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Baseball: Former St. Charles stars enjoying stellar college careers

Baseball bragging rights are at stake this week in St. Charles with the three-game series between North's North Stars and East's Saints.

Three players very familiar with the crosstown rivalry have moved on to play college baseball at the highest possible level - Joe Hoscheit, John Brodner and Cory Wright.

Hoscheit, a junior who starred at St. Charles East, is a starting outfielder at Northwestern while St. Charles North graduates Brodner and Wright are playing at Wright State and Kansas State, respectively.

The season has been an eventful one for Hoscheit, who has battled through an injury to be one of the most productive hitters for the Wildcats (13-37).

The 6-foot, 215-pound left fielder is batting .282 (44 for 156) with a team-leading 7 home runs and 30 RBI. He owns a .477 slugging percentage with 5 doubles and a triple.

"Personally, I feel like this has been my best year yet hitting and fielding wise," said Hoscheit, who was a 3-year varsity starter at St. Charles East.

"I'm more confident. The new coaching staff has helped me a lot with my swing and with me having a true plan at the plate instead of a blank mindset."

Earlier in the year, Hoscheit displayed his consistency at the plate by compiling a career-high 11-game hitting streak (April 3-22) that included four multihit games.

He enjoyed a mammoth game against Nebraska last month with a pair of home runs and a career-high 5 RBI and finished 3 for 10 with a homer and 3 RBI during the Wildcats' 3-game sweep of Purdue two weeks ago.

Not bad considering Hoscheit has been playing with an injured leg throughout the season.

"I suffered a stress fracture in my tibia midway through last summer," said Hoscheit. "It started bothering me so I didn't play fall ball. I was told it was just from overuse."

Hoscheit, who started 50 games as a freshman (All-Big Ten Freshman Team honors), and played all 54 contests during his sophomore campaign, sat out 10 games earlier this spring.

"It's not fully healed," said Hoscheit, who missed the Wildcats' 3-game series with Ohio State. "Sitting out was tough."

Despite their 5-16 record in Big Ten play, the Wildcats have shown some flashes with an inexperienced lineup.

"We're young," said Hoscheit. "We only have one senior in our starting lineup."

Northwestern, which finished 18-36 in 2015, is in a transitional period under first-year head coach Spencer Allen.

"It is a completely different culture this year with the new coach and new stadium facilities and locker room," said Hoscheit, an economics major.

A few weeks ago, the Wildcats were swept by Big Ten leader Indiana, losing three consecutive 1-run games.

"We're not that far off from being in the mix in the Big Ten," said Hoscheit. "I think it's a matter of being a little more consistent."

Hoscheit, who has received a great deal of support from his parents, John and Teri, siblings Mike and Maggie, and friends the past 3 years while playing close to home, will forego a summer with the Kenosha Kingfish (Northwoods League) and work on getting healthy again.

"I have a summer internship in Evanston and I'll also be working at a few camps with the team," he said.

Pitching is another possibility next year for Hoscheit, who owns a 2-2 career mark with a 2.95 ERA in limited appearances his first two seasons.

"I was thinking about it the other day - how I miss pitching in those pressure situations," he said. "I couldn't pitch this year because of the injury but maybe next year."

Brodner, who batted .400 with a home run and 30 RBI during his senior season at St. Charles North in 2012, was one of eight seniors honored last Saturday following Wright State's doubleheader split with Milwaukee.

The 6-1, 185-pound infielder has enjoyed a solid collegiate career as a 4-year starter at Wright State.

This season, Brodner owns a .288 batting average (44 for 153) with 2 home runs, a pair of triples, 11 doubles and 32 RBI as well as a .425 slugging percentage.

The 22-year-old organizational leadership major enjoyed one of his best games of the season, going 3 for 5 with a triple and 2 RBI during Wright State's 10-8 upset of then-No. 8 ranked North Carolina State on Feb. 26 in Raleigh.

A year ago, Brodner earned All-Horizon League Second Team honors while helping lead Wright State to an NCAA Tournament berth.

During his collegiate career, Brodner, the son of Joseph and Becky Brodner and cousin of Glenbard West star tailback Sam Brodner, owns 27 doubles, 8 home runs and 101 RBI.

Wright State (38-14, 21-5), which has clinched the regular-season conference title, hosts the Horizon League Tournament May 26-28.

Wright, a 6-foot, 190-pound freshman pitcher-infielder at Kansas State, recorded his first collegiate base hit in his first at-bat against UC-Riverside on Feb. 21.

Wright, who helped lead the North Stars to back-to-back Class 4A regional titles, has also thrown 9⅔ innings this season for the Wildcats (26-26, 8-13).

Kansas State closes the regular season with a 3-game series at TCU Thursday through Saturday. The Big 12 Tournament is May 25-28 in Oklahoma City.

Wright is the son of Phil and Debi Wright of South Elgin.

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