Baseball Player of the Year: Illinois recruit Jake Zitella set tone for St. Charles East with big bat, glove

Mark Foulkes recalled the story as if it had just unfolded in front of his eyes.

Foulkes, St. Charles East’s longtime varsity assistant baseball coach, set the stage. Wheaton North was the opponent and at the plate. Runners were at first and third base and the Saints had one out.

A sharp ground ball was hit to Saints senior third baseman Jake Zitella. The ball was dancing along the chalk line – fair by the slightest of margins.

“He tags the kid and off his back foot throws a strike to first for a double play. It was incredible,” Foulkes said. “I just looked at coach [Len Asquini] and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ There were times where we would look at each other, smile and kind of laugh. We get to witness this. We get to be around this type of player on a daily basis. How lucky are we that we get to be around this kid. It was such a pleasure.

“[Defensively], he made so many difficult plays look so easy. To the random person – I’m not trying to insult anyone’s baseball intelligence – they see make a play and get an out. They might not have realized the difficulty of that play.”

Zitella, the DuKane Conference Player of the Year, was no stranger to high-caliber plays. Whether hitting towering home runs or making countless diving scoops between shortstop and third, Zitella did it all.

The 2023 Kane County Chronicle Baseball Player of the Year, Zitella batted .484 with a .570 on-base percentage and .945 slugging percentage with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 39 RBIs. The Illinois recruit had 53 putouts in 65 chances with just four errors defensively in leading the Saints to conference and regional titles.

Zitella, a three-year varsity starter, said the opportunity to play for the Saints was a dream come true.

“I’ve always wanted to wear an East uniform ever since I started to go to the camps when I was eight with Coach Asquini [coaching them],” Zitella said. “I’m happy that right away I got that opportunity to show it on the big stage of high school baseball. It was nothing but an honor to me to be able to wear that uniform.”

Zitella’s games were frequented by college coaches and Major League Baseball scouts over the seasons. Fans in attendance would see No. 24 and immediately know Zitella’s name. Those types of outside pressures didn’t take away from his profound love for the game, no matter the score.

“I just play my game,” Zitella said. “I always kind of wanted to have a name in baseball because I want to be a big league player. I’m really pushing toward that, but at the end of the day, it comes down to people are going to know your name, even when it’s not on the good side. The other team is going to know your name and going to be talking to you.”

“When I was standing on first [in the sectional semifinal loss to York] I wouldn’t stop hearing it [from student fans] about my strikeouts, so that’s just part of the game. The more you develop, the more it’s going to happen. You’ve just got to be used to it and be ready for it.”

Asquini, who retired at the conclusion of the season after 13 seasons as head coach, saw Zitella’s special ability up close.

Following Zitella’s lead, Asquini said there wasn’t a single practice that he didn’t believe the Saints didn’t get better or were not very productive.

“Every single practice and Jake had a part of that. There was never a time where he doesn’t want to work, never a time where he doesn’t want to get better,” Asquini said. “When your best player is doing that, [now] the rest of the kids [could think] I’ve got to get better. Our best player is working his you know what off to get better. Oh, my gosh, and they all just kind of follow.”