Amateur Baseball Stats and Blogs: March 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Baseball is Underway

The baseball season is finally under way. This year we give the sophomore class the bulk of our attention as we hope to follow the young talent over the next three years. The class of 2015 like most other classes in Illinois is not filled with great arms. This is an issue that Illinois baseball players have dealt with for some time. With very little time to stretch those arms with long toss and the limited space during winter training, most programs do not put much emphasis in developing arm strength in Illinois baseball players.

That being said, no one can deny that Illinois has her share of hitters and defensive go getters. Illinois baseball players are also to be complemented for their overall knowledge of the game. In my past experiences, I haven’t seen many of the developed teams hurt themselves with stupid plays or lack of knowledge. This seems to be also true for the sophomore class of 2015. In this early season, I’ve witness some nice heads up plays from St. Ignatius sophomore team and Clemente.

Benet Academy is no exception. Their sophomore team is supported with the big bats of Dan Minik and Brian Dusatko. In their season opener, both batters showed very impressive power aiding their team to a double header sweep over the York Dukes.

York bounced back the next day (March 28) with a 9 -0 victory over Palatine. In that game their bats came to life with 9 hits for 9 runs. They looked to keep their momentum going when they faced Downers Grove North to start West Suburban Athletic Conference Play. Their bats were alive as they put up 14 runs in two games, but they split the double header winning game one 9 – 3 but losing game two 5 – 6.

Elsewhere in the Conference, Hinsdale Central swept Proviso West in their double header.

Stats and Blogs presents the top 5 offensive performers from York Sophomore team.

Name AVG OB% RBI SLG

#3 J. Morris 461 571 6 615

#42 N. Potaczek 455 571 5 454

#11 N. Spencer 444 765 1 777

#15 N. Fornatto 428 500 1 428

#51 E. Macijewski 400 625 0 400

If you would like for your team to be acknowledged by Stats and Blogs feel free to contact us at fastfatalfearless@yahoo.com.

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Thinking About College? Never to Early

If you are a baseball player, it is never too early to start thinking about college. In fact, if you are a baseball player, you should understand that in high school you have only three years to make an impression on college coaches. The reason for this is that college coaches can begin signing athletes to their commitments in the winter of your senior year before you step into the batter’s box or begin your senior season. Unlike football where the senior has his best season to show what he has, the baseball player must think of his junior year as if it was his senior year. With this in mind, it is important to get a plan together as early as your freshman year.

There are many plans and the best one is the one that works for you. It is a good idea for a freshman baseball player to begin with an interest inventory survey. A good interest inventory will ask you questions about things you like and match your answers with others who had similar interests and the careers they chose. This will give you a good idea about what type of professional careers are out there that will allow you to do what you already like. Let’s face it, even if you are the best baseball player, there will be a time when you see your last curve ball and catch your last in game grounder. When that time comes, you must already be prepared for the next chapter of your life. Getting an education will prepare you for life after baseball. You can search for an interest inventory on line. Depending on the school, some interest inventories are part of the A.C.T and PLAN tests that are given to juniors and sophomores in high school. If your school provides the interest survey, take it serious and talk to your counselor about results.

Once you have an idea about the careers you like, research the schools that have such majors and baseball teams. You can do this at collegeboard.com. By your sophomore year, you should have a list of 10 – 15 schools that you like. Be certain to have a variety of schools that are on different levels in relationship to size and athletic divisions. Everyone can’t play division one ball, and over 100 athletes are drafted in the MLB draft each year from division II and junior colleges. When you have your list, it is a good idea to visit the schools with baseball camps. Going to camps allows you to showcase your talents in front of coaches as well as getting specific instruction that you may not get from your summer coach or your high school coach.

Below is a list of some camps that may interest you.

New England Catching Camp: www.catchingcamp.com

ABR Northwestern Scout Day: www.amateurbaseballreport.com

University of Maryland: www.johnszefcbaseballcamps.com

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Gearing Up For Baseball

The month of March has not been favorable for baseball in Illinois. The West Suburban Athletic conference has had virtually no games as of yet. We at Amateur Baseball Stats and Blogs would like to take the time to congratulate some students who have tried out and have been selected to represent their schools.

Proviso West Sophomores

Amiri Finner

Eugene Mobley

Babriel Aguirre

Israel Hatchett

Johnathan Duorte

Jelani Givens

Joaquin Castejon

Darrin Daniels

Chance Harvey

Thad Daniel

Angel Aviles

Orlando Guerrero

Pablo Ortiz

Kyle Lander

Gideon Coble

Elijah Skinner

Allon Carter

Roberto Barreto

Joey Verrdone

Luis Ornelas

Antoine Goldman

Alvertus Sutton

York Sophomores York Varsity

Biley Russell Kevin Toomey

Jabari Morris Adam Gomez

Bobby Mueller Tyler Zunkel

Sam Craggs Mitch Miner

Kyle Coughlin River Pitlock

Nolan Spencer Dan Cirone

Matt Sabatini Mike Ross

Nick Fornatto Louis Alcaraz

Ryan Gimartin Pete Doughty

Lucas Finner Seth Dvorak

Joe Nosek Austin Wagner

Mike Nasser Nick Leone

Nick Pastuovic Nico Sanchez

Mike Homan Jack Polte

Tyler Strezo James Pagni

Brian Peterson Ryan Saco

Nick Potaaczek Niall O’Brian

Daniel Reinke Anthony Santos

Chris Martin Brandan Ryan

Brandon Shepherd Keon Hackney

Eddie Maciejewski Alex Pedote

Josh Paparone

Jake Dvorak

Zac Miller

Our goal is to provide players, parents, coaches and scouts information on the progression and accomplishments of student athletes. We believe that hard work and efforts should be recognized and celebrated and it is our goal to do so. Please subscribe to Game Changer and follow your favorite team to receive information about game performances that may not be included on our site. At the end of the high school season, Stats and Blogs will reward varsity and sophomore offensive and defensive leaders to recognize their special accomplishments.

Special thanks to the coaches who submit game information. Please continue to support our efforts by faxing game results to 708-345-6432. Most games will be re-scored on Game Changer for the accumulations of stats.

Remember that sports nutrition and hydration is very important. Get the best products at www.amway.com/salaminc