."
One of Wright's many highlights came when he beat St. Charles East 4-1 at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, a victory that started the program's first 3-game sweep of the Saints in 10 years, and for Wright gave him St. Charles North's all-time record for wins.
Wright finished with 21 career victories, surpassing the mark held by Hirsch - one of those players Wright admired when he was a bat boy. In fact, Wright still wears a glove that Hirsch gave him.
"I've been looking up to Zach Hirsch forever," Wright said. "Being in the same category as him, he's pitching in minor league baseball now, it's pretty crazy to me. Growing up and watching him play, he's been my role model, to break his record is unbelievable to me. There's no way I'm the pitcher he is. Our team's success has a big piece of that (record); I would not have broken the record without them."
For all of his physical tools, Genke has always been just as impressed with Wright's mental makeup.
"I saw him in the classroom as well and he would get his peers to do things that most kids can't think of," Genke said.
"His will to want to be better was impressive to watch and our kids just feed off that. He's a consummate work-a-holic. He would come in on Sundays and hit, he would stay after practice and hit. He was always working on his craft and his skill. A lot of times when you have a talented player they rest on their skills and laurels a little, they know they are good. He always challenged himself to be great. That's a wonderful characteristic to have as an athlete."
Opposing coaches noticed many of those same traits. Geneva's Matt Hahn and Batavia's Matt Holm both went up against Wright and the North Stars 9 times the past 3 years.
"What a talent," Hahn said. "What I enjoyed the most about him was his competitiveness. He was not going to let you beat him. He was the engine on a very talented team."
"He is a baseball player - he exudes it," Holm said. "He walks the walk and is a fun kid to watch compete."
The son of Phil and Debi Wright, Cory's father played shortstop and center field first at the University of Arizona and then at Emporia State in Kansas, and his mom was an outstanding high jumper.
After playing on a 8-year-old local travel team in St. Charles with - among others - future high school teammates Kyle Khoury and Tyler Madsen, Wright got involved with baseball at a higher level on teams like the Illinois Lightning, Illinois Diamond Owls and Elite baseball where he played for his dad.
"Spending a lot of time in the summers with him as coach has always been fun," Cory Wright said. "We're pretty much traveling every weekend so we spend 8 to 10 hours in the car together. It's fun to build those relationships.
"It's kind of tough driving now, kind of a goodbye," Wright said by phone on the way to Kansas State. "Definitely a lot of memories."
Wright is going to take two summer classes at Kansas State while playing summer baseball there. As he did in high school, Wright will pitch and play first base for the Wildcats.
"The way he hit this year I think he's going to surprise some people," Genke said. "I think he's going to be a two-way guy. That's not easy to do at that level."
"To play Division I baseball is kind of a surreal feeling it is happening now," Wright said. "It's special for me. I'm really excited to get there. A new stage of my life and I'm excited about it."
His high school coaches and friends will be watching - and rooting - for him from back home. Much like Hirsch and the North Stars who came before him, Wright's impact will continue to be felt even after he's left.
"He will be greatly missed," Genke said. "It was a tough banquet saying goodbye to him and the other seven seniors. In his time at North it was tremendous and I'm just honored and privileged to be able to coach him and I wish him the best of luck in the future."