Sports
York Baseball Team Driven to Build on 2010 Success
Dukes trying to take the next step after finishing 23-14 and reaching the Class 4A regional final last season.
YORK BASEBALL PREVIEW
Coach: Dave Kalal (2nd season)
2010 Results: 23-14, 11-7 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division (tied for 2nd place); lost to St. Charles North 8-5 in Class 4A Elk Grove Regional final
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Returning Starters: Seniors Joe Boozell, Joey Grollo Ryan Hinchley, Kyle Leone and Joe Paparone; and juniors Kyle Burr and Jake Rzeszutko
Other Varsity Returnees: Seniors Phil Ganser, Andrew Garcia, Chris Jennings and Matt Williams
Varsity Newcomers: Senior Mitch Baker; juniors Greg Castello, Matt DiFrancesca, Jake Leone, Josh LoCicero, Tyler Maricich, Chris Nesbitt, Ramsey Pokryfke, Alex Schumacher, Mike Shank, Mike Trumbull and Tim Wiggins; and sophomore River Pitlock
Outlook: The Dukes are coming off their best season in years, but they’ll need to rely on some new faces to continue the momentum.
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York has seven returning starters, but Boozell is the lone returning all-conference player and four pitchers who accounted for 19 victories have graduated.
The Dukes opened action Saturday by beating Barrington 7-0.
“They want to be good and they want to win,” Kalal said. “I’ve been telling them all along that I’m really not worried about hitting and defense. It’s just making sure our pitchers understand what needs to be done and it’s their job of throwing strikes.
“Our goal last summer was to find kids who could throw some strikes. I think we’ve found some, and now it’s a matter of going and competing and improving to get the job done.”
The Dukes have an experienced infield led by first baseman Boozell, who had a .386 batting average last season with three home runs and 24 runs batted in. Also back are third baseman Grollo (.235, HR, 26 RBIs in 2010) and second baseman Rzeszutko (.348, 0, 13 RBI). The Dukes will have an all-underclass middle infield with sophomore Pitlock, son of former Chicago White Sox pitcher Skip Pitlock, taking over at shortstop.
The catching platoon of Burr and Kyle Leone (.264, 6 HR, 16 RBIs) also remains intact. Leone probably will continue in his role as designated hitter when not behind the plate.
Paparone (.301, 4 HR, 29 RBIs) returns as the starting right fielder and Williams will play left field after being hampered by a hamstring injury last season and being limited to 38 at-bats. Trumbull will start in center field.
Paparone (2-for-3, triple, double) and Rzeszutko each had three RBIs against Barrington. Key reserves include infielders Ganser and DiFrancesca and outfielder Shank.
“One thing we have going for us this year that is we have some depth,” Kalal said. “We’ve got some guys who have been in the system with me (for my first season) so they know the expectations and what we want to do and get accomplished.”
As for the pitching staff, the left-handed Hinchley is the only returnee to account for any pitching victories in 2010, posting a 4-1 record in eight starts with a 5.25 earned-run average and 31 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. Hinchley was Saturday’s winning pitcher, allowing just one hit over five innings with six strikeouts.
The left-handed Garcia is the only other returnee with varsity pitching experience last spring and that was just three innings. Jennings, also a backup third baseman, Paparone, Pitlock, Castello and the left-handed Nesbitt also will contribute.
“Pitching. That’s (the key). At any level of baseball, you’ve got to be able to pitch,” Kalal said. “The pitchers have been great. The first two to three weeks, we’ve been teaching them the skills we want them to do and they’re doing a great job taking ownership of the drills and getting them done in practice.”
It’s a trait that runs through the Dukes’ program. Having several experienced seniors and a full year of Kalal as coach has helped to set the tone.
“It’s a program that needed some stability and expectations,” Kalal said. “It’s helped with the seniors taking charge. If you’ve got seniors doing it the right way, then the lower-level kids look up to the seniors and copy them. The transition from last year was very good because of the seniors we had and then again we have the same scenario.”
In the Silver, the Dukes once again hope to challenge perennial powers Lyons Township, the defending champion, and Oak Park-River Forest. LT won a wild Silver race in 2010 by one game over the Dukes, OPRF and Hinsdale Central.
* QUOTABLE: “We haven’t won conference in 18 years (since York's 1993 Class AA state title). That’s a goal every year and from there we’ll see where it goes,” Kalal said. “I think with last year’s group we opened some eyes and raised some eyebrows. If we can start winning consistently in conference, which LT and Oak Park have done, then we’ll be a program people will talk about.”
