Streamwood has high hopes

Streamwood baseball coach Steve Diversey thinks so highly of his 2011 Sabres he fought tooth and nail just to remain their coach.

While the Sabres were in the process of setting a school record last spring with 25 victories against just 13 losses, Diversey was in the process of being reassigned.

A physical education teacher and assistant athletic director at Streamwood last year, he was one of hundreds of teachers within Elgin Area School District U-46 to have his duties switched. He was among the fortunate teachers not laid off, but Diversey was assigned to teach physical education at Elgin High.

Because he was transferred out of the building, his job as Streamwood baseball coach was posted. He had to pass multiple interviews simply to retain his position as coach.

Diversey says he’s not an egomaniac or one of those coaches who worries about his overall record (57-46 in three seasons at Streamwood). However, after having developed the Sabres into a contender over the course of the previous three seasons, he didn’t want to miss the payoff with so much returning talent on the roster this spring.

“I knew this was a special bunch after working with them for so long,” Diversey said. “This does mean a lot to me because as a coach you get very few opportunities to win. I’m not the kind of guy who counts Ws, but it’s nice as a coach to win in those years that you can because they are few and far between.”

The Sabres and their coach have every reason to expect victories. After setting the school record for wins last spring, Streamwood went on to reach the state championship game in summer-league play.

“It really gave us a lot of confidence coming into this year, and we kind of have a chip on our shoulders,” Villanova-bound pitcher Josh Harris said of the deep summer-tournament run. “We’re coming out here thinking we’re going to play as hard as we can and get as many wins as we can, we hope. We feel we have the team to really get things started.”

With a rotation of four solid starting pitchers led by Harris, not to mention the majority of last year’s starting lineup returning, the folks in black and gold are bracing for a season to remember.

“We got to the state championship in the summer, so I expect a lot to happen for this group,” said returning All-Area pitcher Blake Hunter, (6-6, 260). “I see us going pretty far. Like coach said, we have a big target on our backs. But we have enough talent and skill to handle that target.”

Harris and Hunter headline the rotation. Harris, a 6-foot-6 left-handed senior who struck out 12 hitters in a winning debut against Oswego East last Saturday, throws in the upper 80s and mixes in a curve, changeup and slider.

Hunter, a right-handed power pitcher, went 8-1 last year and struck out 60 hitters in 60 innings. A power pitcher able to pull the string on the breaking ball, he is committed to play for the rising NAIA Division II program at Judson University.

Following Harris and Hunter in the rotation are lefty Dalton Lundeen and right-hander Richie Gorski, which gives Diversey the flexibility to alternate right and left-handed starters on a daily basis. Lundeen is a three-sport athlete and the school’s quarterback in the fall. Last year Gorski (6-foot-5) went 3-4 and struck out 33 with 11 walks in just over 40 innings. Senior Bobby Post (6-foot-6), a fluid basketball player, will also log innings on the mound.

The batting order is flush with good hitters who also possess speed with few exceptions. Returning to the top of the order is the area’s most dangerous baserunner in 2010: All-Area shortstop Nate Pearson. Not only did Pearson hit .331 with 14 doubles, 3 home runs and 29 RBI as a junior, he also led the area with 41 stolen bases. The next closest base thief was his former Streamwood teammate, Shawn Jordan (21).

Returning to the lineup along with Pearson are some proven offensive producers: right fielder Pat Manning (.337, 6 doubles, 2 home runs, 14 steals), third baseman Gorski (.338, 4 doubles, 27 RBI, 20 steals), Harris (.324, 4 home runs, 29 RBI), catcher Tim Cohen (.291, 9 doubles, 27 RBI, 12 steals) and center fielder Nate Pryor (.264, 16 RBI, 14 steals).

The two new position players happen to be two of Streamwood High’s best athletes. Left-handed hitting second baseman Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle smacked a go-ahead home run in the season opener. He also plays guard for the basketball team. And left fielder Alex Morrow doubles as the school’s leading rusher at tailback during football season.

Speed is an obvious team strength. Players responsible for 116 of Streamwood’s 166 stolen bases in 2010 return to the lineup.

“I’m about the only guy in the order who won’t be stealing bases,” said Harris, who underwent successful off-season foot surgery. “Everyone else is going to be running like crazy.”

It all adds up to a strong team, but before Streamwood can realistically envision a sectional or supersectional title and possibly a trip to the finals in Joliet, the Sabres will have to move up the ladder one step at a time. That’s not just lip service considering Streamwood has never even won a regional title in baseball.

“It would be huge to come out of conference in first place, then fight for that regional title,” Pearson said. “That’s our biggest goal, to become the Streamwood baseball team to take the first regional.”

One step at a time, says their coach.

“Our team goal this year is to improve on our shortcomings from last year, which covers the gamut of a lot of things: timely hitting, cutting down on the errors and just playing good baseball,” Diversey said. “Yes, I guess we want to compete for a division title, win a regional and all that stuff.

“But we look at it as one step at a time. We’re not looking at the regional until we get through the division. You could say it’ll be baby steps all year, but it’s one game at a time. That’s our philosophy.”

It’s the philosophy of a coach who expects to win, a coach who fought for his right to guide a winning team.

“It’s hard to walk away,” Diversey added. “We want to finish what we started.”