Coach: Locals play a big part in Oakton baseball's success

Oakton Community College continues to make its mark in the world of junior college sports.

Many of the athletic teams from the school on River Road in Des Plaines have excelled in recent years.

There is no better example of this than the Owls baseball team, which both this year and in past seasons has been largely infused with talent from local high schools

This year, players from Glenbrook South, Loyola, Glenbrook North, Deerfield, Maine West, Prospect and many more dot the Owls roster and play key roles in this now powerhouse program's success.

How strong has the Oakton baseball team been in recent years? A quick recap:

For starters, they reached the absolute pinnacle in 2018. They won the junior college national championship that year, and then followed that up with two more World Series appearances in 2019 and 2021 (2020 was canceled due to the pandemic).

Only eight teams in the entire country make the World Series, so it is truly among the elite just to get there, and Oakton now has a streak of three consecutive appearances. Impressive, for sure.

The national tournament is held in Greeneville, Tennessee, every year, and at this point Oakton baseball has scored enough discount points at local hotels and eateries that they may be on the preferred coupon mailing list.

But a fourth straight trip to Tennessee will be no easy task. This year's Oakton squad currently checks in with a record of 20-21. Under .500 for the first time in years.

It's made even more painful by the fact they were rated No. 3 in the nation during the preseason.

"No doubt about it, it has been frustrating," says longtime coach and Oakton grad Bill Fratto. "We had high expectations this year, and we started off strong, going 5-2 on our first trip to Florida, but then the injury bug hit. We struggled after that and are just now finally starting to come out of it."

Actually, the injury bug didn't just hit, it attacked. With ferocity. To begin with, very early on, five of their top pitchers all had season-ending injuries, effectively wiping out a good part of the planned pitching rotation. Then their star player and middle of the lineup hitter Brandon Matias from Glenbrook South got injured, affecting the entire offense.

"Brandon's injury really hurt," said Fratto. "It kind of put us in a temporary downward spiral. We feed off his energy and leadership, and of course his combination of contact and power hitting."

Fortunately, the ex-Titan star is now ready to start playing again. He has been hitting at a plus .400 clip and is considered a definite D1 prospect for next year.

Deerfield's Tyler Nagelbach was one of the pitchers Fratto was counting on to help lead the staff this year, but the ex-Warrior star was one of those five that got injured early and has had to miss the season.

"To his credit," Fratto said, "Tyler has been a great teammate. At the practices and at the games cheering and supporting his teammates. Tough break for him, though, and I know he would much rather be out there playing."

Picking up the slack in the pitching department have been local kids such as Maine West's Sam Arnold, Huntley's Aiden Pavoris, and Prospect's Luke Kyprianidis. Pavoris throws fastballs in the low 90s and is a legit D1 prospect, while Kyprianidis currently sports a 4-0 record and an under 2.0 ERA.

Glenbrook North supplies the Owls with a couple of key players as well.

Andrew Rubin starts at second base and is solid in the field, while his hitting is just starting to come around after a bit of a slow start.

Quinn Meier is another Spartan on the Oakton team. Last year, as a freshman, he did not get to play much, but this year he has become a key contributor, playing both third base and the outfield.

Maybe the Owls' top overall performer this year has been former Loyola Academy star Andrew Smart. The latest in a long line of Smart brothers who have blessed the roster of Oakton baseball. The previous two both went on to play Division 1 baseball, Fred at Sienna College and Tom at UIC.

Andrew has been on a tear this season, hovering near the .400 mark while playing solidly at both first base and right field. He, too, figures to be good enough to earn a D1 opportunity sometime down the road.

But still, even with all of these talented players, it has been a bit of a struggle this year.

"We had all those high expectations with the preseason ranking," Fratto said, "so we kind of had to regroup when all the injuries hit and then had some really tough losses. We must have had nine or 10 1-run games where we came up just short, which really makes it tough. The kids have been frustrated at times, no doubt, but they are starting to come around and we are still looking for a strong finish and make a run at our fourth consecutive World Series."

The road for the Owls to do that this year is much tougher. They will have to first win their region's double-elimination tournament, and then also win two huge games in the districts just to get to the World Series.

"Much harder this year," Fratto said, "because we won't have that first round bye that the No. 1 and No. 2 seed teams get."

But recent history and tradition are on their side. The Owls now have the well-deserved reputation of being one of the top junior college baseball programs in the country, and enter the tournament with that extra bit of confidence supporting them.

Can they keep the tradition going? We will find out when the tournament begins starting May 12.

In the meantime, the gang from River Road just needs to stay healthy and injury-free.

• Jon Cohn of Glenview is a coach, retired PE teacher, sports official and prep sports fan. To contact him with comments or story ideas, email jcsportsandtees@aol.com.