Opportunity Knocks For New Group of Seniors

Seven seniors earned spots in the starting lineup for Evanston’s baseball opener Saturday at Northwestern University.

But most of them still haven’t faced high-leverage situations at the varsity level yet.

How quickly that learning curve takes place will likely determine what the Wildkits will do for an encore in 2024 after piling up a single season school record 31 victories before bowing to New Trier in the Class 4A sectional championship game last spring.

The graduation of 16 seniors from that talented squad opens the door for another class of seniors. Head coach Frank Consiglio will count on a roster that is top-heavy again with upperclassmen (15), yet most of them only combined for a handful of at-bats or innings pitched as juniors.

Now it’s their turn to produce when the pressure’s on.

The Kits relied on returning stars Eron Vega and Charlie Kalil in Saturday’s season debut. Vega chalked up the win on the mound and Kalil, an all-Central Suburban League South selection last year as a junior, drove in three runs while going 2-for-4 at the plate in an 8-5 triumph over Loyola Academy.

Consiglio is confident that his senior hopefuls will answer when opportunity knocks. The veteran coach will again use the spring break trip to Florida --- following scheduled games at NU on the artificial turf Monday and Tuesday versus powerful Hersey and Walter Payton Prep --- to sort out roles on the mound and in the field.

A pitching staff that is headed by Vega figures to keep Evanston in contention throughout the grueling Central Suburban League South division schedule. The Wildkits are well-armed again with seniors Henry Rouch, Braden Grimm and Noah Cryns expected to land spots in the starting rotation. Help will also come from Kalil, Thomas Ferguson, Rocco Piacenti and junior Owen Vander Velde on the mound.

“Today we relied on guys who did it for us last year,” Consiglio pointed out. “We relied on the guys who are already battle-tested. And a few of them who haven’t been in those spots yet struggled.

“There is a difference between sophomores and juniors who are inexperienced, and seniors who are inexperienced. The seniors have bigger, stronger bodies, have been through the summer season and varsity practices, and they have another year of learning how to make adjustments. So the transition is quicker for them (when they move on to bigger roles). I think we have guys who will adapt well.

“Now the question is, what level can we get to? We’ll go through some growing pains, but I think we have a chance to be really good by May and going into the state playoffs. The dynamic is to be good at the end of the season, and that hasn’t changed.”

The ETHS coach believes his team will be strong again up the middle despite the graduation of center fielder Hank Liss, second baseman Sam Sheikh and catcher Brandon Brokowski, all middle-of-the-order hitters who knew how to produce in the clutch.

Vander Velde, an impressive looking junior, started at second base Saturday but Consiglio said “he might be the best center fielder in the Central Suburban League. He’s the one guy who really stood out in the preseason. He played at a high level right away and he’s going to be a good one. He’s a tough kid and I really like his mindset, because you have to have tough kids when you play the schedule we play.

“He has a skill set that will really be fun to watch.”

Vander Velde isn’t the only versatile player on the roster. Vega and Grimm could excel at any position in the infield and no coach in the state of Illinois will have more options in late game situations than Consiglio when the time comes to replace pitchers. He’ll be able to keep his best bats in the lineup --- and can stay strong on defense, too --- even when they falter on the mound.

“As coaches, we really like the length of our lineup,” he added. “We really think they can all be guys who put the ball in play a lot. The challenge that will show up for some of the inexperienced guys is when you get to two strikes against a pitcher who is mixing things up out there, because if you’re not making adjustments over the first one-third of the season, that will lead to too many low leverage at-bats later.”

Vega allowed just two runs --- one of them earned --- and two hits in his four-inning stint Saturday to pick up the victory. The Wildkits scored two runs in the second, one in the third, four in the fourth and one more in the fifth, more than enough offense even when relievers Cryns and Alex Van Durmen faltered late.

A dropped fly ball on a windy day at Rocky Miller Park led to the first two runs of the season, as Vega helped his own cause with an RBI double and later scored on Matthew Luczak’s two-out single.

ETHS broke through again against Rambler starter Matt Woodward as Jonah Hofeld walked and came around to score on singles by Vinnie Miller and Kalil.

Luczak, a senior new to the varsity, collected his second hit of the day to spark the four-run outburst in the fourth. Kalil rapped a two-run single through the left side of the infield and the Wildkits sent nine batters to the plate against the second Loyola hurler, Matthew Stanislavsky.

Luczak walked in the fifth as part of his perfect day at the plate and scored easily when Hofeld hammered a run-scoring triple to the gap in right center field.