Wheaton Baseball Responding to Senior Leader

Wheaton senior Eduardo Pedroza’s frustration had finally reached a boiling point.

After starting the year 2-0, the ’ baseball team had dropped four games in a row. A season which had appeared to possess  vast potential early on, all of a sudden looked to be slipping away.

So in the days leading up to Monday’s game against , Pedroza, one of four seniors that Wheaton coach Eric Zolkiewicz lauds for their leadership ability, repeatedly told his teammates, “Just don’t put your heads down, no matter what. We have to keep working hard, just keep trying.” 

And the Knights appear to have responded to Pedroza’s message, snapping the losing streak with a dominant, 11-1, victory against Kennedy Monday afternoon.

“All of a sudden, all the bats got going again, everybody was hitting and we pitched well too,” Pedroza said. “I think that re-energized us now and gives us a lot of hope after it had seemed like everything was starting to go downhill [during the four-game losing streak].”

After beating Einstein, 14-13, and Kennedy, 11-4, in its first two games, Wheaton had been outscored 52-19 during the four-game skid.

Yet unlike last year, when the Knights also started 2-0 but finished just 6-10, Zolkiewicz is optimistic that Wheaton can continue to turn things around rather than tail off during the second half of the season.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re playing smart baseball” said Zolkiewicz, in his sixth year as the Knights’ head coach. “That’s the most important thing. But our goal is just to continue to get better, continue to improve and hopefully we’ll pick up some more wins as we go.”

And in order to do that, Zolkiewicz will depend largely on Pedroza, a four-year varsity player that starts at catcher and also pitches for Wheaton, as well as his other three “senior leaders” – shortstop/pitcher Carlos Santana, a three-year varsity player, first baseman/third baseman Chris Whittington and left fielder Sebastian Zalwocki.

Zolkiewicz estimated that Santana and Pedroza are hitting around .500 and .400, respectively. Pedroza, who was the Knights’ starting pitcher in the win against Kennedy Monday, recorded a win on the mound and also slugged his first home run of the year at the plate.

Yet Zolkiewicz said it’s impossible to gauge the impact of his four seniors by stats alone.

“Those seniors really take charge and try to make sure the younger guys are learning the game and learning to play it right,” Zolkiewicz said. “Our biggest strength is that senior leadership.”

Zolkiewicz also has high expectations for several underclassmen, including junior pitcher Mark Anastasi, who has emerged as Wheaton’s top option on the mound.

But Pedroza is just hoping that the Knights can avoid falling victim to the same mental mistakes that plagued them during the four-game losing streak. If they can, Pedroza believes Wheaton is more than capable of pushing for at least a .500 record.

“I think we’re capable of doing a lot this year,” Pedroza said. “We just need to stay focused and to keep our heads up. And we’re just trying to keep the bats going now, and to stay focused defensively, and are trying to at least stay right around .500.”