Baseball: Jake Zitella, Fox All-Area Captain
During his junior season a year ago, Jake Zitella compiled impressive numbers while helping lead St. Charles East's baseball team to the DuKane Conference title and 21-7 overall record.
Zitella, who batted .462 with 6 home runs, 24 RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 21 conference games, while finishing with an overall batting average of .395, was named DuKane Conference Player of the Year, and selected as the Captain of the Daily Herald's 2022 Fox All-Area Baseball Team.
What could he do for an encore?
Plenty - and then some.
Zitella - and St. Charles East - continued to improve this spring.
While the Saints repeated as DuKane Conference champions with a 19-2 mark, captured a Class 4A regional title, and won 26 of their 31 games overall, Zitella also lifted his game to another level.
His eye-popping statistics included a .494 batting average (43-for-87), 9 home runs, 13 doubles, 1 triple, 39 RBI, 32 runs scored, a .581 on-base percentage, .977 slugging percentage, and a 1.558 OPS (on-base plus slugging).
In addition to earning DuKane Conference Player of the Year accolades for the second consecutive season, Zitella has repeated as Captain of the Daily Herald's Fox All-Area Baseball Team for 2023.
"Jake has been a good varsity player here for three years," said retiring Saints head coach Len Asquini. "He was very good as a junior and had a really good senior season. Jake has progressively gotten better - that's always what you want to see."
Statistics aside, Zitella made a lasting impression on Asquini.
"Jake's special," said the coach, who guided the Saints to 479 career victories and the 1999 Class AA state championship over his 20 seasons at the helm. "His love for baseball is amazing. I'm not talking about his physical skill set - he loves baseball. He loves to work on baseball.
"He enjoys coming to baseball practice. He loves it all - talking, listening, playing baseball. He would look at baseball cards with (teammate) Caden Cotteleer after practice. If anything, his love for baseball has gotten stronger the past three years."
The third baseman tried to enjoy every moment during his senior season.
"It was a memorable season - I liked the whole year," said Zitella. "Living out my last year of high school along with it being Coach Asquini's last year was pretty special."
Asquini felt likewise.
"Jake is a pure, young man with an innocent personality," said the coach. "It has been a special year for him but the great thing about him is that he always remained team oriented. It was never about him. He wanted everybody to do well. His teammates loved him.
"He's refreshing to be around. He's a very humble 18-year-old."
On the field, his all-around skills continue to develop.
"His bat speed continues to increase, his foot speed continues to increase, his arm strength continues to improve," said Asquini. "His defense took a step up this year. He throws on the run exceptionally well. There were a dozen, if not more, times where he would make a good play and I'd turn to Coach (Mark) Foulkes and say, 'that will be a base hit next year.'"
Opposing teams used different approaches with Zitella coming up to bat.
"Against Lake Park, they walked Jake intentionally with a runner on second and one out in the first inning," said Asquini, "and it was the first conference game of the season."
Later that same week, Zitella enjoyed a 5-for-5 day at the plate with 3 home runs and 7 RBI during the Saints' 15-9 win over nonconference foe Plainfield South.
"Jake was already 4-for-4 at the time with two home runs heading into his last at-bat," recalled Asquini. "Plainfield South decided to continue pitching to him, and he hit his third homer of the game."
In May, Zitella smacked a pair of home runs with 3 RBI during the Saints' 4-2 road win against St. Charles North - a victory that sealed the season series with their crosstown rivals.
With his second home run, Zitella became the Saints' career home run leader with 20, eclipsing the mark previously set by Jim Caine (19 - 1998-1999).
"Coach (Asquini) didn't let me know about it until addressing our team huddle after the game," said Zitella, who finished with 22 career home runs. "It really hit me in that moment.
"It was another example of Coach letting me play my own game."
During his sophomore season, Zitella announced his commitment to attend and play baseball at the University of Illinois.
Whether he heads down to Champaign this fall may depend on next month's MLB First-Year Player Draft (July 9-11).
"Right now, my mindset is that I'm going to school next year," said Zitella, who has attended several workouts for MLB scouts, including an invite-only combine held June 3-4 in Ft. Wayne, Ind. "If I get drafted, I'll talk about it with my parents before making a decision.
"Playing pro ball has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid."
"Jake certainly has the attention of MLB scouts," said Asquini. "We had several of them here watching him take BP during the season.
"He has high aspirations, and he's not far off. He has a chance. There's room for growth, and he's a willing worker. I think he'll get drafted - probably somewhere between the 12th and 15th rounds.
"It'll be interesting to see where that decision takes him. He has a great future."
Zitella, who credits his older brother, Joey, for helping serve as his trainer the past few years, plans to continue working - and enjoying the game.
"I feel all areas of my game can improve," said Zitella.
"I love to be out on the field. I've wanted to play baseball since I was young, and my inner kid wants to keep playing."