Northwest baseball: American Legion team previews

By Marty Maciaszek

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com

Arlington

Coach: Lloyd Meyer (57th year)

Last year: 27-12 (third in Cook County)

Players: Andrew Van Wazer (P-1B-3B), Matt Hendricks (SS-3B-P), Ed Gerdes (2B-OF), Jack Mullenix (P), Kurt Donner (C-P-1B), Brad Gerdes (SS-3B-OF), Jimmy Pinakidis (OF), Kevin Cwynar (OF), Mike Reed (P-OF), Cody Iverson (P), Tommy Ricciardi (C-3B), Cory Kay (C-3B), Pat Nix (P), John Burkewicz (OF-P), Dan Hendricks (OF), Jimmy Barton (1B-OF)

Outlook: When Meyer says “we’ll be all right” it usually means Arlington will be in the hunt for another Cook County title. There is a nice nucleus of returnees in the University of Chicago-bound Van Wazer, Black Hawk College recruit Donner off Prospect’s third-place Class 3A team, Ed Gerdes, Mullenix and Hendricks, who will be a senior at Meadows and is one of a number of combination pitcher/position players. Meyer said Brad Gerdes, who will be a Prospect senior and hit 2 homers in the sectional, “has the quickest bat on the team.” Arlington also has a pair of Division I recruits in Kay (Houston) and Ricciardi (Miami, Ohio) who can switch between catching and third base. Pinakidis and Cwynar are athletic outfielders, the sidearming Iverson pitched well in an early outing against Portage Park and Meyer has been impressed with Burkewicz and Reed. “Defensively and with our main pitching we’ll be in games and we should score runs, but good pitching stops good hitting,” Meyer said. “We have some talent.”

Barrington

Coach: Pat Wire (third year)

Players: David Alameda (2B-SS), Derek Foderaro (OF-C), Chris Rogers (P), Nick Spagnola (3B), Steve Schwartz (SS), Jordan Kalis (P), Scott Nowicke (OF), Kirk Hanselmann (1B), Chris Coco (IF), Macray Poidomani (OF), John O’Connell (OF), Greg Gerrard (P), Max Redpath (P-C), John Rogers (P), Tyler Ward (P), Wyatt Trautwein (P), Ryan Lidge (C), Aaron Foley (1B), Kyle Fitzpatrick (3B), Justin Dragos (OF)

Outlook: The goal is to put some distance from Barrington’s 7-28 high school season but to not lose sight of the approach it had. “What’s great about these kids is they’ve kind of flushed the spring and it’s over and done with,” Wire said. “These kids never quit. They came to work every day and to play hard and they did. They know the tradition here is rich and they have to be able to protect that.” Foderaro, who played at Kishwaukee, Alameda and Chris Rogers are among the college returnees along with five players from regional champion Dundee-Crown — Schwartz, Kalis, Spagnola, Nowicke and Hanselmann. “The influx of Dundee-Crown kids will help us,” Wire said. “They offset some of our needs and will try to build on the foundation laid the past couple of years.” Poidomani, Coco, Foley, Redpath, Ward, Gerrard and O’Connell figure to help from the Barrington varsity and Trautwein, who will be a sophomore and is the son of former Barrington standout and minor league pincher Dave Trautwein, looked good in his first appearance. “He throws hard and has electric stuff,” Wire said. “We’ll try to harness it and at this level you have to be able to hit your spots. It’s important he gets his feet wet and gets acclimated.”

Elk Grove

Coach: Brian Mucha (sixth year)

Last year: 21-14 (second in Cook County)

Players: Paul Warble (P), Julian Sipiora (C), Joe Belmonte (C-1B), Kevin Hilliard (OF), Aaron Wright (P), Ryan Hayes (P-OF), Ben Wiertel (P), Art Sutter (P-3B), Roger Lane (P-1B), Matt Moran (P-IF), Nick Fillmore (3B), Thomas Byrne (SS), Dave Geller (2B), Connor McHugh (OF), Blake Cavins (OF)

Outlook: Allowing only 1 run and committing only 1 error in its first three victories could be a sign of what’s ahead for Elk Grove. “We do have some depth pitching-wise,” Mucha said. “We could hit last year but it’s a little different where we’re leaning on pitching rather than hitting. Pitching and defense might be our strong suit this year.” The Concordia-bound Hayes no-hit Portage Park 1-0 and Mucha said “he looks so much better. He was around the dish the entire time.” Warble threw a 3-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and no walks against Northbrook. Wright and Wiertel combined to beat Portage Park 9-1 and the hard-throwing Sutter also figures prominently in the pitching plans. Who will catch them is also a strength with the return of Sipiora, who played 10 games at Illinois State this spring, and the North Park-bound Belmonte. They both homered against Northbrook and Hilliard, who didn’t play this spring at Schaumburg, showed some early pop with 2 homers and 2 doubles. McHugh also returned after playing at Harper College and will hit No. 2 behind Byrne, who had a strong junior year at Schaumburg and hit the leadoff homer for the only run in Hayes’ no-hitter. “I love his energy,” Mucha said. “He gets to all the balls and makes plays.”

Mount Prospect

Coach: Tom Krumsee (third year)

Last year: 9-17

Players: Brad Moore (P-OF), Trevor Haas (P-OF), Sean Thompson (C), Sean Reszotko (P-SS), Mark Witzke (P-1B), Phil Papaioannou (C), Dan Larson (3B-C), Dan Gierman (1B), Steve Sgrignoli (2B), Dalton Farel (SS), Nick Nolan (OF), Jon Bupko (OF-P)

Outlook: Krumsee continues to try and build Mount Prospect into one of the top programs in Cook County and is hoping to add a few players to complete his roster. There were some encouraging early pitching signs as Moore threw a complete game with 13 strikeouts in a 2-1 loss and then delivered Bupko, a home-schooled player who lives in the Mt. Prospect district. Krumsee gave Bupko a start against Palatine and he went 5 innings and lost 2-0. “Brad said I know this guy can play and he turned out to be a really great find,” Krumsee said. “Now he can pitch.” Haas also had a solid spring and Reszotko and Witzke pitched well in wins but depth is a concern. Catching is solid with Thompson and Papaioannou, who started as a sophomore at Maine East, “We’re still a pretty young team overall and early on some of them might struggle with their hitting a little bit, but the talent is there,” Krumsee said. “I feel very confident with our pitchers and defense we’ll be in any game.”

Palatine

Coach: Jeff Ryder

Last year: 32-10 (Cook County champs; second in state)

Players: Sean Stutzman (P-OF), Joe Leaf (P), Anthony Quagliano (P-3B-1B), Jake Babcock (P), Lee Breitzman (P-1B), Keith Browning (P-SS), Jack Andersen (P-3B), Zach Demmon (P-1B), Erik Smoy (P-OF), Richard Concialdi (C), Clint Herdegen (C), Kole Luthringshausen (2B), Danny Haduch (2B), Kevin Tednes (OF), Trent Rehusch (P-OF), Zach Kolakowski (SS), Joe Pelnar (OF), Keith Giagnorio (OF-1B)

Outlook: Palatine is now the hunted team in Cook County as it tries to repeat as champions with the returning crew of the hard-throwing Stutzman, Smoy, Demmon, Concialdi, Herdegen and Andersen. “There are some tough teams out there but I really like the chemistry of this group,” Ryder said. “It’s a good group of kids and they’re all fired up and ready to have a good summer.” Pitching shouldn’t be an issue as Leaf won his first two starts after a strong finish to the spring. Quagliano threw a 5-hit shutout in his first start after missing most of his senior year at St. Viator with a knee injury and spending this past year at Creighton as a student. Demmon, Breitzman and Babcock have also looked good. “We have a lot of pitching with a good balance of three or four lefties,” Ryder said. “One of the things you have to have is players step up in different roles and we can mix and match with our pitching. We won’t be hitting balls over the fence like the past but that’s OK.”

Notes

The departures of Wilmette and Glenview to play Connie Mack and Evanston to play an independent schedule has Cook County down to seven teams. Northbrook, Morton Grove and Portage Park are back with Arlington, Palatine, Elk Grove and Mount Prospect … The Cook County tournament will be July 19-23 with Arlington hosting the final rounds at Rec Park … The state tournament is July 25-30 in Galesburg, the regional is Aug. 4-8 in Midland, Mich., and the American Legion World Series is Aug. 12-16 in Shelby, N.C.