Louis Perona makes name for himself with Pistol Shrimp

Louis Perona has heard a lot of stories the past two years about his dad, Joe, growing up and playing baseball in the Illinois Valley.

He is getting a good taste of the Illinois Valley back with the Pistol Shrimp summer collegiate baseball team for the second summer.

“It’s cool. Just have a lot of family normally I don’t get to see all the time and getting to stay with my grandma,” he said. “[I hear] stuff about St. Bede and stories about him just playing. He always tells me he’s a little ticked off he graduated the year before they won state [in 1988].”

The younger Perona says he wants to make a name for himself, and he certainly has done that. But it didn’t come easy.

He didn’t play a single game as a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan University coming out of Chicago Lane Tech and worked hard improving his game over the summer. That paid off with a starting job his sophomore year at first base, which was a defensive position he had never played before, batting .386.

As a junior, Perona moved to outfield to better utilize his speed. He led the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a .432 batting average, and his 73 hits ranked 15th in the nation in Division III.

He started in all 39 games for the Titans (23-16) this spring, batting .368 with 50 hits, 11 doubles, 11 RBIs, two triples and three home runs, earning second-team All-CCIW honors.

A standout basketball player at Lane Tech, Perona may have received more attention in basketball than baseball since he was able to play his senior year of basketball but not his senior year of baseball because of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.

Next year, Perona will be stepping up his game to play for D-I Cincinnati as a fifth-year senior. He can’t wait.

“I’m really excited. It’s a big step up,” he said. “I committed before the season started. Obviously, you’re focusing in the moment and needed to graduate and everything. School kept me grounded. But right when it was over, it was like, ‘It’s time to go.’”

Perona is up for the challenge.

“D-III ball overall is the same game,” he said. “You see better pitching here [Prospect League], and just the game speeds up every level you go up. I’m fortunate to have a lot of good teammates around me teaching me the game and my coaches, especially my dad. He’s the guy I always go hit with. It’s been great.”

In his first season with the Pistol Shrimp, Perona batted .331 with 40 runs, 21 stolen bases, eight doubles, two triples, one home run and 25 RBIs in 49 games.

Perona was batting .323 in his first 11 games back with the Pistol Shrimp, rejoining the club July 1, with one homer, eight runs, 10 stolen bases and a .521 on-base percentage.

He said playing for the Pistol Shrimp has helped make him a better player and make the transition from the infield to the outfield.

“Last year, just learning to play every day. Growing up, you play tournaments and play doubleheaders and everything. That’s one thing. But really, just playing, one, two, three, four, five, six days . ... you really learn to grind,” he said. “Got to lift during the day, got to lift on game days, got to eat right and you just got to live baseball. Just made me appreciate the game more.”

Growing up in the Perona house was certainly a plus.

Joe Perona rose out of the Spring Valley Little League to play for St. Bede Academy and become an All-Big Ten catcher, team captain and team MVP two years for Northwestern University. He was an eighth-round draft pick by the Tigers in 1991, playing five years in their farm system, three at the Double-A level.

The elder Perona, who has been coaching for Warren Park Youth Baseball on the far north side of Chicago since 2004, coached Louis coming up in the youth ranks until high school, as well as his three siblings.

The first thing their dad did was to turn all of them around in the batter’s box to the left side to take better advantage of their speed.

“My dad made sure to put all of us in the left-handed batter’s box. I throw righty. My little sister is left-handed, and he still made her throw righty,” Louis said with a laugh.

All of the Peronas are big into baseball, including the girls.

Anna, 25, played baseball with the boys until she was 13 and then focused on soccer, going on to play at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Mary Frances, 11, is the only girl on her baseball team and is active in other sports, as well.

Joseph, 20, just finished his sophomore baseball season at North Park University, batting .351 with 43 steals in 48 attempts, ranked No. 2 in D-III, and earned second-team All-CCIW honors, just like his brother.

Louis and Joseph are different kinds of ballplayers than their dad. Although they are typically the fastest players on their teams, Joe Sr. had more power. He switched from infield to catcher for his junior year at Northwestern.

The boys get their speed from their mother, the former Julie Derix (St. Bede 1991). There’s a family legend that she once went 5 for 5 in a St. Bede varsity softball game with all bunts.