Defense Won't Rest For Wildkits This Spring

Frank Consiglio thinks there’s never been a bigger disparity in high school baseball than there is now between pitchers and hitters.

“The reason for that is velocity. It’s never been harder to hit a baseball,” said Consiglio on the eve of Evanston’s 2026 season opener set for Wednesday --- weather permitting --- at Loyola Academy.

But on the other hand, the veteran coach doesn’t care if his pitchers lead the Central Suburban League in strikeouts, either. That might be doing things the hard way for them this spring.

Why? Because Consiglio believes the Wildkits have the defense at every position to back up their pitching staff, and the ETHS program has always been built around pitching and defense ever since he took over.

The Kits are hoping to bounce back from last year’s rare losing season --- only the fourth in Consiglio’s 19 years at the helm --- with what might be the deepest team defensively they’ve ever had.

“On the better teams that I’ve had here, my No. 1 or No. 2 pitcher has always been an infielder. And when they were on the mound, we had a drop-off on defense behind them and that’s something I was always worried about,” the coach said. “This year I’ve got four guys I can play at shortstop and not miss a beat. I have four third basemen I have confidence in. I have four who can play first base, too.

“That’s the kind of depth that gives a coach a lot of flexibility. We have a ton of good athletes on the roster and on paper this might be one of the top one or two defensive teams I’ve ever coached. We have so much talent in the infield, and any team that has sustained success at any level is built around pitching and defense. We’re no different. That’s who we will be this year.

“One stat I really won’t pay much attention to this year is the number of strikeouts for our pitchers. Sure, there will be situations when we NEED a strikeout. But most of the time it will be a case of here it is, hit it, and the defense will clean it up.”

Aaron Shalin (.354 batting average), Tate Schroeder (.345), Ryan Rappoport (.259) and catcher Ethan Carpenter are returning starters from the 2025 squad that finished 17-18 and lost to Maine South in the regional championship game. The Wildkits couldn’t overcome the fact that they had no experienced pitchers to lean on and weren’t consistent in the field or at the plate, either.

The lack of mound veterans was especially noteable when the Central Suburban League went from a home-and-home schedule of division games to three games versus each opponent, a change that would have challenged even a staff full of hurlers who already had varsity innings under their belts.

Consiglio did find an ace in Elliott Paul, who was selected to the all-conference team as a sophomore and posted a 4-1 record with 43 strikeouts in 44 and two-thirds innings and an earned run average of 1.57. The right-hander will be backed up by senior Johnny Kellams when he returns from an arm injury, and Sam Kalil, a junior righty whose role will likely be expanded as a member of the starting rotation this time around.

Consiglio describes sophomores Calvin Hayes and Caleb Prendergast “as future No. 1s (aces)” and hopes to count on junior Chuck Lubinsky and soph Hugh Powers as go-to relievers. Also in the pitching mix are seniors Bryce Lortie and Griffin Lewis, along with the Gilroy twins, juniors Tommy and Matt.

“Last year we had no experience because none of the juniors (the previous season) got any innings,” said the ETHS coach. “Now our top guys already have close to 100 (varsity) innings between them. The back end of the staff has very little varsity experience, so we need some of those guys to be able to step into high leverage roles for us to be successful.”

Among the position players, Schroeder was probably Evanston’s best all-around player as a sophomore and has a future as a Division I talent if he chooses to play baseball in college. He’s also a Division I prospect in basketball, and both he and junior outfielder Dion Lane Jr. will get a late start for baseball after starting for the 27-win basketball squad this winter.

Evanston’s outfield defense figures to be improved, too, with Lane back in a full-time role. Others to watch include juniors Nate Willman and Emile Sutton, and Prendergast can fill any spot adequately in the infield or outfield.

Senior Noah Nelson adds depth at first base and third, although he has no varsity experience, and seniors Ike Hanrahan and Noah Bartolacci can pick it at third. Garrett Hagerty will challenge for a starting spot behind the plate after batting .294 in a limited role last spring.”

“The difference between last year and this year is that this year I see good athletes everywhere I look,” Consiglio added. “And very few of them just play baseball. We have hockey players, golfers, basketball players, football players and that’s why they’re good enough to play almost any position. They’re so athletic that the pieces will all fit.

“There’s never such a thing as having too much talent. What can put us over the hump (on offense) is the number of good at-bats we can put together and I still have to see a lot of these guys play. We’ll be very good defensively, but that’s only one aspect of the game.”

After opening on the road Wednesday against Loyola, Evanston will play its first four home games on the artificial surface at Northwestern University before their annual spring break trip to Vero Beach in Florida.

The Kits face Hersey at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and host Payton Prep on Friday at the same time. Next Monday’s game will match them against Lincoln Park, again at NU.