Kremer: Big Brother Welcome Part of JCA Baseball Way

When sophomore baseball standout Nick Dalesandro was promoted to the varsity ranks at Joliet Catholic Academy, his big brother was the first person to welcome him into an elite club.

And he discovered JCA baseball thrives because of the close-knit relationships fostered by coach Jared Voss and his players, a practice that helped the Hilltoppers stick together this spring through some trying times and eventually led to the good times of the postseason and an unlikely run to the Class 3A state championship.

JCA blanked Wheaton St. Francis 5-0 to capture the title on Saturday behind the seven-hit shutout pitching of Dalesandro and the spectacular fielding of his teammates. Junior Zach Jackovich made a diving catch in shallow center field to foil one Spartan threat.

Senior Chris Tschida made like a JCA footbal wide receiver that he was in the fall when he turned his shoulder and turned on the jets to make a catch behind third base a couple moments later. Tschida, Ryan Peter and Alex Voitik served as the captains of a Hlltopper team that finished 25-14, winning seven in a row and nine of its last 10 in a dramatic about-face.

The Hill started 1-3 and went 8-8 in East Suburban Catholic Conference play. Injuries threatened to derail JCA before it reached the playoffs, say nothing of an offense the sputtered in the early going. Tschida didn’t give up.

He is the one who first took Dalesandro under his wing when Dalesandro was called up as a freshman to play third base and pitch for JCA out the bullpen. Tschida is the one who told Dalesandro not to get too worked up about pitching in a state championship game.

And, despite the adrenalin rush, Dalesandro listened to him, just as others listened at various points through an up-and-down ride to the promised land.
Tschida’s voice was the calming one that took the edge off at JCA when the Hilltoppers could have folded under the pressure of trying to live up to lofty expectations. After all, they were ranked as high as No. 3 in the state in the preseason by Prep Baseball Report.

His was the voice that resonated with Dalesandro.

“I feel like part of the reason he came to JCA was because of me,” Tschida said. “I hit with his dad. I hit with him. We hit all the time together. I do count him as my little brother because we’re so close to each other.

“We hang out all the time. We go out to eat after games. And I told him, ‘Hey, this is just another game of pitching. Don’t try to overthrow. Don’t try to overthink this game. Yeah, it’s the state championship. But we need to get the job done today.’ ”

Dalesandro, a right-hander with an 87-mph fastball, did just that, handcuffing Wheaton St. Francis in a nine-strikeout performance that was as gritty as it was powerful. When the Spartans put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the fourth, he struck out the next two batters to escape a jam.

When the JCA crowd stood in the top of the seventh, sensing the Hill’s crowning achievement, he drew off their collective enthusiasm. And he struck out side to finish what he started in style. Afterward, Voss was asked if it’s “normal: for an older player like Tschida to take a younger one like Dalesandro under his wing in a high school setting.

Voss said he wouldn’t know what “normal” was, that he only could speak for the ways of JCA. He has been the man responsible for setting those ways for more than a decade.

“I have no idea; I’ve only been at JCA during the course of my career,” said Voss, who has a 15-year coaching record of 387-166-1. “And we’ve just always had that great camaraderie in our program, I feel like, amongst the kids at all the levels.

“I think that’s what makes our situation, our program and our school pretty special.”

Voss learned a long time ago wins and losses are only one way to measure a ballclub or a ballplayer. Another way is by promoting an environment where the team concept prevails, even in a sport like baseball, where so much of the game is dictated by those juicy one-on-one matchups between pitchers and hitters.

Dalesandro wasn’t playing for himself when he took the mound to face Wheaton St. Francis in the biggest game of his young life. He was playing for his teammates—his brothers.

“I told my seniors I’m going to go out there and do everything I can for them,” he said. “My older brother Chris (Tschida), he’s taken me under his wing. I know he wanted this more than anything—him and ‘Petey’ (Ryan Peter) and Voitik.

“Man, they’ve been such great leaders for me. I just wanted to do it for them.”

To keep the tradition of JCA baseball alive, Dalesandro will need to take the next generation of Hill players under his wing. He will have to find his own voice. And, man, if he speaks with the same kind of pop that is the sound of his fastball hitting in the catcher’s mitt, his little brothers will be listening.