Cubs prospect helps Lisle team prepare for state

Nick Olson had just ducked out of the way of a third consecutive brushback pitch.

The Lisle Junior High School eighth-grader set himself in the batter's box and knocked his coach's next offering into the gap between right and center.

These aren't looping palmballs floating over home plate intended for contact with the young player's aluminum bat, these are some pretty crisp fastballs with just a little taken off being delivered by a potential major leaguer that would probably register in the upper 70s on a radar gun.

So it's no wonder Olson and the rest of his teammates smile even when they get just a piece of Mike Christl's pitches.

The 23-year-old right-hander, who pitched in 15 games for the Cubs' minor league rookie team in Arizona this year before finishing the season at Triple A Iowa, is helping this junior high squad ready itself for an appearance in the state championship tournament this weekend in East Peoria.

"He's my brother-in-law and I asked him to help out," head coach Jason Weirtel said. "The guys love it."

The theory is that stepping into the batter's box against a pro pitcher may alleviate some of the nervousness of appearing in a championship tournament. And it might be working.

"We're the underdog going into this, so the pressure is on them," said 13-year-old clean-up hitter Ty Howell. "We're just going to try and come out strong and play hard."

Resilient may be the best way to describe this team, which is only in its second year of existence.

The team made it to the state tournament after coming out of a deep hole in the bottom of the sixth inning of an elimination game last week against powerhouse Homer Glen. They scored eight runs that inning and went on to win 11-9.

"We bunted successfully four times during that inning, two of them suicide squeezes," Wiertel said. "It was going to be our last game, and I didn't want them to leave anything on that bench."

Players said Weirtel had them pulling tricks out of bags they didn't even know they were capable of.

"I still wonder how we won that game," 12-year-old shortstop Stephen Accetturo said. "It was all small ball and stuff we practiced."

Practice is a big part of junior high baseball. Because so few junior high and middle schools have baseball teams in the state, getting a game is harder to come by than in other leagues. The team started playing in August and still only played 17 games.

Junior high fields also are rare. Games are played on fields bigger than Little League diamonds and smaller than big league fields. It's 80 feet between bases and 55 feet from the mound to home plate. Most games are played on modified high school fields.

Lisle Junior High School also started fielding a girls softball team two years ago, which has been equally successful. That team made it to the state tournament last weekend, but was eliminated in the first round in a 5-4 squeaker against Edwardsville.

Weirtel said his team has been able to have an impact on the state level so quickly because most are elite players with experience on traveling teams and in summer leagues.

"They come to me with great skill sets, so there's very little fundamental coaching that has to be done on my part," he said. "Motivating junior high kids to stay focused is the most difficult part of my job."

Some players have even developed the time-honored skill of speaking in cliches.

"We're going to just focus on that first game and from there take it one game at a time," seventh-grade right fielder Alex Ventrella said.

The school is holding a pep rally for the team today and then it heads downstate for a 4:45 p.m. game against Mattoon on Friday. If Lisle makes it to the championship game, it will be at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

"I'm just going to play on their strengths," Weirtel said. "There's no doubt we're going to keep it loose and we'll put in some trick plays."

Taking the field

Projected starting lineup for Lisle Junior High School's state-bound baseball team:

Pitcher: Ty Howell

Catcher: Kazim Khan

First base: Jake Haseltine

Second base: Brian Czyl

Third base: Nick Olson

Shortstop: Stephen Accetturo

Left field: Robbie Dean

Center field: Ryan Van Volkenberg

Right field: Alex Ventrella

Designated hitter: Drew Martin

Reserves: Bryce Conrad, Parker Murray, Reed Krause, Nick Saul, Dylan Sinn and Jon Clayton