Losses have become winning motivator for S. Elgin
The South Elgin baseball team has already won 12 games, but the Storm continue to draw motivation from their only 2 losses.
South Elgin dropped its season opener to Fremd, 9-1, then reeled off 4 wins. A 16-0 loss to St. Charles East on April 5 has been followed by 8 straight victories.
“I think the way we started off kind of got our attention and got us started in a good direction,” South Elgin coach Jim Kating said of the loss to Fremd. “Then when we played St. Charles East we got another wake-up call. We’ve played pretty good baseball for a stretch here since.
“We’ve been able to play somewhat solid defense at crucial times, whether it be turning double plays or getting a crucial out here or there. The kids are coming through right now.”
First-place South Elgin begins a 3-game Upstate Eight Valley series against Waubonsie Valley with a doubleheader today. The Storm enter the series with 1-game lead on Neuqua Valley (12-6, 8-2), which lost 2 out of 3 games to Bartlett this week. South Elgin and Neuqua Valley won’t face each other until May 5.
“We’re halfway through the season, and I don’t think we’re satisfied with how we’re playing,” Kating said. “We still have a lot of things to work on. We’re about to enter a tough stretch in our side of the conference, so we have to be ready.”
Gators succeeding with pitching: Crystal Lake South was off to a 13-6 record entering Friday’s Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener against Cary-Grove, fueled in part by the success of its top two pitchers.
Senior Jordan Van Dyck, a North Central College recruit, entered the weekend with a 6-0 record and an ERA of 0.71. Using a standard repertoire of fastball, changeup, curveball, the 6-foot-2 right-hander has struck out 37 hitters and walked just 10 in 29 innings.
“Jordan has worked very hard to get where he is at today,” CL South coach Brian Bogda said. “He is an exemplary student-athlete in our program and it is an honor to coach him. I hope the younger players in our program look up to Jordan and say, ‘I would like to be like him when I am a senior.’”
The top of the rotation has been further fortified by 6-3 Zack Geib (5-2), a senior committed to Tiffin University in Ohio. He boasts an ERA of 1.99 with 18 strikeouts and 5 walks in 38 innings.
As a staff, the Gators have struck out 120 hitters and walked 36 in 127 innings.
“That’s pretty good,” Bogda said. “Our goal is to eliminate the freebies by minimizing walks and errors. We want our pitchers to throw strikes and let the defense take care of it.”
Tide rising for Green Wave: St. Edward slipped to 13-12 this week after 2 losses to Immaculate Conception and a loss to Wheaton Academy, but one tough week doesn’t diminish the improvement the young Green Wave have already demonstrated in coach Tim Dovichi’s first season.
St. Edward was the youngest team around in 2011, when they finished 8-20. The team’s two most effective pitchers this season have been a pair of left-handers: freshman Jake LaFrenz (4-2) and junior Jacob Koehring (5-2).
LaFrenz has opened eyes by posting an ERA of 0.72 with 43 strikeouts and 13 walks in 481⁄3 innings pitched. “LaFrenz is out of his mind,” Dovichi said. Koehring has an ERA of 1.50 with 35 strikeouts and 13 walks in 42 innings.
The offense has been led by Jacob Koehring (.403, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 18 RBI), sophomore Tighe Koehring (.400, 11 doubles, home run, 21 RBI), sophomore leadoff hitter Michael Castoro (.329, 4 doubles, 24 runs), freshman Jake Tierney (.333, 3 doubles) and senior Luke Duffy (.309, 7 doubles, 3 home runs, 14 RBI).
“We’re more than pleased,” Dovichi said this week. “If you look at most of our losses compared to last year, we’re right in there. Most of our losses could have gone either way. Last year our losses were usually by 10 runs. Now, if one key hit falls in, we have a chance to win. Our main goal is to be above .500 at the end of this year.”
The Green Wave could use a .500 season as a springboard to bigger things in 2013, when seven of nine full or part-time position players return.
“It’s a good position to be in,” Dovichi said.