When CLC plays, diversity is the winner

Baseball has come to brush back prejudice with a high hard one.

So, on April 15, all Major League Baseball players wore No. 42 to honor Jackie Robinson.

And so on Wednesday, with but a handful of fans watching at McHenry County College's baseball field, David Gonzales - who is not one of two Venezuelans or one of five Puerto Ricans on the College of the Lake County roster - flied out deep to left field. He's not one of three Canadians on the team, for that matter.

You would have thought Gonzales jacked the pitch over the fence and into the parking lot, because his appreciative teammates actually jog out of the dugout to high-five the kid from Racine, Wis., on his hard-hit ball into a stiff wind.

A couple of innings later, Puerto Rican native Angel Agosto bloops a ball into center field and speeds into second with a hustle double. His teammates erupt with excitement.

Lancers coach Ken Kelly calls Agosto's speed "frightening."

This isn't the World Baseball Classic, despite CLC's distinct foreign flavor, just a weekday doubleheader in Crystal Lake between two junior college teams. Lake County swept, beating McHenry County 6-2 and 5-1 to capture the Skyway Conference championship.

The Lancers are 22-6, even though they've played only six home games (all wins). But to hear the players, whether they're speaking English or Spanish, your guess is that it wouldn't matter if they were 6-22.

"It's been a great experience, just getting to know people from all different surroundings - from Canada all the way down to Venezuela across to Puerto Rico," said first baseman Zach Amrein, a Carmel Catholic graduate, who had 2 hits, including an RBI double, in Game 1. "I've enjoyed it a lot. It's made this season a lot of fun."

How can the Lancers' season not be fun with catcher Carlos Zuniga on the team? Kelly calls the loquacious and likable Zuniga funny, bright and a leader.

"He's impacted a lot of kids at our school who have nothing to do with athletics," Kelly said.

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Zuniga has lived in the United States for two years. He spoke little English before he came here, but now speaks the language almost effortlessly.

His smile is contagious. He loves to talk and holler during games - in both English and Spanish - whether it's to his teammates or even the opposing pitcher.

"I talk a lot," Zuniga said with a grin. "That helps me."

Zuniga, fellow Venezuelan Yorman Romero and Puerto Ricans Agosto, Marcos Peneloza, Luis Rafael, Jeffrey Lopez and Pedro Leon have helped players such as Amrein brush up on their Spanish.

"This guy," Lake Villa resident Amrein said of Zuniga, "he's been like my brother."

It's that kind of attitude and mutual respect for each other that Kelly has instilled in his players, whether they're light-skinned or dark-skinned, whether they grew up north of the border, south of the border or here, whether they play or don't play.

"I believe diversity is a good thing," Kelly said.

"It's been a blast," the longtime coach added of this season. "These kids are really good kids."

So how did Kelly end up with such racial diversity on his roster? It started when a former juco coach told him about Canadian Chris Stewart, Zuniga and Romero, all of whom had moved to the area and were looking to play baseball.

Stewart eventually got countrymen Ben Ehgoetz and Robbie Wilson to join the CLC team.

"They all know each other," Kelly said. "They've played ball against each other. Robbie is Chris' best friend and he transferred from Tennessee. I didn't recruit him."

Kelly once served as coach of the US Olympic Development team and was heavily involved with USA Baseball.

"I had the best job in the world," he said. "My job was to go around and select players for the Olympic team. I got to see everybody play and meet guys like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. So it was fun."

Kelly also did baseball clinics all over the world, including Puerto Rico. He has plenty of contacts there and that eventually led to him recruiting the five Puerto Rican players.

Of the five Puerto Ricans, three Canadians and two Venezuelans on the Lancers, Kelly says, "Some of them are very good and some of them don't play much."

That's not the point, he knows. His players are enjoying an experience that certainly will affect them the rest of their lives. They've become brothers, to borrow a term Amrein used.

"We have real good chemistry on the team," Zuniga said. "Everybody gets along. This team, it's got like a flavor. It has a little bit of everything."

Camaraderie being the most obvious.

jaguilar@dailyherald.com