Baseball: Duke-commit Doyle in dominant form, pitches Downers Grove North past Oswego East

Colin Doyle has the frame and the velocity that fits a classic power pitcher.

Downers Grove North’s 6-foot-6 right-hander displayed it last spring as a sophomore, emerging as the ace of a 30-win sectional finalist.

The next step?

Doyle, who committed to Duke in November, has designs on becoming a more complete pitcher. He spent the last offseason progressing toward that.

“Just working on building that full arsenal,” Doyle said. “The velo will be there, it will keep climbing as I get stronger. But it’s sharpening the slider, the splitter too. I’ll look to add more pitches in the future, too.”

Doyle had it all going Tuesday.

He struck out nine over four shutout innings in his second start of the season.

Downers Grove North went on to a 4-1 win over visiting Oswego East.

Doyle needed just 60 pitches, 42 of them for strikes, to navigate the four innings before giving way to Will Tomy, who threw the final three. Doyle gave up two walks and two singles, one an infield hit.

“I just tried to pound the zone, especially in those last two innings,” Doyle said. “When you’re in the zone it’s easy to get outs, just trust your infielders.

“I think as a pitcher I’m a lot more refined than last year. I was throwing hard, but offspeed was inconsistent. I’m a lot more confident, too. Last year I didn’t know what to expect. Now I know what I’m doing, I just have to go out there and do it.”

Downers Grove North coach Kyle Briscoe is used to seeing it.

Doyle posted a 7-2 record last spring with a 1.85 ERA over 60 innings, and started the sectional final. Hitting 96 on the gun at a preseason showcase, Doyle vaulted to the No. 4 prospect in Illinois’ Class of 2027 by Prep Baseball Report.

He touched 94 early on the fastball Tuesday and sat 92-93, but it’s the pitch mix that Briscoe said will benefit him moving forward.

“It’s something he’s working on – as a sophomore the game is moving fast. Now he’s trying to get that second and third pitch more consistently," Briscoe said. “We know he has the velocity, we know he’s a big dude, but eventually hitters will time that up. If you can get the slider and splitter consistently he’ll be a tough arm to see.”

Doyle struck out the side around a leadoff walk in the first, and got another two strikeouts to pitch out of a two-on, one-out jam in the second. And then he retired the last seven batters he faced, a called third strike on a fastball to the last hitter.

For a pitcher his height, Doyle’s is a smooth delivery, a reflection of the athlete he is.

“He’s an all-conference basketball player, played football his freshman year. Colin is just an athletic guy,” Briscoe said. “That helps the sequencing on the mound. His delivery almost looks effortless.”

Oswego East (0-2), which saw its bases-loaded rally come up empty in the second off Doyle, put runners on second and third with two out off Toms in the fifth.

But Toms got Oklahoma State commit Jacsen Tucker, 0 for 3 with three strikeouts, on a called third strike to end the threat.

Oswego East hitters struck out 13 times for the second straight game to start the season, eight strikeouts looking.

The Wolves were without UIC commit Dominic Battista, who was out sick.

“It’s early, second time we’ve been on a baseball field, they’re still getting used to that pressure,” Oswego East coach Brian Schaeffer said. “We’re trying to swing too hard, trying to do a little too much. The strikeouts looking, we can’t put the call on the umpire. You have to at least try to challenge.”

Adyn Fowler, who walked in two previous plate appearances, tripled in Noah Deist with two out in the seventh for the Wolves’ only run.

“He just grinds out at-bats, he’s smart, he understands what he’s looking for. He’s been really good for us,” Schaeffer said. “Taking over that leadoff spot, it puts a lot of pressure on him. To see him do what he’s doing is good.”

Downers Grove North (1-1) scored twice in the third inning with three straight singles, Drake Cosenza’s driving in the first run. Antonio Russotiesi’s sacrifice fly scored the second.

Russotiesi singled in Carlos Gandarilla, who had tripled, to make it 3-0 in the fifth. Sam Marshall had three hits for the Trojans.

Russotiesi, like Doyle, is one of eight players back from last year’s sectional finalist, and one of 19 in a large junior class.

“We got some experience, eight guys off last year, still feeling things out,” Briscoe said. “We have some things to clean up if we’re going to make a conference push but the guys are working hard.”