By Bobby Narang –
The West Suburban Silver Conference is shaping up to be another memorable season in high school baseball.
Last season, Lyons captured the conference championship with a 15-3 record, Oak Park-River Forest was 13-5, and Glenbard West, 11-7, York, 10-8, Hinsdale Central, 8-10, Downers Grove North, 6-15, and Proviso West, 0-15, according to maxpreps.com.
Lyons will return plenty of firepower to contend for another Conference championship, led by a dominant pitching staff that includes three college-bound players. Senior Grant Leader, a University of Illinois recruit, finished with a 3-2 record and struck out 77 batters last season. Senior Eric Steensma, a Tennessee-Martin commit, was 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA, and Andrew Gatland, a Middlebury recruit, was 3-0 with 40 strikeouts. Michael Walsh finished 3-2 with one save.
“We are fortunate to have three quality guys,” Lyons head coach Kevin Diete said. “They are able to adapt to anything and really carry themselves with confidence on the mound. It’s nice to have these guys. A lot of the coaches I talked to in the (West suburban) area say we have one of the best rotations in the State. It’s surreal to me. I think it’s a talented team, and hopefully we can build off these guys who are very mature for their age.”
Glenbard West will rely on seniors Joey Ciero, an infielder and pitcher, and Logan Ryan, a pitcher and infielder.
“We are bringing back a lot of pitching, including two West Suburban all-conference arms,” Glenbard West head coach Andrew Schultz said. “We feel we will have a chance to win every game because of who is taking the ball for us (to pitch). That’s a great advantage to have. Joey and Logan are both excellent pitchers who have worked extremely hard to improve on last year’s success.”
York won 20-plus games for two straight seasons. The Dukes enter the season with high expectations, mainly because of a senior-dominated team led by shortstop Ryan Ross, infielders Ian Steinroth and Dan Brown, catchers Joe Orrico and Bo Thomas, and pitchers Kellen Gilmartin, Timothy Bowbin, and John Milling.
Hinsdale Central will be without their best pitcher, Kyle Wisch, who suffered a season-ending arm injury. But, senior infielder/pitcher Ayden Head is back after tallying a 2.10 ERA last season, junior Tom Jurack batted .440, and junior outfielder Charlie Huth hit .324.
Downers Grove North will lean on senior pitcher Scott Jakobsze, who will be the ace of the staff and who batted .333 last season. Junior Cam Demos is a player to watch.