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Jake Zitella is simply trying to do his part as a teammate.
“I just want to go out there and help the guys win,” St. Charles East’s sophomore infielder said. “We all have big goals as a team and I’m just trying to help them all out by doing my part.”
Zitella has three home runs so far on the year. He’s currently moving within the typical power placements in the batting order as the fourth or fifth hitter. In the field, Zitella moved from third base to shortstop.
“I used to play third a lot; it’s more of an adjustment that I’m making because [shortstop] is my secondary position,” Zitella said. “I’ve just been working on it at practice [and] getting work in to hopefully start getting better at it because I have to make quite a couple improvements. So, I’m just trying to do what I can to help the team out.”
Saints senior Kyle Hayes has been “a huge mentor” of Zitella’s. He remembers watching Hayes as early as sixth grade while watching St. Charles North and St. Charles East matchups at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.
“He’s been a real help to me,” Zitella said. “He’s been picking me up; teaching me everything I know. He’s 100% the reason why I am at where I’m at right now. He’s a great player. He’s a great teammate, too. He really brings up the team.”
Hayes really likes how Zitella goes out and plays “as hard as he can.”
“No matter the circumstance, no matter the score of the game, he’s always trying to hit the ball hard,” Hayes said of Zitella. “And, that’s out number one goal as a team at the plate, which is hit the ball hard. He doesn’t worry about any outside [noise]. He’s just all about doing what he can do to help the team.”
“He’s just athletically gifted...He just goes out there and pretty much just balls every game,” Hayes continued.
The Saints (12-4-1, 7-4-1) enjoyed a 10-game winning streak that spanned April 21 through May 5th. Geneva tripped them up in the last three games, taking two out of three in a series that concluded Monday. St. Charles East opens a three-game series with St. Charles North Wednesday and the two teams play a doubleheader Saturday.
“As a team, we work hard. We get a lot of wins. We’re way above .500 at the moment,” Zitella said. “In the series, we didn’t lose to Geneva. We lost to ourselves. We didn’t come out with as much confidence as we’ve had, and we’re going to have to get that up for the [upcoming St. Charles North] series because we want to win that.”
Seniors leading Batavia pitching staff
Batavia is getting solid contributions from its seniors on the pitching staff.
“When we attack the zone, throw strikes and play good defense behind [our rotation], then we’re a pretty tough team to beat. When those things don’t happen, you know how it goes,” Batavia coach Alex Beckmann said. “I’ve been pleased with our seniors.”
Daniel McCoy is just one name of many that come to mind for Beckmann.
McCoy, who has pitched 13.2 innings pitched and has a 2.05 earned run average with 14 strikeouts, features a fastball, curveball and changeup.
“He’ll spot-start for us and he’s been kind of our go-to reliever,” Beckmann said. “So, he comes in and pounds the zone, does a good job changing up speeds and hitting spots.”
“Charlie Saul has been hitting the ball well,” Beckmann continued. “Anthony Johnson continues to get on base and do some things...[We’re] a young team and guys are starting to take control of some spots, which is good to see. I think we’re getting better each day and building towards playoffs in June, hopefully, and that’s been our goal: get better each day and be a tough team to play in the playoffs.”