Baseball: With Neuqua Valley's Wheeler, looks are deceiving
Standing out among giants isn't easy.
It's why Ryan Wheeler's teammates nicknamed him "The Freak."
Unimposing on the field and unassuming off it, Neuqua Valley's senior shortstop looks like just another kid with a cap. He doesn't pass many eye tests, not at a generous 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds with his uniform drenched from a downpour.
But look closer. Wheeler's game gleams beyond eye tests.
"For his size and his body it's amazing what he does," said Neuqua Valley catcher Jake Wenz. "I've played with him for five years and he's the most complete baseball player I've seen."
For two seasons Neuqua Valley fielded talent unlike anything the area has seen in years. Yet it was Wheeler who stood out this season as the DuPage Valley Conference's co-player of the year, and Wheeler who was voted the Wildcats' MVP by his teammates.
There's something about that kid with a cap.
"Everyone knows their lineup is outstanding from one to nine but the constant is Wheeler," said Metea Valley coach Craig Tomczak. "He's the guy who makes it go for them."
Wheeler is the 2018 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area Baseball Captain, becoming the second Neuqua Valley player to earn the honor. He joins 2001 honoree Dan Walsh.
"Having the coaches and my teammates think of me that way is a great honor," Wheeler said. "I just hope they see me as a player who's always working hard and putting my all out there."
Team photo
Retiring Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner - the program's only head coach since its inception in 1999 - rattles off the names like a Dream Team: Mike Gerber, Ian Krol, Jordan Tokarz, Burke Baldwin, Dan Walsh, Geoff Rowan, Rob Elliott, Jon David ... and the list of his former greats doesn't end there.
In fact it continues with the players of the past two seasons who led Neuqua Valley to a 66-6 record, consecutive DVC and regional titles and a sectional championship. Names like Evan Ranneklev, James Kulak, Jack Rigoni, Ricky Castro and others.
No name looms larger, though, than Wheeler's.
"He's one of the most amazing players I've had, and I've had a lot of them," Renner said. "He's right there in the team photo."
Hitting leadoff this season for the Wildcats, Wheeler batted .449 with a 1.148 OPS, 11 doubles, 4 triples, 3 homers, 47 runs scored and 25 RBI. Sparking the offense was not a responsibility he took lightly.
"Being at the top I need to get on base any way I can," he said. "Every time I get on base it seems like everyone behind me is knocking me in. Starting it off is really important."
Opposing coaches admit Wheeler affected everything they did trying to defend the Wildcats.
"You have to keep him off base," said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling. "If you don't they're just going to take off as a lineup."
As a junior Wheeler played second base and hit second in the lineup, learning from leadoff hitter and shortstop James Gargano, who this season had 130 at-bats at Butler University as a true freshman. Wheeler led last year's team with a .440 batting average and 55 hits.
During his varsity time with the Wildcats, stretching back to the final few weeks of his sophomore season, Wheeler hit a program-record .440 with 94 runs scored and 58 RBI. His 120 hits are another program record.
Wheeler indeed belongs in that team photo.
"Neuqua's had such a great tradition," Wheeler said. "Being able to be a part of that is such a great feeling."
One more thing...
The kid with a cap also happened to wear a football helmet. Now we really need to throw out that eye test.
Not only did Wheeler play in the defensive secondary for the Wildcats' football team, he became the program's all-time leader with 10 interceptions including six as a senior. In compliments you hear time and again, Neuqua Valley football coach Bill Ellinghaus called Wheeler humble and a gamer.
That gamer attitude transferred perfectly to the baseball diamond. In the Class 4A Yorkville regional final against the Foxes, a 2-1 victory, Wheeler led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a triple and scored the tying run. Then he ended the game in the seventh with a walkoff single.
Wheeler's wizardry at shortstop included a highlight reel behind-the-back tag on a stolen-base attempt by Naperville Central as well as a diving stab of a grounder and a rocket throw to first from his knees to retire a Glenbard North runner.
"His consistency is amazing," Wenz said. "But then he's also making these highlight plays."
On a team with immense talent, it's hyperbolic to suggest Wheeler did it all for the Wildcats. But he did everything he possibly could.
"He's such an amazing athlete," Renner said. "People just shake their heads at what he's able to do."
Wheeler says he's likely headed to Western Michigan University to be a student only, but there's still a chance he'll play college baseball.
Let's hope it's a good chance.
"Football and baseball helped me in a lot of ways, especially with the competitive nature of both and how they helped me become a leader," Wheeler said. "But baseball's always been my favorite sport. It's been an amazing experience for me."
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