Being the underdog is just fine with Larkin

The question isn't necessarily whether the Larkin baseball team can compete in the treacherous Upstate Eight Conference this season.

The question is whether doing so is the team's ultimate goal.

After years of battling for conference crowns as the head coach at Burlington Central, second-year Larkin coach Doug Ellett certainly understands the importance of competing day in and day out whether the opponent is a league foe or not. As he said this week, "We'll try like heck to win the conference."

But whereas Ellett's main focus previously was on winning conference titles, achievements his Central teams managed as routinely as deep breaths, the 12th-year coach has become more centered these days on postseason success, particularly since Larkin will play sectional host for a second consecutive season come May.

It's a change he came to gradually, partially due to the advice of former Byron coach Dale Hartman, whose teams won 6 regional titles, 2 sectionals and qualified for state twice between 1992 and 2003.

"We used to win the conference every year and beat him, and then he'd be playing in the sectional every year," Ellett said. "I said, 'How the heck are you playing in the sectional and supersectional every year?'

"He said, 'Coach, we put our emphasis on the regional and the postseason. You put yours on the conference. So, even if we get behind in the conference, we don't worry about it because we're working toward the postseason stuff.' So, that's one of the things where I've changed over the years.

"I've tried to emphasize more that, yes, the conference games are important; We're no different than anyone else in that we'd like to win the conference. But if we don't, we're still going to keep working because we're going to host a sectional and we really want to play there bad."

Last year few people paid the Royals much attention in the preseason, yet they managed to finish 23-12, 16-9 in the UEC.

More importantly, they indeed reached the sectional they played host to by beating Lake Zurich 5-0 to secure the school's first regional championship in four years.

Along the way last season, Larkin was able to knock off UEC heavyweights Neuqua Valley and St. Charles North, two of the highest-profile baseball programs in the state. St. Charles North went on to win the conference and Neuqua Valley eventually won the Class AA state title.

Larkin also knocked off Dundee-Crown early in the regular season, giving the Royals wins against two teams that eventually qualified for the Class AA Elite Eight.

Dundee-Crown eventually ended Larkin's postseason run in the sectional semifinals last year, but the Royals surged in the off-season, reaching the Sweet 16 of the summer-league state tournament before losing to Jacobs.

The 2008 Larkin roster isn't populated by well-known players headed to Division I schools, ala UEC favorites Neuqua Valley or St. Charles North, teams ranked Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in this week's Daily Herald Top 20. But the Royals didn't have any such name players last year and still managed to hand those teams losses that factored into the UEC race.

"We don't have any big names like that, but we're one solid team," senior pitcher/first baseman Tyler Shore said. "We don't have too many weaknesses. We don't have anybody who's really great at anything, but everyone is good at what they do."

Larkin's batting order this season won't fluctuate much from the lineup card Ellett has been turning in thus far. It usually starts with speed at the top of the order in left-handed leadoff man Justin Kalusa, a junior, and senior second baseman Ryan Shriver.

Both have the ability to get on base and steal bags, though Shriver is just getting back into the swing of things after a 10-day layoff. He works part-time at a flower shop and cut his thumb while trimming rose stems, resulting in seven stitches.

That duo is followed by the heart of the order: seniors John Banks (lefty), Jake Kane, Cam Kinley and Tyler Shore.

Banks is a contact hitter who hit .338 last year, Kane is the team's power supplier, Kinley is a dependable three-sport athlete who hit .308 as a junor and Shore provides a big bat at first base.

Kane, the cleanup man, is a testament to hard work. As a freshman he was a 5-foot-2, 135-pound pup. But through off-season workouts and a fierce weightlifting regimen, he's grown into the big dog in the middle of the lineup. The team's catcher, who crushed a 2-run home run to center field against Elgin on Monday, now stands 6-2 and weighs 195 pounds.

"I saw all the older guys get bigger, so I figure I had to step up," Kane said.

The bottom third of the lineup includes promising juniors Luc Geier, Joe Stace and Jon Meidel. Geier is gaining confidence at the plate, Stace is arguably the team's hardest worker and a potential middle-of-the-order hitter and Meidel is one of the team's better athletes.

"He's gonna pitch for us, too," Ellett said of Meidel. "He probably has the strongest arm on the team. He's a good kid and a smart kid."

For now, however, Larkin's top three starting pitchers are Banks, Shore and Geier with junior Brandon Anderson slotted as a key reliever.

Banks (1-0) is 6-0 as a varsity starter. He keeps teams off balance by mixing a fastball with good velocity with a split-finger pitch and a big-bending curveball.

Shore (1-1) went from reliever to starting pitcher this year. His arsenal is eclectic; He throws a changeup to offset his fastball, a curve, even the occasional knuckleball.

Geier has potential. "I just started catching him and I love this kid," Kane said. "His best pitch might be his changeup."

Does Larkin have enough to unseat the reigning conference or state champs? Maybe, maybe not. But it is the kind of balanced, fundamentally sound team that could get back to a sectiona. And from there, who knows?

"Being the underdog is nice," said Ellett, a Hampshire graduate. "I come from a little bitty school and I'm not very big to begin with as an athlete, so being the underdog is a role that I sort of enjoy."