Carbonell, Priola both on road

Four years ago, they were captains of the St. Charles East baseball team that established a single-season school record for victories (33) and posted a fourth-place Class AA state finish.

As high school seniors, they combined for 14 pitching victories, 9 home runs, 17 doubles and 54 RBI while leading the Saints to their third state quarterfinal berth in six seasons.

Since then, they've helped their respective collegiate teams to divisional and conference championships.

In 2006, J.R. Carbonell made 21 relief appearances (second on the team) and finished with a 2-2 mark as the University of Evansville captured the Missouri Valley Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament.

Meanwhile, Ryan Priola has helped Division III Monmouth College extend its Midwest College Athletic Conference Southern Division championship reign to seven consecutive seasons as the Fighting Scots have compiled a 28-8 conference record over the past three years.

Accomplishments that haven't surprised their former high school coach.

"What I remember about each of them was that they were natural leaders," said Saints coach Mark Foulkes. "Ryan led vocally and J.R. led by example. They both were big-game players who rose to the occasion. Both were excellent role models for our entire program.

"They also worked very hard at their game. They would take extra batting practice each day. They hated to lose more than anything. Anytime we lost, I could see how much it bothered them both."

There's another thing that has bothered them over the past 12 months -- injuries.

Carbonell, who was shut down due to injury (medical redshirt) at Evansville in 2005, missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow a year ago.

"It usually takes a full 12 months to recover and between 16 to 18 months before you're at 100 percent," said the 22-year-old Carbonell. "But because of the season coming on, I wanted to be cleared (by the doctors) by February 1. It was an accelerated program.

Priola, who had avoided serious baseball-type injuries throughout his career, saw his luck run out last spring while pitching for Monmouth.

"It was against Illinois College," he recalled, "and it turned out to be my first collegiate win. I'll never forget it."

During the course of the game, the right-hander also felt something pop in his shoulder.

"When you've played baseball for a long time, all kinds of weird things happen to your shoulder," said Priola, who plans to graduate next month with a degree in business administration. "You just hope it's OK. When I started throwing again a couple days later, I knew something was wrong. I know soreness from pain."

It was later revealed that Priola had a torn labrum -- the same injury that had befallen Carbonell between his sophomore and junior years of high school.

"I had my surgery July 9," said Priola, who set the Fighting Scots' single-season record with 17 doubles last year. "It was a brutal summer. My arm was in a sling for five weeks and I was discouraged."

Neither player was about to be denied of their return to the diamond.

"There never was a doubt in my mind that I'd be back," said Priola, who admits he's probably 80 to 90 percent healthy but good enough to play third base again. "I knew I only had one year left."

Carbonell, who plans on returning in 2009 for his final year of eligibility while pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, finds himself in a new role as the Purple Aces' closer this spring.

The right-hander earned his first career save in a 6-3 victory over UNC-Asheville March 8.

"I'm still adjusting but I like it," he said. "I really just like being on the mound again and competing."

Evansville's Feb. 23 season opener against Winthrop held extra meaning for Carbonell, whose younger brother, David, plays for the South Carolina school.

"It was cool for the family," said J.R. "Everybody was there and my younger (twin) brothers were bat boys -- Michael for our team and Monty for Winthrop."

It has been a rare late winter/early spring for Carbonell and Priola, whose teams sported records of 3-21 and 2-12, respectively (as of Tuesday).

The good news -- there's still plenty of season left.

The better news -- that they're on the field at all.

"I hope they are enjoying each and every moment of the season," said Foulkes. "They'll have a lot of great memories to take with them once their playing days are done."