Multi-sport stars making big impact for N. Stars
Zach Hirsch can't shoot a basketball quite as well as he throws a baseball, but that's only because he throws a baseball so well he has a scholarship to Nebraska and possible professional career ahead of him.
And yet here he is, stroking 3-pointers to help St. Charles North put itself in position for its first sectional title tonight.
Maybe it would be easy for Hirsch to focus on his best sport. Only that's not the way this senior class at St. Charles North thinks.
Hirsch, who hit four 3-pointers in both Tuesday night's win over Rockford Auburn and also last week against Larkin, is St. Charles North's fourth-leading scorer this year averaging 8 points a game.
"I considered that (just playing baseball) sophomore year but Coach Pou (Tom Poulin) is such a great guy and he's so flexible as far as balancing baseball and basketball I knew I wanted to play basketball because of Coach Pou," Hirsch said.
Hirsch isn't alone. Senior Jake Juriga will be playing football at Navy next year, but not before he completes his role on the basketball team as a backup big man to Mike Kastel and Josh Mikes.
"Zach and Jake, maybe in another situation they would have just played baseball and football this year," Poulin said. "But instead they are with us and we're real fortunate."
Poulin has always encouraged his kids to play as many sports as possible, even if that means he'll have one of his stars banged up from the football season.
"Nowadays, especially junior or senior year, a lot of kids focus on their sport," Poulin said. "Juriga could just be getting ready for college football. It says a lot about the people we have in our program, not just me, the teammates, the camaraderie. I wish I could tell you the things they do as a team together after wins. They have all these inside things. They are just so tight. It tells you a lot about the people these kids spend a lot of time with. They want to be there."
And while Hirsch will soon be striking out batters for baseball coach Todd Genke, he hopes to have a few more wins for coach Poulin.
He's also glad he never gave into his thoughts about focusing on just baseball.
"I'm having the time of my life and hopefully we keep it going," Hirsch said.