St. Edward's Coleman joining elite company
St. Edward senior Riley Coleman is pitching his way into elite company in Green Wave baseball lore, according to coach Gene Belmonte.
Coleman, a four-year varsity starter, improved to 7-0 this season by beating perennial league power Montini 5-2 in Elgin on Monday. Coleman allowed no earned runs, which lowered his ERA to 1.23 in 42 innings. He has 51 strikeouts compared to just 9 walks.
"He has just become a completely dominant No. 1 starter," St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte said. "We really have not seen one like him since Doug Sanders pitched here, and they're probably the only two I've seen around here in my 13 years at St. Ed's. He's just incredible."
Sanders was selected as honorary captain of Daily Herald all-area teams in baseball and football in 2004, and was later named area male athlete of the year. He went on to play baseball at Elgin Community College and Kent State.
Coleman was an all-area basketball player for the Green Wave this winter. He helped lead St. Edward to its first regional title in that sport since 2003. Meanwhile, Coleman was preparing for his final high school baseball season.
"He really worked very hard over the winter with a conditioning program, and it has really paid off," said Belmonte, who has coached baseball at the Elgin school for 13 seasons, the last four as head coach. "He's learned more and more about how to pitch. His fastball is just a little bit quicker, his breaking ball is a little bit better than it was last year and his location has just been absolutely perfect."
Coleman, the winning pitcher in 7 of St. Edward's 12 wins this season, is interested in attending the University of Illinois-Chicago for academic reasons. If he keeps pitching the way he has, the Flames baseball staff should take notice.
Youth serving: In Tuesday's 9-4 victory over Big Northern-East rival Hampshire, Burlington Central had just three seniors in the lineup - David Hartwell, Bill Rodriguez and Tyler Wilkening - alongside freshman Tanner Scott, sophomores Sam Klein and Nick Hahn and juniors Austin Jarvis, Jeff Ehlers and Zack Romando.
Scott hit a 3-run home run in the sixth inning against Hampshire to give the Rockets an 8-4 lead at the time.
Hahn has become the team's most consistent pitcher. He improved to 6-0 Wednesday and lowered his ERA to 1.13 in 281/3 innings by tossing 5 shutout frames in a 12-0 victory at Marengo. That win lifted the surprising Rockets to 11-5 overall and 4-0 in the Big Northern-East.
"He's had some big wins for us," Central coach Kyle Nelson said of Hahn. "It's certainly surprising for a sophomore. He was on the freshman team last year, and we called him up to the varsity last summer. He was one of our top four coming into the year for sure, and he's been a pleasant surprise for us on the mound."
King sidelined for now: Bartlett hopes to get senior pitcher Kyle King, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound left hander, back on the mound soon. However, no timetable has been set for his return.
King, who will pitch at Creighton next season, left his start against St. Charles North last week after 11 pitches with what was described as back spasms.
"His back's still giving him trouble," Bartlett coach Chris Pemberton said Monday. "He's getting therapy and stuff, but he really hasn't seen much improvement. It's just a matter of how much he'll be able to play through.
"Not having that leadership and that one guy you can always depend on is kind of holding us back as a pitching staff. (Junior Mike) Tomsovic kind of emerged into that role, but didn't have a good outing (Monday). So, we're looking for some leadership out there on the mound."
Bartlett, which owned a record of 11-7 overall, 6-4 in the Upstate Eight Conference through Wednesday's 3-2 victory at South Elgin, is making due without King during a stretch of 7 games in six days.
All he does is win: Cary-Grove senior pitcher Matt Nelsen improved to 6-0 on Monday, when he and the Trojans defeated Jacobs 10-6. The victory upped Nelsen's personal winning streak to 14 in a row over two seasons.
Nelsen was selected to the Daily Herald All-Area as a junior after finishing the year as the area's only undefeated pitcher. He went 8-0 with an ERA of 2.43 in 46 innings.
The consistent senior has a similar ERA of 2.34 in his 6 victories in 7 outings in 2009, though he has already walked 18 batters compared to 9 all of last season. Nelsen isn't overpowering. He pitches to contact, using a fastball, changeup and an improved curveball.
"He changed his breaking ball a little bit, and he's been striking out more hitters because he has a little more break on his curve," Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said. "He's always been able to locate at least two pitches for strikes in just about any count. He throws three pitches with confidence and we support him. Monday he gave up a couple of home runs, but we gave good support behind him. It's a good-pitching, good-hitting combination.
"Matt works ahead in the count and when the other team hits the ball, they put it in play. That keeps our defense on their toes. It's a combination of a lot of things. It's his third year on the varsity, so he pitches with confidence and expects to win."
The third-year varsity performer is 15-4 overall in three seasons. Nelsen finished 1-4 with a 4.37 ERA as a sophomore in 2007.
Double switch: Westminster Christian pitcher Ryan Perez doesn't care if he faces a right-handed or left-handed hitting lineup. The freshman is one of those rare ambidextrous pitchers who can throw with equal effectiveness right handed or left handed.
"His motions look identical from the left and right side and he throws in the low 80s with both arms," Warriors coach Jeff Moeller said.
Perez, whose father Juan is a pitching coach for the team, has only switched arms once during a game this season, against Kirkland-Hiawatha, due to cold weather. He is 3-2 this season with a team-best 1.47 ERA in 271/3 innings.
Night game: Elgin and Streamwood will play their Upstate Eight Conference game under the lights at Elgin's Trout Park on Wednesday, May 6. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.