Back with a bang

You know you are a pretty good baseball player when you are walked -- intentionally or unintentionally -- quite a bit and still produce numbers the way Mike Hoscheit did for the St. Charles East baseball team.

Hoscheit, a senior outfielder, was among the top 4 players in the Tri-Cities Area in runs, batting average, RBI, triples and home runs.

He did it all this year while coming of rehab from shoulder surgery in the off-season.

More Coverage Links The Tri-Cities All-Area Team

"He really took his game to another level this year," St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes said.

Because of this, Hoscheit was named this year's captain in the Tri-Cities Area.

He's the first player from St. Charles East to receive the honor since Adam Milauskas in 2000 when the school was still known as St. Charles.

In 98 at-bats in 33 games, Hoscheit batted .449, led the area in runs with 36, had 44 hits, 9 home runs and 34 RBI. He also had a slugging percentage of .847 and an on-base percentage of .578.

Pitchers tried to throw around the slugger, but when they gave him one pitch, Hoscheit made the most of it.

"There were certain situations where he couldn't be walked," Foulkes said. "Even when he hit it, they were hard groundouts or line drives."

While in the No. 3 spot, he was intentionally walked 4 times. Hoscheit takes it as a compliment, yet at the same time, it's a touch frustrating.

"Of course I want to hit it every time I get up there, but it's something that happens," said Hoscheit, who also was on the All-Area team last year with similar numbers. "You can't really do anything about it."

For advice on how to handle it, Foulkes went to assistant coach Gary Spratt, who was a coach at Geneva when 2006 All-Area captain Nick Hererra was there. Hererra was walked a lot as well, yet he still left Geneva as the Vikings' all-time home run record holder.

"Spratt was in a similar boat with Hererra, so we pulled Mike aside and said, 'If you are going to do anything for the team, don't expand your strike zone, take the walk and let guys like Zach Scott and Tom Lollino drive people in,'" Foulkes said. "To their credit, they did, but that's one of the assets to Mike -- he didn't try to do too much. He stayed within the framework of the team and took his walks. When they did pitch to him, he was great. It's like, 'Wow, he gets one pitch and he's getting the big hit.'"

Hoscheit finished with 9 home runs -- just 3 short of the record set by Jim Caine, the All-Area captain in 1998 and 1999.

He hit one of those home runs at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, home of the Class A Kane County Cougars, against St. Charles North.

"We joked with Jim Caine a little bit because the record is 12, and Mike kept getting closer and closer," Foulkes said. "It was fun to watch. At any time, he could hit one out in any situation."

The way Hoscheit hit this year left some of his teammates and best friends in awe. Just ask Dan Leibforth, a senior shortstop who was known Hoscheit since pre-school.

"He made all our jobs a lot easier," Leibforth said of Hoscheit, the Saints' MVP. "Sitting in the dugout watching him hit was amazing."

Back in November, however, there were some questions about Hoscheit's future as a complete player.

After wear and tear on his shoulder for about a year, Hoscheit decided to have surgery a week after his football season ended with the Saints.

"It was at the point where I would throw the ball and my arm would go numb," said Hoscheit, a two-time all-Upstate Eight Conference selection and St. Charles East's Male Athlete of the Year. "It wasn't unbearable or anything -- it just hurt when I threw."

If the surgery and rehab went as planned, Hoscheit would be back to 100 percent. If not, he would have been a designated hitter or played in the infield at first or third base.

He wasn't too worried about his future because Lollino and Mark Proust had similar surgeries and they were doing just fine.

"I was more concerned about being able to throw. I knew I would have been able to hit," Hoscheit said. "But I don't like just DH'ing. I feel like I'm not in the game because I'm not out in the field."

Hoscheit worked hard in rehab, and it paid off. He departs the program as one of the best players in the last decade.

His next step is playing baseball in college. He's currently deciding between being a walk-on at Illinois or perhaps a more significant role at Indiana.

Whatever his choice is, Foulkes knows either program is getting a quality player.

"Mike is special because of the role model he is for the rest of the program and the way he conducted himself as a baseball player," Foulkes said. "That's what we'll miss the most. He'd stay late, come early, and that's what you hope the kids pick up on."

Past captains

1998: Jim Caine, St. Charles

1999: Jim Caine, St. Charles

2000: Adam Milauskas, St. Charles

2001: Brian Brandenburg, Batavia

2002: Chris Sepanski, Geneva

2003: Mike Pisano, St. Charles North

2004: Kenny Smalley, Batavia

2005: Justin Fitch, Batavia

2006: Nick Herrera, Geneva

2007: Casey Crosby, Kaneland