Tri-Cities baseball season rewind
Aurora Christian
Final record: 19-12.
How season ended: Lost 11-1 to Lisle in championship game of Class 2A Aurora Christian regional.
Top returners for 2011: Mitch Holtz (so., OF), Bobby Kuntzendorf (so., P); Josh Haugen (so., INF).
Season skinny: Despite a key transfer out of the program, the Eagles continued playing good baseball under coach Andy Zorger. They have most of their top players set to return next spring and could challenge what Aurora Christian's 2009 team did that won regional and sectional crowns. Of their 14 varsity players, only five were seniors.
Batavia
Final record: 18-16.
How season ended: Lost 10-4 to Wheaton North in Class 4A Wheaton North regional semifinals.
Top returners for 2011: Jay Clark (jr., C); Danny Seiton (so., SS); Anthony Carby (so., OF); Nick Beltrano (jr., 3B); Mickey Walsh (jr., P); Andrew Scaccia (jr., OF); Braden Hrack (jr., 2B); Jesse Coffey (jr., SS);
Season skinny: Nobody turned their season around more than the Bulldogs. Batavia trailed Geneva by 5 games with 7 to go in the final season of Western Sun play. The Bulldogs squeezed out a win in the series finale against the Vikings, then swept series from Glenbard South and Yorkville to wind up tying DeKalb and Kaneland with 14-7 records for the title, their second straight. While the Bulldogs will have plenty of key returnees next year as they begin Upstate Eight play, they will miss Tim Schofield who batted .500 this year and provided an excellent example for the younger Batavia players to follow.
Geneva
Final record: 21-14.
How season ended: Lost 5-2 to St. Charles East in Class 4A Geneva regional championship game.
Top returners for 2011: Mike Monaghan (jr., OF/P/3B); Chris Hipchen (jr., OF); Matt Williams (so., OF), Brad Bernhard (jr., 1B); Jim Martin (jr., OF).
Season skinny: The Vikings certainly expected a different ending after a 12-2 start in Western Sun play. Losing six of their final seven conference games forced them to settle for fourth place. There were plenty of highlights, including Riley Perry setting the school record for career wins (20) and Hipchen breaking Geneva's single season record with 13 home runs and 40 runs.
Kaneland
Final record: 23-13.
How season ended: Lost 10-6 to Hampshire in Class 3A Hampshire regional play-in game.
Top returners for 2011: Joe Camiliere (jr., CF); Tyler Callaghan (jr., C); Kyle Davidson (jr., SS); Corey Landers (jr., LF); Sam Komel (jr., P).
Season skinny: Kaneland made history this spring by winning its first conference championship, a share of the Western Sun title. The Knights did that in dramatic fashion, winning two of three games in the season-ending series with conference-leader DeKalb, including a win at DeKalb in the final game of the conference season. A victory in their regular-season final against Bartlett tied a program record for wins set the previous season. Unfortunately the Knights found themselves part of a stacked regional and had a short stay in the postseason but overall compiled another excellent season under coach Brian Aversa. Thorson batted .394 with 11 doubles, 3 home runs and 34 RBI. Camiliere walked 32 times to finish with a .468 on-base percentage and lead Kaneland with 41 runs.
Marmion
Final record: 22-12.
How season ended: Lost 6-5 to DeKalb in Class 3A DeKalb sectional. Won Class 3A Oswego regional title.
Top returners for 2011: Tim Tarter (jr., P/1B); Kyle Kozak (so, 3B); Steven Bryant (jr., INF); Tyler Friel (jr., P/3B).
Season skinny: The Cadets rebounded from a 2-5 start to win conference and regional championships and come within 5 outs of their first sectional title. No moment was better than the final out of a sectional semifinal win over Burlington Central when center fielder Mark Peters robbed the Rockets of a game-tying home run. The Cadets then led DeKalb 5-3 in the sectional finals but gave up 3 runs in the deciding sixth inning. Coach Dave Rakow will have some big shoes to fill including Peters, Chris Tydd, Bobby Winkel, Will Sterne, Jack Gunderson and Joe Wulff.
St. Charles East
Final record: 27-12.
How season ended: Lost 2-0 to Wheaton North in Class 4A St. Charles East sectional championship game. Won Class 4A Geneva regional.
Top returners for 2011: Wes Benjamin (jr., P); Luke Rojas (jr., SS); Tony Rallo (jr., 1B).
Season skinny: Extremely successful first season under coach Dave Haskins, highlighted by a 12-3 beating of St. Charles North in sectional semifinals. Unfortunately for the Saints, their bats went cold just three days later with 5 hits against Wheaton North after getting 16 against the North Stars. Haskins will have to replace the heart of his order with Johnny Erickson and Ryan O'Dell, plus tablesetters Robert Wendt and T.J. Travis. But he will have an ace no other team can match in Benjamin, who went 13-2 this spring.
St. Charles North
Final record: 34-5.
How season ended: Lost 12-3 to St. Charles East in Class 4A St. Charles East sectional semifinals. Won Class 4A Elk Grove regional title.
Top returners for 2011: Jake Bergren (jr., CF); David Gow (jr., 2B); Jake Johnansmeier (so., P); Phil Warner (jr., P); Dirk Schmitt (jr., OF); John Brodner (so., 2B); Andrew Elliot (jr., OF); John Munyon (jr. P).
Season skinny: The North Stars set a school record with their 34 wins, they won an outright Upstate Eight Conference championship and played near perfect baseball almost the entire season. Unfortunately nothing went right in a sectional loss to St. Charles East, which was not the way a stellar senior class of Ryan Richardson, Chase Williams, Mike Budka, Matt Stevens, Jared Shurtleff, Kevin Borst, Ryan Hudspeth and Austin Schuetz wanted to go out. Once again, the North Stars mixed in youth with all those veterans, so they should be ready for another big year in 2011 with Bergren (7 home runs), Warner (undefeated on the mound) and regulars like Elliot (.326 average, 21 RBI, 17 runs) and Brodner (.389, 5 triples, 3 home runs, 28 RBI, 20 runs).
West Aurora
Final record: 9-24.
How season ended: Lost 3-1 to Elk Grove in Class 4A Elk Grove regional play-in game.
Top returners for 2011:
Season skinny: The Blackhawks entered the season with an almost entirely new cast and took some time to gel. But West Aurora improved throughout the year, knocking off some of its DVC rivals along the way before ending the season in their regional opener.
- Compiled by John Lemon