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Scanlan leading Prospect; Skala's future is in Houston

Time to clear out the preseason baseball notebooks as the snow finally clears … for now, anyway.

Trickle-down effect: Good leadership has been a privilege for a Prospect program chasing a fifth straight 20-win season, third straight regional title and fifth MSL East crown in the last six years.

Prospect coach Ross Giusti said this year's attitude is a reflection of players in recent years such as Andrew Butkus, Scott Winters, Tim Churchill, Will Hagel, Matt Gamber and A.J. Whitten.

Now it's Eastern Kentucky-bound senior third baseman Tim Scanlan's turn to lead the way.

"Tim's leadership has been invaluable," Giusti said. "His hard work and dedication has really transferred over to many of these kids.

"Tim is more outspoken than he's ever been. When he speaks, people listen."

Skala-ship situation: St. Viator senior catcher Nick Skala hasn't signed a letter of intent with just any junior college program.

The 2007 all-area pick is headed to Houston and San Jacinto, which bills itself as the winningest NJCAA program.

San Jacinto was third in the NJCAA Division I World Series last year, has won five national titles and produced Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

"It's about as good as any place you're going to go besides a Division I school," said Viator coach Mike Manno. "They signed him without even watching him."

Manno said a couple of professional scouts were impressed with Skala during the Area Code Games in Jupiter, Fla. They tipped off coaches at San Jacinto.

Skala hit .412 with 8 homers, 12 doubles and 39 RBI last spring. Grades weren't an issue toward a Division I scholarship opportunity that may be enhanced by going to San Jacinto.

"It's good for our program," Manno said. "I'm glad because it was getting frustrating for both him and I."

Another fresh Warrior: Last year, freshman Tommy Ross stepped into the starting lineup in center field for Maine West.

This year, freshman Paul Solka figures to play a vital role for the Warriors.

"He's definitely showed he belongs with us," said Maine West coach Joe Pederson. "He has nice arm strength and his offensive approach at the plate is comparable to what we have throughout the program."

The Warriors were in the Central Suburban North race until losing the final 2 games to champion Glenbrook North. They hope it's their turn this time led by another player who started as a freshman, Illinois-bound senior shortstop Mike Santa Maria.

"We have athletes and our kids are hungry," Pederson said. "They got a little taste of competitive baseball last year. It didn't fall our way and they haven't forgotten about it."

Won't be left out: Arm trouble ended Palatine left-hander Steve Reis' junior season early.

Reis still has some soreness that specialists told him won't get better or worse. So Reis plans to do his part this year for Palatine.

"He looked me straight in the eye and said, 'It's my senior year and I'm pitching through this,'" said Palatine coach Paul Belo.

What figures to help Reis is he mixes a changeup and curve with a fastball in hit upper 70s.

"He's a pitcher," Belo said. "It's a matter of him knowing how to spot his fastball and put it in good spots."

Wait a second: Rolling Meadows has a lot of new faces in the infield. But Jim Lindeman isn't concerned with how junior Joey Lauria will handle second base.

"I like him," Lindeman said. "He's a good baseball guy. He knows what he's doing and very coachable. He could be one of the better second basemen to come through here."

All-area pick Kyle Gaedele, who is signed with Valparaiso, is moving from third base to left field.

"He wants to play the outfield," Lindeman said of Gaedele's potential college position. "He runs well enough and has a strong arm. I'm think he's happy to be out there."

Ready for the challenge: Sophomore Mike Kiravanta will be in a pair of big spots for Hoffman Estates at shortstop an in its starting rotation.

"You can tell he's a pitcher," said Hoffman coach Todd Meador. "His mechanics are good and he has a good head on him.

"He's got a lot going for him and when you watch him pitch, you don't see him as a young kid with a lot of potential, you see him as a kid who could be a successful varsity kid."

A nice luxury: Leyden coach Gary Wolf joked about getting a little smaller when 6-foot-9 pitching coach Chris Cabaj left a couple of years ago and was replaced by 6-7 Rob Hamann.

But Hamann, a 1995 graduate of Leyden, has been a big addition to the Eagles. Hamann pitched five years in the Toronto organization and made it as high as Class AAA.

"I feel I've got the best pitching coach around," Wolf said. "We have the arms, and I know he'll do what he has to do to make them better ballplayers.

"I don't think too many kids have the luxury of a pitching coach like Rob."

Which explains why Wolf believes other pitchers will provide strong support for all-area returnee Jonathan Weaver.

And that could go a long way toward duplicating the Eagles' 10-4 record in 1-run games en route to a 26-10 season that ended in the AA sectional finals.

"It's a very confident group," Wolf said. "Probably the most athletic group we've had since I've been here.

"They're a lot of fun to watch in practice because they go all out. Their goal is to have a chance to get back to the sectional final and play a team like New Trier and hopefully write a little different ending."

Hawks come home: Kevin Mueller and Calvin Seely, who graduated from Hoffman in 2003, are back to help Todd Meador with the varsity this spring.

"When both were in high school you couldn't ask for two better kids to work with," Meador said. "The fact they're willing to come back and volunteer, the players are going to benefit so much from that."

Meador also hopes there might be another benefit to Mueller's addition.

"Just for the Schaumburg games I'll have him sit on their side to get in his dad's head," Meador laughed of Mueller's dad Tom, who is the Saxons' veteran assistant.

Flyers Classic: The eighth annual Schaumburg Flyers High School Baseball Classic will be April 3-5.

The first two days of the eight-team tournament are at Alexian Field. On April 3, Jacobs plays Wheaton Warrenville South at 4:30 p.m. and Joliet Catholic plays Prairie Ridge at 7 p.m.

On April 4, Schaumburg faces defending Class AA state champion Neuqua Valley at 4:30 p.m. Lyons Township meets St. Charles North at 7 p.m.

Semifinals are April 5 at 1 p.m. with the championship at 7 p.m. at Alexian Field.

Good reading: There is no better source for those who want to find more about high school baseball across the state than Prep Baseball Report.

The fourth-year publication is filled with team and player rankings, feature stories and standings.

More information is at prepbaseballreport.com.

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