St. Charles North poised for another big season

Last year, two players on St. Charles North's baseball team -- Jeff Holm and Mike Corrigan -- made history by becoming the first two in the program to sign with Division I colleges for baseball.

A year later, three more North Stars -- Jake Thornton, Brian De la Torriente and Sam Weinberg -- have joined Holm and Corrigan on that list.

Holm is currently playing for Michigan State and Corrigan is at St. Louis University. Thornton will play at Illinois State, De la Torriente is heading to Northern Iowa and Weinberg will play at Western Michigan next year.

The exciting part about all this is this is no fluke. This may be the norm. Every year from here on out, the North Stars may have players committing to D-I schools.

"Obviously as a head coach and head of the program, ultimately that's what you want to see -- your players becoming good enough to play at the next level -- that's really all it's about," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "It's about developing talent.

"I'm certainly blessed to have the kind of players coming to the program. We do work hard. We put in the time and effort, but they have to have the talent from the beginning."

Do they ever. Thornton was one of two juniors last year to make the all-state team. The center fielder spent most of the postseason last year injured after taking a line drive to the face in practice. He led the North Stars with his .465 batting average and .636 slugging percentage to go with his 34 runs scored, 12 doubles and 30 stolen bases.

"(Jake has) such a wonderful baseball IQ," Genke said. "I think he's going to do very well at Illinois State. I think it's a good fit for him. I think he will have a chance to play right away.

"He swings the bat better than most kids in the state. He's a phenomenal outfielder and a smart kid."

De la Torriente is an infielder/pitcher who went 5-1 last year with an ERA of 1.59 in 39 ¿ innings pitched. He gave up 26 hits with 41 strikeouts and 11 walks.

He chose Northern Iowa over Eastern Illinois and Toledo.

"He'll have the chance to start as a freshman," Genke said. "He'll probably do most of it on the mound. He will do well up there."

The fun part about Thornton and De la Torriente is that both of their future colleges are in the Missouri Valley Conference, so they will play against one another.

"That's going to be interesting because Jake and I have been playing baseball on the same team since we were 9 or 10," De la Torriente said. "It's cool because we will get to see each other too."

"(The MVC) is a very good conference…and how often do you get to play against one of your high school teammates?," Genke added. "That's pretty exciting. Those guys will love that."

Weinberg almost went to an MVC school, the University of Evansville in Indiana, but decided Western Michigan was the best for him.

Weinberg, a pitcher, earned 2 wins and 2 saves in relief work last year. He also was considering Miami-Ohio.

"(Western Michigan) was the best fit for him," Genke said. "He has some intangibles that are pretty impressive for a kid his age. With his speed and throwing arm -- he is throwing in the upper 80s -- he's really coming around."

Holm and Corrigan have not forgotten where it all started. Genke said the two came back to St. Charles North around the holidays and lifted and hung out with the team.

"It was great seeing those guys," Genke said.

Holm and Corrigan were a big reason why the North Stars went 30-6 last year (which was a school record), won the Upstate Eight Conference for the third time in five years and won the program's first regional title before falling to Larkin in the sectional final game.

Thornton, Weinberg and De la Torriente are just three of 9 returning seniors from that team. It's just that much nicer those three happen to be going D-I.

"I think we all are just really excited," Thornton said. "The pressure (to pick a school) is off. We are just going to focus on the season. We all just want to get to state."

"It should be an unbelievable season," Weinberg added. "We should be solid."

As far as anyone else heading to a Division I college from this team, there are a few players who have the potential, including junior pitcher Zach Hirsch and new sophomores Ryan Richardson and Kevin Borst.

"I think we are going to continue to have a good tradition here," Weinberg said.

"I'm hopeful," Genke added. "But I think the future is bright. We see a lot of kids come up through summer camps, so the future looks good."