Kits Go Deep Twice, Power Past Trevians 10-4

Evanston’s Blue Monster Wall took a beating Tuesday.

The Wildkits flipped the power switch and slugged arch-rival New Trier 10-4 in the opener of a three game Central Suburban League South division series. Home runs by Tate Schroeder and Aaron Shalin helped the Kits, now 8-13 overall, earn just their second conference win this spring.

The two teams play Wednesday and Thursday at New Trier to conclude what could be a pivotal week for the Wildkits in particular. And a little extra power display for a team that had connected for just two home runs --- both of them by Schroeder --- entering the matchup helped make the difference in the opener.

That 30-foot high wall in left has been a tempting target for would-be sluggers wearing the Orange and Blue over the past couple of decades. But most ETHS players have resisted the temptation and stuck with basic hitting fundamentals instead of emphasizing the latest baseball fad, like launch angle.

Schroeder rapped a two-run homer in the second inning and Shalin added a solo shot as part of a three-run third as the hosts scored in every inning except the first against three New Trier pitchers. New Trier fell to 9-9 on the season and 1-6 in division play.

On the mound for Evanston, junior right-hander Elliot Paul just missed a complete game as Schroeder came on in relief to get the last two outs. Paul issued an uncharacteristic five walks, hit a batter and allowed five hits while striking out five. He also yielded a solo homer to New Trier’s Jackie Ryder leading off the fourth.

Schroeder’s four-bagger was his first ever on his home field. He only hit one home run last year --- at Maine South --- and his power surge has been a bit unexpected since the junior infielder had actually struggled at the plate for most of the months of March and April, with a batting average in the .240 range.

He’s not exactly swinging for the fences this year, though, although he’s bigger and stronger physically than he was a year ago.

“When I saw that wall my freshman year, I thought it would be fun to hit one over it some day,” Schroeder said. “I know once it gets up (high enough) in the air, the ball flies out here, but I’ve never been much of a home run hitter. I did hit one in BP (batting practice) last Saturday.

“It felt good to hit that one today because I hate New Trier. But I still haven’t been able to show my best bat flip (after connecting) yet, because I thought it was a double and I just sprinted out of the box.”

Shalin, who leads the team in batting average (.341) and runs-batted-in, has actually hit in bad luck at some points of the season and connected for his first home run Tuesday.

The senior standout also pointed out that, while though the Blue Monster is an inviting target, hitting line drives at other ballparks (with normal fences) results in home runs while at ETHS those same line drives just bang off the wall.

“I hit two homers last year --- one of them here, the other one at New Trier --- and it felt great to hit one against them today. Even if they’re not as good as they were a couple of years ago, it’s always good to beat them and start off the week with a strong win,” Shalin said.

“This is definitely a good park to hit in. But the wall is so high. I don’t know if it’s ever cost me any homers. My sophomore year I didn’t think much about hitting home runs, but I got a little stronger and I’ve hit some in batting practice since then. I never really try to hit home runs. This year I’m doing a better job of just sticking to my approach --- and to what’s always worked for me.”

ETHS head coach Frank Consiglio pointed out that communication between Evanston’s hitters was a key to the win Tuesday.

“I don’t know if we flipped the power switch or not today,” Consiglio said. “I think the reason they had success (on offense) was that their approach at the plate was to put pressure on the other team, to just put the ball in play.

“They did a really good job of helping set up at-bats for each other. They were telling each other what pitches to look for in certain situations, and what pitches to lay off. It was really cool to see us take that step as a team.”

Shalin concurred.

“Today everyone who batted before me (in the lineup) what to look for. Everyone was passing information along,” he said. “I think we were a little more locked in as a team today. Communication like that is big for us as hitters, because that gives us a little more of an advantage against every pitcher we face.”

The Wildkits had no trouble getting the upper hand on the three pitchers (Danny Spilotro, Myles Jenkins, Rocky Eisen) that New Trier second-year head coach Dusty Napoleon utilized Tuesday. Shalin whacked a bad-hop single preceding Schroeder’s homer in the second against Spilotro, and the Kits chased the righty out of the game in the third after Dion Lane Jr.’s single, Nate Willman’s double off the top of the wall, and Paul’s line double off the Monster.

One out later, Shalin hit a towering drive out of the park.

Evanston tacked on a run in the fourth, when Ike Hanrahan scored from third on reliever Jenkins’ two-out balk, and singles by Ryan Rappoport and Shalin plus consecutive errors charged to New Trier shortstop Riley Cook helped put the game out of reach in the fifth.

The Trevians committed two more errors in the sixth, plating two runs along with a sacrifice fly by Shalin.