D'Agata catches on: Standout anchors Saxons one last time

Dominick D'Agata eventually discovered there was no place like home plate.

The Schaumburg senior spent much of his youth baseball days 90 feet away at first base. During the summer before he entered eighth grade, a travel team coach suggested a change.

"I had never really thought about it, but when he asked me how I would like to try catching, I said, 'Why not?'" D'Agata said. "It didn't take too long to catch on."

As evidenced by his promotion to a varsity starter as a sophomore. Now the powerful-throwing, sweet-swinging D'Agata is one of the state's top senior players with a scholarship to Purdue and professional interest.

Safe to say D'Agata's move made him a nice catch.

"It's nice to be in every pitch," D'Agata said. "You never get bored and you always have to pay attention.

"Most of the guys are relying on you. You get to pick out and see hitters' weaknesses and exploit them."

D'Agata exploited a lot of opposing pitchers in the No. 2 spot in the order last year as Schaumburg won the Mid-Suburban League title and finished 25-7.

He hit .369 with a school-record 16 doubles, 3 homers and 17 RBI. As a sophomore he hit .345 with 4 homers and 22 RBI.

And last year only a dozen or so runners attempted to run on D'Agata. He threw out more than 60 percent of would-be base-stealers as a sophomore.

"He's been a great kid for us," said Schaumburg coach Paul Groot, who also caught at Purdue and Wheeling. "He's come a long way with his defensive skills and he's worked at it.

"Lefty-hitting catchers with power are hard to come by."

Groot was a three-year letterman and team captain as a senior in 1978. D'Agata is the first player he's coached to get a scholarship to his alma mater.

And working with Groot was a big plus in getting D'Agata ready for the jump to Division I baseball.

"He's the one who has always helped me on blocking and he's the reason I've come so far in that area," D'Agata said. "You have to catch the ball right and make good throws.

"He knows where I can be with my talent and he's always pushing me to be the best I can be. He can pick out little things most coaches wouldn't see if they weren't a catcher."

D'Agata's dad Dominick was a hockey player growing up but got his son into baseball by putting a bat in his hand as soon as he could stand. D'Agata was also turned into a left-handed hitter by his dad.

But his sudden turn to catching didn't lower his expectations. He achieved his goal as a freshman of playing on the sophomore team with a bonus of a varsity promotion for its run to the Class AA Elite Eight.

"I would've never thought as a freshman we'd go downstate and I'd be a part of it," D'Agata said.

Then he was part of a bizarre season that resulted in a school-record 22 losses. But he learned some valuable lessons from playing with Grant Monroe, Dan Jennings and Mike Kelly.

He hopes they pay off this year as Schaumburg tries to win back-to-back MSL titles for the first time and ease the sting of a sectional semifinal upset to Conant.

Now D'Agata will be leading a group of pitchers trying to take a big step with Monroe at Duke.

"The younger kids in the program really look up to him an idolize him," Groot said.

D'Agata would love to also follow the path of former Schaumburg star Jordan Wolf, who played at Xavier and was drafted by the Orioles last June. D'Agata said Tampa Bay has expressed interest and mentioned the seventh through 12th rounds of the draft.

"I'd like to go to school because four years of school is really hard to make up," D'Agata said. "But I also want to go after my dream and my dream is to play big-league ball."

Whatever happens, his options reflect his feelings about catching.

"It's a great position to be in," D'Agata said.