DuPage County captain: Naperville Central's Shane Conlon

Marc Mantucca is proud to say he was the first to hear the official word.

Shane Conlon was transferring to Naperville Central.

Through the wonder of 21st-century technology, soon all corners of Naperville heard the news. In a town with peaked interest in high school sports, this was big.

In terms of being a gift to Naperville Central baseball, the only thing missing was the bow. At the beginning of August, Christmas came early.

"He texted me and he was like, 'I'm coming to Central,'" said Mantucca, a friend of Conlon's since sixth grade. "Right away I shot a text to the whole team. The whole team was excited. It was awesome."

Awesome aptly sums up Conlon's impact.

A budding superstar by the end of last summer, the senior pitcher and first baseman developed into a team leader and determined winner this spring for the Redhawks.

With the perfectly balanced blend of pitching, hitting and defense, Conlon is the 2010 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area baseball captain.

"He's a great overall player, definitely one of the best in the state," said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling. "He's above the crowd in every aspect that can be measured."

One life-changing decision - the switch from St. Rita to Naperville Central - brought it all together.

"It was a tough decision either way," Conlon said. "I went back and forth on it, but I'm pretty happy."

So is Naperville Central.

"I had no idea he was as good as he is," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "Obviously, he's a terrific player, but everything else he brings to the table is just tremendous."

Instant impactIn terms of all-around ability, few players matched Conlon this season. Following Monday's win over O'Fallon in the Class 4A supersectional, Conlon holds an 11-0 record and a 1.21 ERA heading into today's state semifinals. The hard-throwing left-hander has struck out 112 batters against only 11 walks in 75 innings.That alone places Conlon among the state's elite players, but it's only one element of his total game.At the plate Conlon's been a critical stick in the Redhawks' lineup from the No. 2 spot. With 2 doubles on Monday he's batting .425 with 28 RBI, 44 runs scored, 20 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .627. That's still not all."He's the best defensive high school first baseman I've ever seen," Seiple said. "That kind of kid you don't coach, you watch. You just enjoy him displaying his gifts."Baseball is a tough enough sport just trying to master one tool of the game. How has Conlon stayed on top of his pitching, hitting and defense all at the same time?"It hasn't been easy, it's actually been a little overwhelming at times," Conlon said. "I'm able to pitch in our basement and hit off a tee, and we have a big area in the backyard where my dad hits grounders to me all the time."Last spring Conlon led St. Rita into the Class 4A title game, pitching a 4-hit shutout in a semifinal win over O'Fallon. Playing for Top Tier in the summer he earned tournament MVP honors at the CABA World Series, and soon after he accepted a scholarship to Kansas State University.In late July Conlon pitched 6 shutout innings in the title game of the IHSBCA Phil Lawler Summer State Tournament. In his last game in a St. Rita uniform, he celebrated a summer state championship.A couple of weeks later, he sent that magical text message to Mantucca. "I was kind of joking about it with him in the summer, and then all of a sudden he was like 'Maybe,'" Mantucca said. "If he were here all four years it would have made us better, obviously, but he's here now."The homecomingConlon proved to be the final piece for a Redhawks lineup that graduated only two starters from last year's sectional championship team. He enrolled at Naperville Central in August and made a seamless transition."I just thought it would be great to finish what we started when we were younger," said Conlon, who rejoined youth travel league teammates Mantucca, Matt Soria, Matt Cmiel and Mason Hallett. "It's just a reunion of sorts."Conlon's transfer made Naperville Central a near-unanimous No. 1 entering the season. After the Redhawks cruised through the DuPage Valley Conference with a 20-1 record, they won regional and sectional titles before claiming Monday's supersectional win to improve to 36-4 heading into today's semifinals against Stevenson.This weekend Naperville Central will attempt to match its 2006 state title run. With Conlon at the heart of it all, the homecoming is near complete."I know I made the right decision to come here," Conlon said. "It's really been a great year." <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Related documents</h2><ul class="morePdf"><li><a href="/pdf/dupagebaseballfront10.pdf">DuPage Co. all-area team Page 1</a></li><li><a href="/pdf/dupagebaseballteam10.pdf">DuPage Co. all-area team Page 2</a></li></ul></div></div></div>